Sears introduced Discover, the first cashback rewards credit card, in 1985.
Discover was created as part of Sears’s push into financial services. Sears had acquired the brokerage firm Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981, and the new card was intended to extend the retailer’s financial-services network beyond store credit. The card was introduced after a trial period in 1985; the first reported test purchase was a $26.77 transaction at an Atlanta Sears store on September 17.
Discover stood out because it charged no annual fee and generally offered a higher credit limit than competing cards. It later became especially associated with its Cashback Bonus, returning a percentage of purchases to cardholders. The card’s issuing bank was Sears-owned Greenwood Trust Company, so “Sears” is the standard company answer in this quiz context.
Discover’s launch was not immediately profitable. Sears’s operations recorded substantial losses in 1986 and 1987. Sears spun off Dean Witter in 1993, after which Discover continued under separate financial-services ownership.