How Upside Works (And If It Really Saves You Money)
Upside is a money-saving app that allows you to earn cashback from selected grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants. As a customer of well-known brands such as Uber, Shell, and Domino's, you can receive cashback to your bank account simply by providing proof of purchase. But how does Upside work, and can it really save you money?
Upside is one of many iPhone apps that let you earn money by uploading your receipt. There's also an Android version with over 10 million downloads. After activating an offer, you have either 4 hours (for gas stations and restaurants) or 24 hours (for grocery stores) to use it before it expires. You can also use the Check-In feature to verify a purchase without a receipt, as long as you're using a linked credit or debit card.
Upside has a lot to offer, but with an increasing number of money-saving apps like RetailMeNot and Ibotta on the market, it can be difficult to know which apps are worth your time, and which are a waste of money. Let's dive deeper into how Upside works and whether it's worth investing in.
How does Upside work?
With dozens of valuable offers delivered to customers, you might be thinking 'How does Upside make money?' Upside is partnered with over 50,000 businesses to help increase their customer base. Every time a customer makes a purchase through the app, Upside gets a portion of the profit made from the purchase for bringing that company a new customer.
The Upside app is free to download and doesn't require any subscription to use. Creating an account is super easy thanks to its Google Account and Apple ID sign-up options. You'll then see a map displaying all local offers from different businesses. The majority of offers are from gas stations, however, you'll also find offers for restaurants, convenience shops, and grocery stores.
Once you've found an offer that takes your fancy, simply tap the Claim button, and then tap Directions to travel to your chosen retailer. You can choose whether to cash out via PayPal, a digital gift card, or a direct bank transfer. There are no extra fees involved when cashing out anything more than the minimal withdrawal amount, but some limitations are in place. When paying via a credit or debit card, you can only claim 2 offers from gas stations per day, or 5 offers across all locations.
Can Upside actually save you money?
Upside sounds like a great money-saving scheme on the surface, with the company claiming it offers 2-3 more times cashback than other money-saving apps. But can it be trusted?
Upside is well-received on both Google Play and the App Store, with ratings of 4.7 stars and above at the time of writing. The company has also been given an A rating by Better Business Bureau. While there are some complaints surrounding not receiving cashback instantly, Upside states that claims can take 4–10 business days to be processed.
Overall, the vast majority of users are happy with Upside, and you can rest assured that Upside isn't a scam. As with other money-related apps, Upside uses secure protocols for transactions and states in its privacy policy that users' private data is never shared or collected. If you're looking to save money in the long term, Upside is a great app that rewards you for buying from your favorite stores.