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News: Discover 5% Cash Back Calendar Released for Q1 2026 - Credit-Land.com

Discover announced its new 5% Cashback Bonus® categories for the first quarter of 2026. This time, opening categories of the 5% cash back calendar will be grocery stores, wholesale clubs, and select streaming services.

The new categories are almost different from those we've seen in Q1 2025, which were restaurants, home improvement stores, and select streaming services. Discover tends to align categories with seasonal themes and common spending patterns, and future categories (grocery stores, wholesale clubs, and select streaming services) look like a better fit for the start of the year.

To earn 5% cash back in new categories, you need to have an eligible Discover credit card and activate quarterly categories. Eligible credit cards include Discover it® Cash Back, Discover it® Student Cash Back, and NHL® Discover it® Credit Card*.

While the Q1 5% categories kick up on January 1st, we would still recommend you activate them now to ensure smooth earning of elevated cash back. If you do not want to activate just yet, you'll have time to activate new categories until March 31, 2026. Here are the details and earning conditions:

  • Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Grocery Stores, Wholesale Clubs, and Select Streaming Services, January 1 to March 31, 2026, on up to $1,500 in purchases when you activate.

5% cash back categories breakdown:

  • Grocery Store purchases include those made at supermarkets, meat lockers, bakeries, smaller grocery stores, and grocery delivery services. All purchases made from Walmart or Target are not eligible. Purchases from convenience stores and discount stores may not qualify.
  • Check with your Wholesale Clubs to make sure your Discover Card is accepted. Purchases of affiliated Wholesale Club services, such as delivery services, travel, and cell phone purchases, may not be eligible in this category. Individual merchants and stand-alone stores within physical Wholesale Club locations, or online, may not be eligible in this category.
  • Examples of Select Streaming Service purchases include Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, AMC+, Apple Music, Apple TV, Audible, DirecTV Stream, Fandango at Home, Google Play Music and Video, Max, iHeartRadio, MLB.TV, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount Plus, Peacock, SiriusXM, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV. Other popular streaming services may be included.

*The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Credit-Land.com: NHL® Discover it® Credit Card. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. Credit-Land.com does not receive commission for this product.

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