Zoola Rewards - a new cashback portal

Update: I only recommend this portal if you want CASH BACK and don’t want to earn points or miles. AVOID this portal if your card offers cash back or statement credits. See this post for more info and the confirmation I received via Twitter.

Sorry if I’m tardy to the party on this one but…

I just signed up for Zoola Rewards, and think you should too. It’s a new(?) cashback rewards program. All you do is plug in your Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card numbers and shop at any of the merchants to receive cashback in the form of a check mailed directly to you once a year or a direct deposit in 3, 6, or 12 month intervals. I chose direct deposit every 3 months (duh).

I was only semi-interested in the service until I started poking around the website and saw a LOT of familiar merchants with some nice cashback returns.

Merchants

They have Drugstore, Soap.com, Kohl’s, Shoes.com, Staples, Expedia (thought NOT for Air Travel), Sears, Gap, and tons of other merchants.

Drugstore @ 5%

Kohl’s @ 3%

Staples @ 2%

Expedia @ 3%

Expedia’s T&C

The Gap family of brands @ 4%

The way this system works is that you are rewarded for any spend on a Visa or MasterCard (no Amex or Discover yet) as long as you use a card registered with Zoola Rewards to pay. You will receive a percentage of whatever amount hits the card that’s registered with the program.

Payouts start at 2% and go up to quite a bit (some at over 20-30%). This could add up to a lot of extra cash over the course of a year. You will also get points for using a credit card with a points of mileage currency.

Caveat

This is essentially another shopping portal. By choosing cash back, you are giving up any points or miles that could be earned through another portal. Only use this if the cash payout is high enough to warrant getting cold, hard cash. All other times, stick to the normal miles and points portals.

This could be a great alternative for those not so interested in travel, those taking a break from accumulating, or taking a high cash payout in lieu of points. You must click through the portal to earn the cash back.

It’s good to have more options, so keep this one in your back pocket, or recommend it to friends and family who prefer to earn cash instead of miles.

Bottom line

I highly recommend (literally) banking this extra cash while the getting is good and get absolutely nothing if you sign up using the link above. Just thought this was a new, innovative rewards program worth signing up for and wanted to share.

Check out the FAQs and search for online merchants you use regularly. I was surprised by how many they have already listed.

Have you heard of Zoola Rewards? If not, does it look like something you’d sign up for?

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