Fetch Rewards App Review: Earn Rewards for Your Purchases

Who doesn’t love to save money?

Especially when it’s on things you would normally buy anyway, like groceries or Amazon purchases. 

One way to find more savings or earn some extra spending money — depending on how you look at it — is to use Fetch, a rewards app that can help you earn gift cards (among other rewards) by simply scanning your receipts.

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Overview of Fetch

Fetch (formerly Fetch Rewards) is a shopping rewards platform that can help you earn gift cards, plus other incentives, by uploading your receipts (either physical or digital).

We usually think about earning loyalty rewards from a specific store, like your local grocery store or favorite clothing store, which can only be redeemed with that company. With Fetch, you can earn and redeem rewards across hundreds of different brands.

You can also earn rewards for things like buying a certain amount of a particular product. 

Fetch is similar to a cashback shopping platform, but instead of getting a percentage or dollar amount of your purchase back, you earn points that can then be redeemed for gift cards at popular brands like Dunkin’, CVS, Lululemon, Target, Starbucks, and more.

The app is wildly popular, with high ratings on both the App Store and Google Play. In 2022, the app hit over 5 million daily active users and 17 million users per month.

You can sign up with your mobile number or through your Apple, Google, or Facebook account.

Earning Rewards with Fetch

You can earn rewards with Fetch in a variety of ways, such as:

Uploading receipts

Many different types of receipts are accepted, though there are certain exclusions, like movie tickets and airline tickets.

You can typically earn a minimum of 25 points per receipt and upload a maximum of 35 receipts per rolling seven-day period.

Buying from particular brands

This can earn you bonus points beyond what you’d get for uploading receipts and can include customized offers.

Some examples of brands on the platform are Colgate, Ben & Jerry's, and Progresso. You can also earn points based on your spending at some restaurants like TGI Friday’s and Panera Bread.

Buying particular products

You can earn bonus points for buying a certain amount of particular products through offers customized for you.

For example, you might earn 500 points for spending $5 on Milky Way, Twix, or 3 Musketeers chocolate bars.

Making referrals

Getting your friends to sign up for Fetch can earn you bonus points.

Joining clubs

Fetch also has clubs for certain brands that you can join to get bonus points for buying products from that brand, while also accessing more content.

Entering sweepstakes/giveaways

You can use Fetch points to enter sweepstakes to try to win even more points. From time to time, brands also have points sweepstakes through the platform.

Fetch also sometimes has promotional giveaways of extra points that you can enter, such as ones that involve social media.

Redeeming Rewards with Fetch

There are a few main ways to redeem rewards through Fetch, which you can do within the app by simply going to the “Rewards” tab. There, you can select rewards like:

• Gift cards/prepaid cards: Point values needed for gift cards and prepaid cards can vary by brand. For example, a $10 Amazon gift card is currently 12,500 points (so 500 receipt scans would get you that gift card).
• Sweepstakes: You can wager points to potentially win more points or other prizes like electronics.
• Charitable donations: You can use your points to make charitable donations to certain organizations.
• Fetch merchandise: If you’re a fan of the Fetch brand, you can redeem points for merchandise like Fetch t-shirts.

If you redeem points for a gift card, you’ll typically receive that electronically within 72 hours, along with instructions on how to use it. 

In some cases, like with Amazon gift cards, you may need to take an extra step like entering a security code once your reward is ready. But then you can load the gift card into your Amazon account and use it like any other gift card.

What We Like About Fetch

We like the variety you have for shopping and redeeming with Fetch — currently at some 600 brands! So it’s highly likely there’s a brand on the app that you currently shop with and could be earning rewards from.

Plus, unlike cashback credit cards, which charge you interest if you don’t pay the balance off each month, Fetch earns you cashback without the risk of any additional fees.

For extra rewards, you could even use Fetch on purchases you made with a cashback credit card — basically double-dipping into the rewards pool. Just remember to pay off your credit card bill or you’ll negate all those rewards with interest charges!

What We Don’t Like About Fetch

While Fetch can make it easy to earn rewards from your regular purchases, it’s also easy to get roped into its gamified nature, and spend more than you intended just to rack up points. 

Aslo, Fetch doesn’t provide direct cashback rewards the way that some other shopping apps do. 

Lastly, Fetch’s new social feed is a bit concerning if you prefer to keep your shopping private. With Fetch Social, you can connect to friends and see their name, profile pic, and mutual friends — which is all fine. But Fetch’s fine print also says that your friends on the app can see:

• Total dollars spent per receipt
• Points earned
• Top brands where you earned points
• Store and merchant of each receipt
• What rewards you redeemed your points for

While we’re all about transparency around money here at Erika.com, that doesn’t mean we necessarily want our friends to see how much we’re spending and where.

Who Should Get Fetch?

If you’re looking for a little extra spending money, then Fetch can be a great app for you. 

You generally won’t earn huge rewards, but even a $10 or $25 gift card every now and then is nice to have — especially if it’s on purchases you’d already be making. 

These rewards can even be on top of other rewards like in-store loyalty bonuses or credit card rewards, so Fetch can be a nice addition to your credit card collection if you’re a points hacker.

READ MORE: How To Maximize Credit Card Rewards

Who Shouldn’t Get Fetch?

Fetch is only available in the U.S., so if you don’t live or shop in the U.S., you’re out of luck.

As well, if you don’t want to deal with uploading receipts, you may prefer to skip Fetch and take what you can get from more automated rewards systems, like credit card points or some cashback plug-ins. 

You also might skip Fetch if you’re worried about privacy. While some data is anonymized, you’re still sharing details about your shopping habits — and some of that information can be viewed by your linked friends through the Fetch Social feed.

READ MORE: Best Cashback Credit Cards

Other Apps Like Fetch Rewards

While Fetch can be a good way to earn shopping rewards, there are other platforms to consider. 

And remember, you can often use more than one rewards system for the same purchase to get even more rewards.

Fetch vs. Ibotta 

Fetch and Ibotta are both receipt scanner apps that provide rewards for uploading receipts and making certain transactions. However, they also differ in several ways. 

For one, Ibotta may require you to manually add offers to your account before uploading receipts, whereas Fetch will scan your receipts automatically to see if there are any matching transactions that earn bonus points. 

But Ibotta provides cashback in addition to gift card rewards and has features like a browser extension that makes it easier to earn rewards when shopping on your computer.

Fetch vs. Rakuten 

While Fetch provides rewards after uploading receipts, Rakuten provides cashback when you activate it before making the purchase.

Rakuten also provides coupons and discounts at certain retailers, while Fetch does not. And Rakuten has a browser extension that you can use for online shopping on your computer.

Fetch vs. Capital One Shopping 

Capital One Shopping is a browser extension that provides coupon codes, rewards that can be redeemed for gift cards, and price comparisons at certain sites. 

This differs from Fetch, which requires you to upload receipts and does not have coupon codes — although Fetch has a wider variety of rewards beyond gift cards, such as sweepstakes.

FAQs

Is Fetch Rewards dangerous?

Fetch is a legitimate shopping rewards app that doesn’t collect your banking or credit card information — so you don’t have to worry about that information being compromised through the app. 

The company also says that they comply with both Google’s API Services User Data Policy and Yahoo’s Developer API Terms of Use, and that they do not share your information with third parties.

Do Fetch points expire?

Yes, Fetch points do expire, but only if your account is inactive for 90 consecutive days. You’ll be notified by email and text if your points are about to expire. 

Does Fetch Rewards work outside the U.S.?

Currently, Fetch is only available for use within the U.S. If you do a lot of your shopping overseas and want to earn rewards on them, you may want to consider a cashback credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees instead.

The Bottom Line

Fetch Rewards is an easy way to earn gift cards and other rewards for simply doing regular shopping at your favorite brands. And if you’re a points hacker, you can double up on rewards by using a cashback or points credit card for purchases that you then claim through Fetch.

But if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of uploading receipts or you don’t want to share details of where and when you’re shopping, you may want to consider another app or just a rewards credit card on its own.

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