In this article, we outline the Drop cash back app. It offers a passive option to cash back rewards.
The cost of living just keeps going up.
You’ve learned to hunt down great deals to make the best use of your money. But there are other options to add to your arsenal.
One technique is to look for methods to gain cash back.
Cash back company:
Drop was founded in 2015. Their headquarters is located in Toronto, Ontario, but they also have an office in New York in the USA. Their application can be used by anyone within Canada or the USA.
They are self-described as a financial technology company bringing value to millennials. That value is through cash back rewards – although the rewards are actually in the form of digital gift cards.
Better Business Bureau (BBB):
Drop has been listed with the Better Business Bureau since 2017. They have received an F rating. Customers have entered three reviews, but unfortunately, none of those was positive. In addition, there have been 21 complaints filed with 16 of those within the last 12 months.
Cash back range:
Using the Drop cash back app earns you points. Those points have a dollar value: 1000 points = $1.00. The dollar value is based on the currency of the country in which you registered. So if you registered in Canada, then you’ll earn in CAD while USA registrants will earn in USD.
The number of points you earn depends on the merchant. The range is typically anywhere from two points to 16 points for $1.00 spent. Although, if you book your hotel stays through Rocketmiles, with whom they have a partnership, then you can earn between 10,000 and 100,000 points per night.
Payment method:
Drop does not pay you actual cash. Instead, you redeem your points for digital gift cards. There are a fair number of gift card options available too. Some examples at the time we wrote this article: Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, Netflix, Uber Eats, Foodora, Tim Hortons, Old Navy, iTunes, and more.
Payment frequency:
You choose when you redeem your points. However, the minimum amount for redemption varies depending on the gift card you choose.
For example, the minimum is $5.00 (5000 points) and for that you can redeem for a Foodora gift card. But you’ll need a minimum of $20.00 to redeem for an Amazon gift card. We also saw some gift cards that required a $100.00 minimum for redemption.
Website and Mobile App usability:
The primary use for Drop is from a mobile device. The typical functions you would perform are straight forward.
- Profile information – personal information, link cards, invite friends through a referral code, etc.
- Browse – view all the available offers to earn points
- My Offers – see your offer history, your Power offers list, your Supercharge status, etc.
- Points – a list of all the points you’ve earned, including when and where you earned them
- Redeem – contains all the different digital gift card options plus your reward wallet
We found the mobile app pretty easy to use. It’s pretty intuitive, things are where you expect them to be.
But there’s also Drop for Chrome. This is a Chrome extension that allows you to earn Drop points when shopping online. However, it’s currently available only to USA members and only by invitation.
Social media:
Drop has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Offers availability:
The Drop cash back app is designed as a passive loyalty program. Once you’ve registered, linked cards, and selected your five retailers for the Power offers, you really just shop as you normally would. No need to present a loyalty card at checkout. Because you’ve linked a card(s) with Drop, your transactions are tracked in the background.
The list of current partners or participants in their program is not very large, around 30. But they do have some major players: Costco, Walmart, Best Buy, Whole Foods, Uber, Lyft, etc.
User support:
We could not find an actual phone number to contact support. However, they do provide a support email and also an issue ticketing system. And all that information is available through the app.
The majority of the issues for most people seem to be around points awards and redemptions. But there are also occasionally some challenges with registration.
What do you need?
The requirements for using the Drop cash back app are very basic:
- Device – you need a mobile device
- Software – you need to download the Drop app
How does it work?
You shop as you normally would but earn points through participating retailers:
- Power offers – link your debit or credit card(s) and earn points whenever those accounts are used for purchases
- In-app offers – you’ll also receive offers from various retail participants where you can earn additional points (just be certain to add the offer to your account first, then shop through the offer link to earn the points)
- Surveys – you’ll occasionally receive surveys which will award you points for participation
- Supercharge – after spending with your Power offers five times then you’ll see a Supercharge offer. This is an opportunity to play a snake game to earn extra points – you maneuver the snake to eat the Drop app icon, the letter “D”.
- Boosted offers – these are simply extra points available for particular offers
- Rocketmiles – earn extra points when booking hotels through their Rocketmiles partner
Additional information:
There are a few important points to be aware of when using this app:
- Many of the additional rewards, beyond the Power offers, will have a minimum spending amount required to earn the points. You need to read the details!
- In general, you cannot use any manually applied promotional codes with the Drop points offered. Otherwise, you won’t receive the Drop points.
- Most rewards points are applied directly to your Drop wallet. However, some are only claimed via email. So again, read the details.
- Drop is not intended for commercial use. If your shopping patterns reflect a commercial enterprise instead of personal use, then expect your account to be shut down.
Registration:
- Go to their website, www.earnwithdrop.com, and enter your mobile phone number and then click “Get started”
- Download the app from the link they send to your phone
- Enter your profile information
- Link a card – you can link a debit card or a credit card (or multiples of each)
- Once a minimum of one card has been linked, you’ll be prompted to choose your five favourite brands from their list of partners. These partners become part of your Power offers. That means whenever you shop at one of those partners using the card(s) you linked, you’ll automatically receive points. IMPORTANT: You cannot change this list once you’ve selected it. Please choose carefully!
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Recommendation:
Drop is a very interesting option and we rate it highly:
- Offers availability – they don’t have a huge variety of retailers at the moment. But they do have some major brands and they’re constantly expanding.
- User support – they provide an email support contact and also a ticketing system for users to submit their issues
- Cash back range – the range of cash back offered is not that large, however, it’s completely passive. Once you’ve registered, you simply continue shopping the way you normally would and the points accrue behind the scenes.
- App – the design is simple and user-friendly
- Security – one of the biggest concerns we had was the security of the app because you need to link your debit or credit card(s). But the app uses 256-bit encryption which is bank-level security. So if you’re comfortable with online banking, then you’re dealing with the same level of security with this app.
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