The more you spend, the more you can earn. There are so many ways to earn rewards when you shop, it can be hard to juggle them all. You can earn cash back with a browser extension, by scanning a receipt, by using a certain payment method, or some combination of all of the above if you’re really savvy.
It’s a competitive space, so rewards providers are looking for any advantage to help them stand out. Now, it appears the latest eye-catching offer is credit cards co-branded with some of your favorite rewards apps.
American Express has joined forces with both Rakuten and Fetch, offering new credit cards that will give Rakuten and Fetch users additional ways to save and earn.
The Rakuten American Express Card is actually a replacement of sorts for the former Rakuten Visa card, which was discontinued a few years ago. The new card, powered by Imprint, allows Rakuten users to combine their rewards when they shop, for a potential triple-stack of savings.
The first layer is the cash-back offers that Rakuten members earn by using the app, browser extension or website to shop at thousands of partner stores. If they use the new credit card to pay for their purchases, they’ll earn an additional 4% cash back, on top of what they’ve already earned (for non-Rakuten partner purchases, card users will get 2% cash back on groceries and restaurants, and 1% on all other purchases). Combine it all with sales or coupons, and you can save three times on a single purchase.
Not to be outdone, the rewards app Fetch has announced the launch of its own American Express card, also powered by Imprint, which will become available in the fall. Once again, card holders will be able to take advantage of a triple stack. As always, Fetch users can shop using the app or browser extension, or upload their receipts, for points that can be redeemed for gift cards. If you pay with the Fetch American Express Card, though, you can earn an extra ten Fetch Points per dollar on grocery and retail purchases, and an extra five Fetch Points per dollar on all other purchases.
Fetch card holders will also gain exclusive access to one of Fetch’s most popular and most-missed features – the Spin & Win game. The game was once available to all, but is now rarely offered. Card holders, though, will have access to it every time they shop, getting to spin a virtual wheel to win even more Fetch Points per purchase.
And users of the Upside app won’t be able to stack offers in quite the same way as Rakuten and Fetch users can, but they will be able to earn cash back with new Upside-linked credit cards. The card-issuing platform Marqeta announced a new partnership with Upside earlier this year, offering Marqeta’s credit card customers the opportunity to embed Upside’s cash-back offers for gas, restaurant and grocery purchases into their cards.
Credit card companies have been trying to make their products more appealing in recent years by making them more rewarding. Not only do many of them offer cash back for purchases, but some have incorporated item-level offers like those you see in coupon and rewards apps.
But now, the co-branded credit card for fans of cash-back and rewards apps appears to be a growing trend.
“For many consumers, the decision of which card to use is driven by the rewards they will receive,” Marqeta explained when announcing its Upside partnership.
“At a time when every dollar counts, we’re doubling down to bring more rewards to consumers,” Fetch’s General Manager of Payments Rachel Ehrlich said in announcing the Fetch card. “We’ve rewarded our users for where they shop and what they buy — now, it’s time to reward them for how they pay.”
Whether these new cards appeal to shoppers remains to be seen. The personal finance site NerdWallet, which reviews credit cards, says the Rakuten and Fetch cards are best for those who are already frequent Rakuten and Fetch users. “You can rack up rewards easily if you consistently shop at or dine with Rakuten-featured merchants,” its review of the Rakuten card reads. But “the card’s rewards on spending outside of Rakuten are mediocre. There are better cash-back cards that earn more.”
As for the Fetch card, it “could be appealing as a way to stack rewards if you’re already an app user,” allowing you to “amass a large pile of points,” NerdWallet’s review stated. But “be aware that points aren’t worth very much in the Fetch system… just one-tenth of a cent each — far, far lower than the industry standard of a full penny per point.”
The co-branded cards may not appeal to those who don’t already use Rakuten and Fetch, then. But for those who do, they could offer a new way to turbo-charge their rewards.
American Express noted that these are just “the latest in a series of co-brand card launches on the American Express network” through a new platform that enables “industry disruptors to partner with existing issuers and program managers on the American Express network to launch payment products quickly, securely and seamlessly.”
So if your favorite cash back or rewards app doesn’t have its own credit card yet – just wait. The next co-branded rewards card could be coming out any day now.
