Discover Bank Review: A Great Online Bank for Your Checking, Money Market and CD Needs

4.8

GBR RATING

GOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Above-average rates, a large free ATM network and 24/7 customer service.

Discover® Bank, Member FDIC is best for those who want to earn cash back for their bank account when they make monthly qualifying debit card and credit card purchases.

Discover® Bank is an online bank that offers a full range of deposit accounts, including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, with no monthly fees. In fact, GOBankingRates has ranked Discover Bank highly in several categories including Best Checking Accounts, Best CDs, Best Money Market Accounts and Best Online Banks for 2025.

Discover Bank Checking Account

Discover Bank offers only one checking account, but it’s packed with impressive money-saving features. GOBankingRates has named it one of the Best Checking Accounts for 2025. Here are some key takeaways:

• Discover® Cashback Debit account offers online checking and has no minimum deposit requirement, no minimum daily balance requirement and no monthly maintenance fees. 
• There are no insufficient funds or overdraft fees.
• This account pays 1% cash back on up to $3,000 worth of purchases with the debit card each month. See the bank’s website for details.
• When you need to access cash, you can withdraw fee-free money at over 60,000 ATMs worldwide.
• You can apply for a Discover Cashback Debit account without impacting your credit score.

5.0

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover Bank®, Member FDIC, Checking Account

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Best For

Online Banks

CD Accounts

Money Market Accounts

Checking Accounts

Mobile App

1% Cashback Debit Rewards

Discover Bank’s Cashback Debit account offers a fee-free online checking experience with 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in purchases monthly (see website for details), making it one of GOBankingRates’ best checking accounts for 2025.

Fees

No monthly service fee

APY

N/A

Min Opening

$0

Pros

• No monthly service fees
• If you enroll in direct deposit, you can receive your paycheck up to two days early,
• You can earn cash back on your purchases each month.

Cons

• Even though it’s a rewards checking account, it doesn’t earn interest.

Why We Like Discover Bank

When Discover says it has free checking, it means it. There are simply no fees with this account. 

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Discover Bank Savings Account

Just because it doesn’t technically call itself a high-yield savings account doesn’t mean it isn’t one. The Discover Online Savings option has some pretty compelling features:

• The Discover® Online Savings Account, like the bank’s checking account, has no minimum opening deposit or daily balance requirements
• There are no monthly maintenance fees and also no insufficient funds, overdraft or excess withdrawal fees. 
• The account pays a competitiveness annual percentage yield of and the interest is compounded daily and paid monthly.

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover Bank Savings Account

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Best For

Online Banks

CD Accounts

Money Market Accounts

Checking Accounts

Mobile App

APY With No Fees

The Discover Online Savings Account offers a competitive APY, no minimum deposit requirements, and no fees, making it an excellent choice for online savers.

Fees

No monthly service fee

APY

Min Opening

$0

Pros

• Competitive interest rates
• No opening minimum deposit requirements 

Cons

• No ATM card is available for Discover® Bank’s online savings account
• No physical branches to deposit cash into savings

Quick Take

There are no minimum deposits required to start earning more on your savings today.

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Discover Bank CD Accounts

It’s no wonder Discover Bank’s high-yield CD account also ranked among GOBankingRates’ Best CD Accounts for 2025. Here are some key takeaways: 

• The bank’s CD offerings have no monthly maintenance fees.
• CD term lengths are available in a range from three months to 10 years.
• There are no minimum deposit requirements.
• APYs range from to .

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover® Bank, Member FDIC, CD Accounts

Start Banking

Best For

Online Banks

CD Accounts

Money Market Accounts

Checking Accounts

Mobile App

APYs Up to

Discover Bank’s high-yield CDs offer flexible terms from three months to 10 years, no minimum deposit requirements, and competitive APYs up to .

Fees

No monthly service fee

APY

Up to

Min Opening

$0

Pros

• No monthly fees
• Reasonable early withdrawal penalty policy 

Cons

• Some online banks offer higher APYs

Why We Like Discover Bank

Discover Bank high-yield CDs guarantee returns, but that you’ll also reach your savings goals faster. 

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Discover Bank Money Market Account

Discover’s money market account earns interest on balances under $100,000 and on balances of $100,000 and above. GOBankingRates has ranked it among the Best Money Market Accounts for 2025. A money market account lets you earn high interest while providing easy access to your money through ATMs, debit cards and check options. It also offers these features:

• No monthly fees
• No minimum to open
• Free standard and official checks
• Free online bill pay
• Free replacement debit card, with expedited shipping
• Free stop payment order
• Standard limit of six free withdrawals
• Mobile check deposit

4.8

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover® Bank, Member FDIC, Money Market Account

Start Banking

Best For

Online Banks

CD Accounts

Money Market Accounts

Checking Accounts

Mobile App

Earn Up To APY

Discover Bank’s money market account offers competitive interest rates, no monthly fees and free access to checks, bill pay and debit cards, making it a versatile savings tool.

Fees

No monthly service fee

APY

Up to

Min Opening

$0

Pros

• No monthly service fees or minimum opening deposit requirements
• Free checks, bill pay, replacement debit cards and stop payment orders

Cons

• Must maintain a balance of at least $100,000 to get the highest APY

Why We Like Discover Bank

Discover’s money market account has the best of both worlds: high-yield interest with the convenience of a checking account, including ATM, check, and debit card access. This makes your money easy to manage-all without monthly fees.

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Banking Experience

Now that you’re familiar with Discover Bank’s products, here’s a look at some of the standout features that contributed to its ranking as one of the Best Online Banks for 2025 in GOBankingRates rankings. 

• Discover Bank has no minimum opening deposits on its checking or savings account.
• Not having to deposit money upfront makes it simple and affordable to open one or more accounts at your convenience. 
• When you open an account at Discover Bank, there are no monthly fees and you won’t need to meet deposit minimums or other requirements to avoid extra charges. 
• Discover Bank provides 24/7 access to banking service representatives. No matter the time or day, you can get help with your banking questions or issues. Just call 800-347-7000 for assistance.
• Discover Bank’s mobile app is highly rated by users. Android users rate the app 4.4 out of 5 stars and iOS users rate the app 4.9 out of 5 stars.

How Does Discover Compare?

Here’s how Discover Bank measures up to some of its competing financial institutions.

Checking

Savings

CDs

Money Market

SELECTED BANK

5.0

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover Bank®, Member FDIC, Checking Account

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MOST COMPARABLE

4.5

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Ally Checking Account

Read Review

MOST COMPARABLE

American Express Bank Checking Account

Read Review

Fees

Fees

Fees

No monthly service fee

$0

No monthly service fee

APY

APY

APY

N/A

Min Opening

Min Opening

Min Opening

$0

$0

$0

SELECTED BANK

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover Bank Savings Account

Start Banking

MOST COMPARABLE

4.5

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Ally Bank Savings Account 

Read Review

MOST COMPARABLE

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

American Express Bank High-Yield Savings Account

Read Review

Fees

Fees

Fees

No monthly service fee

$0

$0

APY

APY

APY

Min Opening

Min Opening

Min Opening

$0

$0

$0

SELECTED BANK

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover® Bank, Member FDIC, CD Accounts

Start Banking

MOST COMPARABLE

4.9

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Ally Bank CD Rates

Read Review

MOST COMPARABLE

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

American Express®, Member FDIC, CD Accounts

Read Review

Fees

Fees

Fees

No monthly service fee

No monthly service fee

No monthly service fee

APY

APY

APY

Up to

Up to

Up to

Min Opening

Min Opening

Min Opening

$0

$0

$0

SELECTED BANK

4.8

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Discover® Bank, Member FDIC, Money Market Account

Start Banking

MOST COMPARABLE

4.7

GBR RatingGOBankingRates scores and rankings are objectively determined by our research/editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors that differ from category to category depending on what consumers want from varying products and banks. Read our full Editorial Guidelines here.

Ally Bank Money Market Accounts

Read Review

MOST COMPARABLE

Liberty Bank Money Market Account

Read Review

Fees

Fees

Fees

No monthly service fee

$0

No monthly service fee

APY

APY

APY

Up to

to

Min Opening

Min Opening

Min Opening

$0

$0

$25

Discover Bank vs. Ally Bank

Besides a high-yield CD, as Discover Bank offers, Ally Bank offers two other types of CDs: Raise Your Rate CD and No Penalty CD. It was also ranked 1st in GOBankingRates’ list of Best Online Banks 2025, whereas Discover was ranked 4th. 

While Discover doesn’t offer more than one type of CD, it does offer better rates than Ally. Currently, both banks offer their highest APYs on their 6-month and 1-Year CD accounts.

Discover Bank vs. American Express National Bank

Like Discover Bank, American Express National Bank, Member FDIC does not require any deposit minimums to open one of its CDs. However, American Express National Bank does not offer money market account options like Discover. GOBankingRates ranked it 9th for Best Online Banks 2025, where Discover was ranked 4th. 

Discover Bank vs. SoFi

SoFi® is another online banking option that offers deposit accounts including checking and savings that earn high interest. Like Discover, there are no monthly checking fees, and there are enough products available that you can do all your banking, borrowing and investing with a single app. Also like Discover, it is on GOBankingRates’ list of Best Online Banks 2025, placing third to Discover’s 4th. 

Final Take

As long as you are OK with doing all of your banking tasks online, Discover Bank has much to offer. Its checking and savings accounts, as well as its CD accounts, don’t require minimum opening deposits, and none of its accounts have monthly fees that can eat into your funds.

GOBankingRates has ranked Discover Bank highly in several categories including Best Checking Accounts, Best CDs, Best Money Market Accounts and Best Online Banks for 2025.

More on Discover Bank

• Discover Bank’s Newest Promotions
• Discover Bank CD Rates
• Discover Bank Routing Number
• How To Avoid Discover Monthly Maintenance Fees
• How To Do a Balance Transfer With Discover
• How To Request a Discover Credit Line Increase

Compare To Other Banks

• Ally Bank Review
• American Express National Bank Review
• Capital One Bank Review
• Marcus by Goldman Sachs Review
• All Bank Reviews

Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 19, 2024. 

All information about Discover® Cashback Debit & Discover® Money Market Account has been collected independently by GoBankingRates. Discover® Cashback Debit & Discover® Money Market Account is no longer available through GoBankingRates.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.

To determine rankings for the Best Checking Accounts of 2025, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage of the minimum to avoid fees compared to the monthly fee itself); (5) APY on the checking account; (6) overdraft fee amount; (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factor (1), (2 and (5) weighed 0.5 times, and Factor (4) weighed 1.5 times. All products and offerings had to be available as of Nov. 1, 2024, to be considered. Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 19, 2024.

To determine rankings for the Best CD Accounts of 2025, GOBankingRates considered the following factors (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) 12-month CD APY rate; (5) 60-month CD APY rate, and (6) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1) and (2) were weighed 0.5 times, factor (3) was weighed 2 times, and factors (4) and (5) were weighed 4 times. All products and offerings had to be available as of Nov. 1, 2024, to be considered. Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 19, 2024.

To determine the Best Money Market Accounts of 2025, GOBankingRates analyzed the following factors from all banks (excluding neobanks): (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) number of branch locations as sourced from the FDIC; (3) minimum deposit to open an account; (4) APY on the money market account; (5) the minimum balance needed to earn the APY; (6) monthly money market fee ratio (percentage of the minimum to avoid fees compared to the monthly fee itself); and (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1) and (2) were weighed 0.5 times, and factor (4) was weighed 4 times. All products and offerings had to be available as of Nov. 1, 2024, to be considered. Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 19, 2024.

To determine the Best Online Banks of 2025, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors across exclusively online banks: (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) monthly checking fee ratio (percent the minimum to avoid fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (3) savings APY; (4) 1-year CD APY; (5) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (6) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services, and insurance); and (7) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple stores. Factors (1) and (2) were weighed 0.5 times, and factors (3) and (7) were weighed 2 times. For all savings and checking account data, only the basic accounts or products offered at each institution were analyzed. All products and offerings had to be available as of Nov. 1, 2024, to be considered. Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 19, 2024.

All information about American Express product offers has been collected independently by GOBankingRates and has not been reviewed or approved by American Express. These products are not available through GOBankingRates.

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