Places That Don’t Take Discover Cards (2024)
If you’ve got yourself a shiny new Discover Card credit card, then you might be surprised to find out that not all places accept it as a credit card payment.
The main reason that Discover is not accepted by as many establishments as Visa and MasterCard is because the merchant fees for Discover are higher.
This means it costs shops more money to let you pay with a Discover card compared to a Visa or MasterCard.
The reality is that many more businesses DO accept Discover card than they used to. As of February 2021, Nilson reports that an estimated 99 percent of U.S. merchants that take credit cards do, in fact, accept Discover credit cards.
Where Is Discover Card Not Accepted?
A lot of small businesses, including family-owned restaurants, do not accept Discover card. You often only learn about this upon arrival at such a business.
The main place that doesn’t accept Discover Card is Costco. You cannot use your Discover card at any Costco locations.
Other places you’ll encounter that may not accept Discover card for payment include:
- Some locations of Subway
- Some locations of Burger King
- Some locations of Culvers
- Some locations of McDonald’s
- Some locations of Dairy Queen
- Landlords – most online rent payment services that accept credit cards do not accept Discover
- Businesses in some foreign countries
As you can see, this is one of those things that you often won’t know for sure until you try.
If you’re in the United States, then you can assume that most large, chain businesses do accept Discover card (except Costco) and that the smaller businesses may not accept Discover card at all.
Is Discover accepted at all gas stations?
You should know that 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide now accept Discover. So chances are, your favorite gas station accepts Discover too.
If you ever find a gas station that doesn’t welcome your card, you can call the customer service number on the back to let them know and they’ll work to add them.
Can you rent a car with a Discover Card?
Since Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, there is a good chance that your favorite place to rent a car likely welcomes Discover too.
Why are Discover Cards not accepted everywhere?
When Discover was founded in 1986, it had to catch up with the other three big credit card networks.
Their acceptance has grown by millions and millions since then. And Discover Cards are now accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.
Why You Should Still Get A Discover Card
Even though you may sometimes have problems with your Discover card not being accepted for payment, it’s still a good card to keep in your wallet.
If you have bad credit, then you’ll notice that Discover is great at extending credit to you and giving you a credit card.
Discover also offers some great credit cards for students, who may not have ever built credit at all.
But you don’t need to have no credit or bad credit for Discover Card to be a good choice for your financial situation.
Discover credit cards have a lot of great features and benefits that attract new users. Some of my favorite things about Discover card are no annual fees, cash back rewards, and low introductory interest rates.
They also have good balance transfer offers, if you have good credit.
Final Word
Though people used to have a really hard time using a Discover card as their main credit card, more and more merchants today accept Discover as a form of payment.
If you’re considering making Discover your main credit card for purchases, the you’ll be able to use it at most of the places you shop – with the exception of Costco.
