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What Are Discover’s Rewards Categories Right Now?

By U.S. News & World Report

The potential to earn cash back is a favorite feature among those who frequently use credit cards. Today’s best credit cards let customers earn 5% cash back or more, sometimes with no annual fee. Discover customers can use this benefit, as the card issuer maintains a cash back calendar with multiple 5% categories each quarter. For the second quarter of 2026, the 5% categories are restaurants and home improvement stores.

[READ: Best Discover Credit Cards]

What Are Discover’s 5% Cash Back Categories?

Discover’s cash back calendar changes quarterly but generally includes common spending areas. Previous 2025 categories included restaurants, home improvement stores, EV charging, gas stations and public transit, utilities, drugstores and Amazon.

What’s coming next? Discover should announce its third quarter categories on June 1.

How to Earn 5% Cash Back From Discover

Earning 5% cash back from Discover is simple. First, you need an eligible Discover card, like the Discover it® Cash Back. You must activate each quarter to earn the 5% rate by logging into your account and following the activation link.

The 5% reward rate is capped at $1,500 in spending for the quarter, and the current quarter lasts from April 1 to June 30. Discover notes that certain purchases may not be eligible, such as those from merchants outside the U.S.

Discover Cards for Earning 5% Cash Back

The easiest way to earn 5% cash back with Discover is to pick up a Discover it® Cash Back. However, other Discover rewards cards also qualify:

— Discover it® Student Cash Back

— NHL® Discover it®

Discover’s rewards cards all offer a $0 annual fee, and Discover doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees for any of its credit cards. This means you can try Discover’s cash back program while avoiding most, if not all, fees.

Discover cards are light on premium benefits, but that’s likely no problem for most customers. They offer a simple way to earn cash back without paying excessive fees, which is often more than enough to make a credit card worth considering. Plus, Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.

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What Are Discover’s Rewards Categories Right Now? originally appeared on usnews.com

Update 04/02/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

Powerball hits $1 billion for tonight’s drawing, the biggest US lottery jackpot of the year

By CNN
(CNN) — The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1 billion after no ticket won the grand prize Monday night, marking the first billion-dollar Powerball jackpot since a player in Arkansas took home $1.8 billion on Christmas Eve last year.Wednesday night’s drawing will be the 44th consecutive drawing in the current jackpot run, and the prize ranks as the eighth-largest in Powerball history, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which administers the game.The winning numbers from Monday night’s drawing were 6, 37, 54, 55 and 64, and a red Powerball 10, with a Power Play multiplier of 3.If a player hits the jackpot Wednesday, they can choose between an annuitized prize estimated at $1 billion, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump sum payment estimated at $433.1 million. Both figures are before taxes. Some states, including Florida, Texas and Tennessee, do not tax lottery winnings, and most Powerball and other major lottery winners choose the lump sum over annuity payments.Although no one won the $905 million jackpot Monday, some ticket holders still won sizable prizes, according to Powerball. One ticket sold in Tennessee matched all five white balls and included the Power Play option to win $2 million. Two other tickets, sold in California and Maryland, matched the five white numbers to win the $1 million Match 5 prize. In California, the payout can vary based on ticket sales and the number of winners.The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292.2 million. For perspective, a person has a better chance of being struck by lightning in a given year — a 1 in 1.22 million chance, according to the National Weather Service. The odds of being killed by a shark over a lifetime are roughly 1 in 4.3 million, according to the International Shark Attack File.No one has won the grand prize in more than three months, since two players in Florida and Texas split a $20 million prize on May 2.The size of this jackpot is no anomaly. Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots have grown larger over the past several years, driven by game redesigns that lengthened the odds of winning, more frequent drawings and an expanded player pool.Three winners in Florida, California and Tennessee became the first to claim a jackpot over $1 billion when they split a $1.586 billion Powerball prize in 2016.The largest Powerball prize on record — $2.04 billion — was won in California in 2022. Last year’s $1.8 billion Arkansas jackpot ranks second.Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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