Fetch Rewards Review – Scan Your Receipts for Rewards & Gift Cards

When it comes to saving money, there are several core money management strategies that are most important. Creating a budget, living frugally, and getting out of debt are examples of impactful positive changes you can make for your financial well-being.

However, if you already have a grasp on the basics, there’s no harm in going one step further. If you can find passive or semi-passive methods to cut down on spending, why not keep more of your hard-earned money?

Mobile coupon apps and browser extensions are examples of low-effort methods to earn rebates. And with Fetch Rewards, a free cash-back app, it’s possible to save even more money when shopping for dozens of your favorite brands. If you want to earn free gift cards and save more money on groceries each year, this is the app for you.

How Fetch Rewards Works

Fetch Rewards lets you earn rebates for purchasing items from partnered Fetch Reward brands. This cash-back rewards app is similar to apps like Ibotta, and the idea is to help shoppers save money in return for their brand loyalty.

Fetch Rewards is free, and the app is available on the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. Fetch Rewards is only available in the United States. However, if you live in the U.S. and shop at any of the dozens of Fetch Reward brand partners, this app is incredibly simple to use.

Step 1: Download Fetch Rewards & Sign Up

Getting started with Fetch Rewards is easy. To create an account, simply download the Fetch Rewards app and create an account with Facebook or your Google account.

If you have a Fetch Rewards promo code, enter it during the sign-up process. Promo codes usually reward new members with between $1.50 and $2 depending on current promotions.

If you can’t find a Fetch Rewards promo code, use “FRHELP” when signing up. This is Fetch Rewards’ official sign-up code, and you’ll gain your referral reward once you upload your first eligible receipt.

Step 2: Shop for Partner Brands

Apps like Ibotta prioritize getting users to shop at specific retailers to earn rebates. By contrast, Fetch Rewards promotes brands and is not retailer-specific.

With Fetch Rewards, you earn rebates as long as items from a partner brand appear on your shopping receipt. There are plenty of partner brands to choose from as well. Some of the largest brands that work with Fetch Rewards include:

• Heinz
• Pepsi
• Kraft
• Liberte
• Oscar Mayer
• Lunchables
• Breyers
• Knorr

Once you complete a shopping trip, snap a picture of your receipt and upload it using the Fetch Rewards app. If a product from a partner brand appears on your receipt, you earn at least 25 points (a $0.025 value).

This is a low base amount, but it’s just the minimum. Typically, receipts with a higher transaction total award more points. Plus, you can upload up to 14 receipts within a seven-day period. Points appear in your Fetch Rewards account within a few hours.

The best part about shopping with Fetch Rewards is that you can upload receipts from a variety of retailers, not just grocery stores. Fetch Rewards accepts receipts from:

• Convenience stores
• Gas stations
• Liquor stores
• Hardware stores
• Pet stores
• Drugstores
• Club stores

Again, as long as your receipt contains an item from a partner brand, you’re eligible for a rebate.

Step 3: Redeem Fetch Reward Points for Free Gift Cards

One main strength of Fetch Rewards is that you only need 3,000 points ($3) to redeem a reward. This is much lower than with Ibotta or Checkout 51, which each require $20 worth of points to cash out.

In terms of rewards, you have an extensive list of gift cards to choose from. Some of the most popular retailers on the list include:

• Target
• Sephora
• Old Navy
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Staples
• Burger King
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• IHOP
• Amazon
• CVS

Fetch Reward partners with hundreds of companies and charities, so it’s easy to find ways to spend your points. All gift cards are electronic, so you receive rewards within a few minutes to an hour after redemption.

Retailers have different rules for how shoppers can use electronic gift cards. For example, you can use Target electronic gift cards on Target.com or in-store through the Target app, but not every merchant offers this flexibility. Be sure to check the terms of the gift card you redeem unless you only plan on shopping online.

Other Ways to Earn With Fetch Rewards

Purchasing products from partner brands and uploading receipts is the main way to earn rebates with Fetch Rewards. However, this app offers other ways to boost your monthly savings.

Shop for Sponsored Products

You might only earn a few hundred Fetch Reward points from a basic shopping trip. But by buying “Special Offer Products,” which are highlighted in the Fetch Rewards app, it’s possible to earn several thousand points with a single receipt.

This system is almost identical to Ibotta’s. However, you don’t have to preselect special-offer products to earn a bonus. Fetch Rewards credits you with bonus points as long as the item is on a receipt, regardless of whether you knew you were buying a special offer or not.

It’s still a good idea to browse special offers before planning a shopping trip to find easy ways to earn bonus points. Buying special-offer products is the fastest way to earn Fetch Reward points and reach the $3 cash-out threshold.

Shop Online & Redeem eReceipt

A new Fetch Rewards feature is eReceipts, which lets you earn points for digital receipts. To use eReceipts, you connect the email that receives your online receipts to Fetch Rewards. You can also connect your Fetch Rewards account to your Amazon account.

Fetch Rewards doesn’t detect eReceipts in your inbox automatically. However, once you link your email or Amazon account, a blue eReceipts button appears next to the regular receipt scanning button in the app. If you tap the eReceipts button, Fetch Rewards searches for recent eReceipts and credits you for shopping at eligible stores.

Currently, there are fewer eReceipt partners than regular brand partners. However, some notable participating brands include:

• CVS
• Costco
• DoorDash
• Instacart
• Macy’s
• Walmart

It’s also worth noting that only regular Amazon and Amazon Prime orders are eligible for points. Services like Amazon Pantry, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Subscribe & Save don’t qualify.

Save on Prescriptions

If you want to save money on your prescriptions, Fetch Rewards’ partnership with SingleCare is excellent news.

SingleCare uses coupons to help you save money on prescriptions. If you shop through SingleCare, you get a coupon card to use at participating pharmacies to get a discount. SingleCare says you can save up to 80% by using their platform. Plus, you earn Fetch Rewards points within 24 hours after completing your pharmacy purchase.

You don’t need to scan your receipt to earn points; Fetch Rewards detects if you complete a transaction using SingleCare. Your first SingleCare purchase earns 5,000 points, and future purchases earn 1,000 points each.

Refer Friends

The Fetch Rewards referral program is another easy way to earn points. You earn 2,000 points for referring a new user to the app. Points appear in your account after your referral submits their first eligible receipt.

If you have a few friends to refer, this is an easy way to quickly score some free gift cards. The users you refer also earn 2,000 Fetch Rewards points, so it’s a win-win scenario.

To find your referral code, visit the “Me” section of the Fetch Rewards app and then visit “Referral Code.”

Sweepstakes & Contests

Serious Fetch Reward users can take their earnings one step further by participating in various Fetch Reward challenges.

Previous contests like Max Points challenges rewarded the top 25 Fetch Reward monthly earners with extra points. Fetch Reward also runs Brand Bracket challenges, in which players must guess between two head-to-head brands and correctly pick the brand that earns the most sales across all Fetch Reward users. For every correct guess of the 32 head-to-head matches, players earn free Fetch Reward points.

Finally, Fetch Rewards also runs ongoing $1,000 Visa gift card sweepstakes. Users enter sweepstakes by redeeming Fetch Reward points for entry tokens.

New contests occur frequently, so it pays to check the Fetch Reward app for ongoing events and chances to win bonus points.

Key Features

The main strengths of the Fetch Rewards app come from two key features:

Semi-Passive Earnings

Popular cash-back apps like Ibotta require you to shop at specific retailers and to select offers before shopping.

By contrast, Fetch Rewards is mostly passive. As long as you upload a receipt with an eligible product, you earn points. If you get in the habit of scanning receipts after shopping, this is an incredibly low-effort way to earn free gift cards and save money.

Nongrocery Rebates

Fetch Rewards is highly flexible in the different ways you can earn. Because brands are what matter instead of retailers, you can redeem receipts from more than just grocery stores. That means downloading Fetch Rewards is worth it for every shopper, even if you aren’t responsible for the grocery shopping for your household.

Advantages

There are several benefits to using the Fetch Rewards app, including:

1. Low Cash Out Threshold

The worst thing a cash-back app can do for users is to make the cash-out threshold unrealistic to reach. Thankfully, many gift card options on Fetch Rewards only require 3,000 points to cash out. Realistically, you can benefit from using this app with only a few purchases or a couple of referrals.

2. Wide Variety of Brands

If you like to stick to a specific shopping list or diet, you can still use Fetch Rewards. This app has a wide variety of brands and special product offers, so you can find ways to save money without drastically changing your shopping habits.

Some special-offer products won’t be for you, but that’s all right. Fetch Rewards rotates offers regularly, and basic receipts still add up.

3. Great Gift Card Selection

Fetch Rewards users have access to hundreds of gift card options in 17 categories. It doesn’t matter if you’re interested in clothing, travel, restaurants, or even charitable donations; this app has a reward you’ll enjoy.

4. Double-Dip With Other Reward Programs & Coupons

Fetch Rewards won’t save you thousands of dollars per year. However, the app is free, and it doesn’t prevent you from using other cash-back reward programs or cash-back credit cards. You can also use coupons alongside Fetch Rewards.

Get in the habit of using a cash-back credit card when shopping to earn rewards at the register. Afterward, upload your receipts to Fetch Rewards to earn even more. There is truly no downside to using this app.

5. Multiple Earning Options

Fetch Rewards enables you to earn points for scanning receipts, shopping online with eReceipts, and even refilling your prescriptions. This flexibility makes Fetch Rewards one of the simple shopping apps to use, and there’s truly an earning option for every shopper.

Disadvantages

Although Fetch Rewards is easy to use and a nifty way to earn free gift cards, there are some limitations to this app:

1. Lackluster Sign-Up Bonus

The Fetch Rewards referral program gives new users $2 worth of points if they use a promo code during sign-up. By contrast, other rewards apps have a much more lucrative welcome bonus. Ibotta gives new members $20 after they successfully redeem a sponsored offer, while Rakuten awards users $20 for referring their friends.

Fetch Rewards makes up for this somewhat with a low cash-out threshold. However, it’s harder to make money with the Fetch Rewards referral program than with referrals for other popular rebate apps.

2. Points Expire

If you don’t upload a receipt within 90 days, your Fetch Rewards points expire. You must get in the habit of cashing out points whenever possible to avoid losing free gift cards due to inactivity.

3. No PayPal Rewards

Fetch Rewards has an extensive list of gift card rewards. However, unlike competitors like Ibotta, it doesn’t allow you to redeem points for PayPal cash.

This lack of reward flexibility is a major downside for the app. The variety of gift card options helps mitigate the sting, but a lack of PayPal rewards is definitely a weakness.

Final Word

Using Fetch Rewards is a simple, semi-passive way to save more money on everyday purchases. Since Fetch Rewards is brand-specific instead of retailer-specific, it’s easy to earn points just by uploading receipts from whenever you shop. When you factor in the low cash-out threshold and a wide variety of gift card rewards, this app has some significant pros.

However, as with most cash-back apps, it’s important to be realistic with your expectations. Fetch Rewards is a great way to keep more money in your wallet, but chances are it won’t save you hundreds of dollars each year.

You can combine Fetch Rewards with a cash-back credit card to maximize your rewards. Using websites like Rakuten is another excellent method to earn cash back until Fetch Rewards rolls out their e-receipt program.

Ultimately, Fetch Rewards is just one way to save more money each month. Leading a frugal lifestyle, following a budget, and cutting out unnecessary expenses are the most impactful practices you can implement for your finances. Use Fetch Rewards to score free gift cards without much effort, but don’t forget the basics.