How You Can Get Cash Back From Stores and Make Your Money Go Further Cash Back offers present an opportunity to save money on future purchases of daily necessities, gifts and luxury goods. Knowing how to find the best Cash Back opportunities is important if you want to make your money go as far as possible. To start earning Cash Back consistently, you’ll need to learn: What kind of Cash Back programs are available. How you can find great Cash Back offers. How Rakuten Cash Back works. Things are tough for everyone right now, as interest rates and the cost of everyday items are on the rise. Making our money stretch as far as possible is important. Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to make extra money or get the most bang for your buck. One way to make your money go further is to join a Cash Back program. Getting Cash Back on everyday items is one way to keep your budget and bank account a little healthier. This handy guide will tell you what Cash Back programs are, where to find Cash Back offers and how to make the most of them, as well as provide a brief overview of other money-saving opportunities, such as loyalty programs. What Is Cash Back? Cash Back is an incentive offered to shoppers, in which a company or store gives them a percentage of their purchase back. By doing this, stores and companies reward loyal customers. The more often someone buys through the program or shops at the store, the more Cash Back they get. What Kind of Cash Back Programs Are There? If you google “Cash Back,” you’ll find hundreds of options and offers. Getting the best experience and returns is all about finding the Cash Back program for you. Below are some examples of ways you can earn Cash Back. Using debit cards Using credit cards Using online shopping platforms Joining in-store loyalty programs Joining special Cash Back programs or sites Shoppers have a lot of options these days, and the incentives to shop online with credit cards instead of in store with cash are many. Certain debit cards and bank accounts offer Cash Back on groceries, bills and other items. Capital One, for example, offers a great rewards card that offers Cash Back on many everyday expenses, such as restaurants and utilities. There are also many department store credit cards that offer Cash Back or rewards, and some credit cards offer a flat rate of Cash Back on everything. There are also loyalty cards that offer cash equivalent points that can be used to redeem discounts or earn coupons, or even be converted into air miles. The most comprehensive Cash Back programs are online marketplaces that partner with retailers of all kinds, from large department stores to small businesses. These sites work much like in-store loyalty programs, since they allow you to accumulate value consistently. Unlike store-specific loyalty programs, however, many Cash Back marketplaces automatically pay out customers’ balances or allow them to withdraw their balance or use it on future purchases. How Can I Find Great Cash Back Offers? There are several ways to find Cash Back offers. If you want to make some extra cash on a consistent basis, there are three main ways. Use Cards That Give Cash Back Many credit and debit cards offer Cash Back. Some give Cash Back on every purchase, while others limit opportunities or offer limited-time Cash Back rewards on a rolling basis. The cards reward only credit or debit card transactions that fall within specific parameters. You may have to use an app to navigate to a site and use that card, as with Revolut’s Cash Back rewards, for example, or you may have to meet a minimum purchase amount. Some lenders and banks may offer broad Cash Back rewards on a permanent or limited-time basis. A credit card may offer an increased Cash Back rate for the first year, for example, or offer Cash Back on all items in a specific category. Look for Individual Offers Some retailers have loyalty programs that offer Cash Back or points that can be used to get coupons or discounts, or to offset the cost of future purchases when you use your loyalty card. These programs can save you a lot of money if you shop frequently with a certain retailer, but they may not get you much if you make only occasional purchases. Choose a Cash Back Program or Marketplace The most consistent way to get Cash Back on your shopping is through a special Cash Back program or marketplace such as Rakuten. They make it easy to find Cash Back offers and coupons at hundreds of stores, and keep all your rewards together so you can see exactly what you’re getting back. If you want to maximize the extra money you make by using Cash Back offers and rewards, use one or more of these methods together. Using a credit card that offers Cash Back on purchases through a site like Rakuten can drastically increase what you get back when you buy qualifying items. If you find an offer that lets you buy gift cards at a discounted price, for example, use a credit card that gives Cash Back. Use those gift cards to buy items through Rakuten, and you could seriously boost what you get back. Shopping with Cash Back marketplaces using a credit or debit card that also gives Cash Back on certain items or categories can help you to get money back on a larger range of items. How Does Rakuten Cash Back Work? Rakuten offers members the opportunity to take advantage of Cash Back offers from hundreds of retailers and simplifies the process by collecting all the offers in one place. You don’t have to stick only to online shopping though. Ways to earn Cash Back with Rakuten include: Shopping through Rakuten.com Shopping through the Rakuten App In-store Cash Back via the Rakuten App The Rakuten browser add-on Rakuten, like most Cash Back sites, partners with retailers that give it money for directing customers to their stores, and then shares that money with customers. That’s what generates the Cash Back you receive. Rakuten collects the Cash Back you earn in one place and automatically pays it out via check or PayPal every three months, as long as you have more than $5 in your Cash Back rewards wallet. If you have less, don’t worry! It will roll over to the next pay period. Shopping Through Rakuten.com When shopping on the Rakuten website, you will find a range of Cash Back offers, coupons and flash deals. To earn Cash Back, all you have to do is choose offers from department stores, furniture stores, grocery stores and other retailers, and navigate to their site through Rakuten. Check that the items you want to buy qualify for Cash Back, since not all items do. Once you make a purchase, the retailer will have to approve and release the Cash Back. Rakuten will then add it to your rewards wallet. When you have more than $5 in your wallet, Rakuten will pass it on to you during a quarterly payout. Shopping With the Rakuten App The Rakuten App works the same way as the Rakuten website, but it allows you to earn Cash Back on purchases you make using your phone. The process is the same as using the website. Simply navigate to the website of your choice through Rakuten, and buy the items you want. Cash Back for any qualifying items will be placed in your wallet and paid out on Rakuten’s quarterly schedule. In-Store Cash Back With Rakuten Rakuten now offers the opportunity to earn Cash Back when you shop in store. You can do it through the Rakuten App, where you will find an In-Store Cash Back section. To take advantage of the offers, you’ll need to link a credit or debit card to your Rakuten account and activate the offer in the App. Then all you have to do is make your in-store purchase using the card linked to your account. Any eligible purchases will be rewarded with Cash Back and processed the same way as Cash Back earned online. You have to reactivate offers after you use them, since they will deactivate after being redeemed. The Rakuten Cash Back Browser Add-On If you’re a forgetful shopper or you simply want to streamline the process, you can install and activate the Rakuten Cash Back browser add-on. The extension is compatible with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and it works by monitoring which sites you visit and automatically notifying you when there are Cash Back offers available. The button will be purple if the site has no offers and red if Cash Back is available but the offer has not been activated. Once you click the button to activate the offer, it will turn blue. Cash Back will then be earned and processed the same way it would be if you navigated directly from Rakuten’s website or App. These features make it easy to ensure you get as much back on your future purchases as possible. Remember that you can maximize these rewards further. By using a department store credit card or rewards credit card, you can earn real savings shopping with major retailers. How Can I Get Cash Back From Stores Consistently? Getting Cash Back on everyday purchases from major retailers, such as Sam’s Club and Walmart, can create a great little savings pot — especially if you set up your Rakuten account to pay out to a PayPal account. The money could act as an emergency fund or help you cover holiday gift purchases. If you want to make sure you get the best results, take advantage of Cash Back offers consistently. Making use of all the features Rakuten offers, using credit or debit cards that offer Cash Back, and using a store loyalty card can boost what you earn from a single purchase. FAQs — How to Get Cash Back From Stores Can I get Cash Back from a debit card? Yes, many reputable banks, such as Bank of America, Citi and JPMorgan Chase, offer Cash Back debit cards. Some have bank fees attached, but there are also free options. It’s more common, however, to find Cash Back credit cards. Why do retailers offer Cash Back? Cash Back is just one of an array of offers that major retailers use to incentivize customer loyalty. By providing rewards, retailers increase the chances of customers continuing to shop at their stores and improve their reputation with consumers. Can I use my EBT card to get Cash Back? If Rakuten or another Cash Back site has offers that apply to stores that accept EBT cards, such as major supermarket chains, then you should be able to accumulate Cash Back just as you would with any other qualified Cash Back credit or debit cards. Are department store credit cards accepted everywhere? Some department store credit cards can be used everywhere, but most are limited to the store that issued them and certain affiliated stores. That makes them more limited than traditional credit cards, such as Discover or American Express. Can you get Cash Back at a store with a debit card? Yes, there are two main ways to benefit from Cash Back offers with a debit card at major retailers: You can choose a debit card that offers Cash Back, or you can use a site like Rakuten to find Cash Back offers and discounts. You should do both where possible, since it will maximize your Cash Back.