Most people earn cash back once per purchase: from their credit card. With two free apps added, the same purchase can pay you three times. Here's how the layers work, what each one is worth, and the mistakes that cost people their rewards.
The three layers
- Your card. A cash back or points credit card pays 1% to 5% on everything you buy, wherever you shop.
- A cash back portal. Before you buy online, click through a portal such as Rakuten, TopCashback, BeFrugal or Capital One Shopping. The store pays the portal for sending you, and the portal passes part of that to you, typically 1% to 10%.
- A receipt app. After you buy, scan or forward the receipt to an app like Fetch or Ibotta, or Swagbucks Magic Receipts. These pay points for the receipt itself, plus bonuses on featured brands.
Each layer is paid by a different company for a different reason, which is why they stack: your card issuer pays you for using the card, the store pays the portal for the sale, and brands pay receipt apps for data about what people buy.
What it's worth on a real purchase
Here's a $100 online order at a store paying 5% through a portal, using a 2% cash back card. These are example rates; real rates change often.
| Layer | Example rate | You earn |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2% | $2.00 |
| Cash back portal | 5% | $5.00 |
| Receipt app (base points) | about 25 points | about $0.03 |
| Total | about $7.03 |
The receipt layer is small on its own. It pays off on groceries and featured brands, where Ibotta offers and Fetch brand bonuses can be worth several dollars on a single trip.
Step by step
- Start at the portal, every time. Search for the store in your portal's app or extension and click through to the store. The extension can remind you, but only if you click "Activate" when it pops up.
- Check out in the same browser tab, without leaving to look for coupons.
- Pay with your rewards card.
- Send the receipt to your receipt app once the confirmation email arrives. Fetch accepts receipts from any store; Ibotta pays on items you unlocked offers for first.
Mistakes that lose your cash back
- Using a coupon code the portal didn't list. Many stores void portal cash back when you use an outside code. Use codes from the portal's own page.
- Ad blockers and privacy extensions. They can block the tracking that tells the store you came from the portal. Pause them while you check out.
- Clicking a second portal or coupon site after the first one. The last click wins.
- Returning the item. Portals reverse cash back on returns, usually weeks later.
- Expecting it instantly. Portal cash back usually shows as "pending" for 30 to 90 days before you can cash it out.
Which apps to start with
If you only set up two things today, install one portal's browser extension and one receipt app. Our cash back apps and receipt apps pages compare the current sign-up bonuses, which are often worth more than months of regular cash back.
Compare cash back apps →