Back in the old days, people used to collect green shield stamps to save money along with cutting coupons out of newspapers. But now, in the 21st century, a few taps of an app can net you £100s. My phone is full to the brim with money-saving and cost-cutting apps. Some are better than others, but my favourites are the cashback apps.
Cashback apps are the coupons of today, providing you with quick and easy access to the best deals, with no need to mess around with flimsy paper. Cashback apps are simple and easy to use and in this article I will walk you through my top 5 cashback apps, explaining how they work, how much you can earn, and how quickly you get paid.
What is cashback?
If you’re new to the world of cashback then get ready for your mind to be blown. Cashback is a way for you to earn free money, typically through your spending. You can earn a percentage of what you spend, paid back to you as cashback and if you do it every time it can add up to a nice amount.
Let's take an example. If you were going to spend £100 on a birthday gift from Currys, but instead, you purchase the item via a cashback app which gives you 5% cashback, you’ll earn £5 cashback. It's that simple.
It may not sound like much, but if you do this for everything you buy it will quickly start adding up. Cashback can be found on everything from clothes to insurance, broadband packages to beauty products. Nearly everything you spend money on, you can earn cashback on.
It’s important to note that cashback involves spending something in the first place in order to earn the money back. There is no point in spending more money in order to claim it, it is a false economy. Instead, think of it as a bonus on your usual spending. With the 5 apps that I have highlighted below, you can start building up your cashback with just a few taps. So here are the ones you should definitely have installed:
JamDoughnut - Get a £5 first-time purchase bonus!
JamDoughnut* is a smartphone app that rewards you with points that can be converted into instant cashback when you buy digital vouchers and gift cards. We have secured a deal where Money to the Masses readers receive a £5 first-time purchase bonus*. Simply click on the link and use referral code MTTM to receive the bonus.
How does JamDoughnut work?
Sign up to the JamDoughnut app where you can search for digital gift cards. Once you've found a gift card of interest, you can choose the amount you'd like to load onto the digital card and then pay by instant bank payment or via a card using Google or Apple Pay. The best cashback offers can be received by selecting the instant bank payment option. Once purchased, your digital gift card will be stored in your wallet within the app until you're ready to use it.
- What can you get cashback on? - There are over 150 retailers on the app, including leading supermarkets, shops and restaurants. The list of retailers is regularly updated in the app but at the time of writing included Nando's, Boots, Cineworld, Tesco, M&S, New Look, Just Eat, Uber and many more.
- How much could you expect to earn? - Cashback rates vary by retailer and start from 1%, however, you can earn up to 20%. At the time of writing, most of the popular brands on the app were offering between 3-9%. The deals regularly change and the cashback for certain retailers is 'Pumped Up' every so often, meaning you can qualify for boosted cashback rewards for a limited time. You could expect to earn in the region of £20 per month if you are a regular user but this of course depends on your spending and which retailers you choose.
- How do you claim the cashback? - As soon as you've made your purchase, your cashback will show as points in your JamDoughnut wallet. You can make a withdrawal once you have 1,000 points (worth £10). Alternatively, you can buy a gift card with the balance. Please note that you will be charged a bank transfer fee if you choose to withdraw cashback to your bank account.
TopCashback
No matter what you’re shopping online for, including car insurance, broadband, clothing and more, you can earn cashback by clicking through the app before buying. Just like when you search for a discount code before buying, you should search for cashback here too.
How does TopCashback work?
If you’re about to purchase something online (and I mean anything, there’s cashback on most things), do a search on the TopCashback* app for that retailer. If there is cashback listed, click on the link which will take you to the retailer through a tracked link. Go ahead and purchase what you need, and your spending will be tracked. You’ll then receive cashback into your TopCashback account, which after some clearing time, you can redeem as cash or trade-up for vouchers.
- What can you get cashback on? - The list of retailers and categories on TopCashback* is endless. It’s worth having a look through the list for yourself to see. Even things that you might not think about for cashback, such as applying for a credit card or signing up for a credit check.
- How much could you expect to earn? - The cashback rate varies depending on the retailer. For some, it’s a percentage of your spend, and others it’s a flat rate (e.g £20 cashback when you spend £100). If you remember to click through for everything you buy, you could be looking at around £10-50 cashback a month depending on your spending. Some retailers such as Virgin Media offer up to £120 of the price back with their Fibre Broadband cashback offers, so you could easily go beyond that.
- How do you claim the cashback?- The cashback through TopCashback may take a long time to clear, but once it does, you can head to payout and select either a BACs transfer, PayPal payment or from a choice of 20+ gift cards.
Partner OfferInstant Cashback and Discounts
Get up to 20% instant cashback on your purchases when you shop with hundreds of retailers through the JamDoughnut app - online or in-store.
- MTTM readers will receive £5 (500 points) first time purchase bonus.
- Use referral code MTTM to receive your bonus
Airtime Rewards
With this cashback app, you can earn cashback without even lifting a finger. Once it’s all set up, you don’t need to think about it.
How does Airtime Rewards work?
Sign up to the Airtime Rewards app and link your Visa and Mastercard. If you then shop on those cards at any of its 200+ retailers, you’ll receive cashback automatically on what you spend. The app is linked to your phone number, and for the money you earn, the cashback will be taken off your mobile phone bill.
- What can you get cashback on? - There are over 200 brands on the app that you can get cashback on, both purchasing online and in-store. Some of the big retailers include Aldi, Greggs, Argos, Harvey Nichols, New Look, Clarks and more.
- How much could you expect to earn? - The range of cashback is usually between 1-5% for the popular brands, though some of the brands can offer up to 15% cashback on purchases for a set spend. Once you have this app set up, you’ll earn cashback as and when you spend at a retailer (even if you forget there’s cashback involved). If you’re an average spender, you’re likely to earn as much as £5 per month, plus, if you have a big purchase coming up, you could earn £10+ in one go. My phone bill is a SIM-only contract at £8 a month. I pay my phone bill off every other month with the cashback I earn.
- How do you claim the cashback? - Depending on your mobile phone provider, the minimum required for payout is £10 in credit. Once you’ve reached the minimum, head onto the ‘rewards’ section of the app, where you can claim your earnings. The money will then be sent to your provider and taken off your phone bill. Once you’ve pressed redeem, it’s all done for you. The following month, you’ll pay a little bit less (or nothing at all) on your direct debit.
Shopmium
Supermarket shopping gets a lot more fun with this app as there are freebies and discounts galore that you can claim. By checking the app, you could end up getting a product for free, or get an unexpected discount on something you were going to buy anyway.
How does Shopmium work?
Once you've downloaded the Shopmium app, you'll see a list of offers on different grocery items. Some are freebies and some are discounted. If you see an offer you like, note it down and pick up the item when you're shopping. Once you have it, scan the barcode and receipt of your purchase to receive cashback.
- What can you get cashback on? - You can usually find cashback on new products and brands that want people to try for a reduced price. In the past, this has been drinks, frozen food, toiletries and more. The best freebie I saw was a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for free. The offers change roughly every week, so there will usually be something new every time you go to do your shopping.
- How much could you expect to earn? - If you’re using one or two offers every time you go shopping you can expect to save between £2 to £4 every trip. If you're a weekly shopper, this can add up to £20 plus in savings. If you're just in it for the freebies, you are likely to save between £5 to £10 a month.
- How do you claim the cashback? - Once you’ve hit the minimum requirement of £10 cashback in your account, you can request the cashback either as a PayPal or bank transfer. Cashback requests are processed within 48 hours.
GreenJinn
There was a time when you couldn’t save money on healthy food such as fruit and veg, but you can with the cashback app GreenJinn. Working similarly to Shopmium, it’s a supermarket app that you should always have in the back of your mind.
How does GreenJinn work?
Each week, there is a list of offers for cashback on healthy items of food in the supermarket. You can choose which supermarket you’re going to, which will then load up the relevant offers for that supermarket. If you see an offer you like, select the coupon and shop online or in-store. Snap a picture of the receipt to prove you bought it and you’ll get cashback for it.
- What can you get cashback on? - Fresh food such as carrots, parsnips, mushrooms and more - along with pre-packaged healthier food. If you don’t like the selection one week, there’ll be a whole different selection the next.
- How much could you expect to earn? - If you live a healthy lifestyle you can use the cashback offers on vegetables to plan which meals you have for the week and save money in the process. You can easily save around £5 a month on the fruit and vegetable offers alone and possibly more if you buy the other food items. There is the odd freebie you can claim occasionally too, which means even more money off.
- How do you claim the cashback? - Once you’ve hit the minimum requirement of £1.50 cashback in your account, you can request the cashback either as a PayPal or bank transfer. Once requested, it can take up to 3 working days to appear in your account but it can arrive quicker than this.
Cashback app comparison table
Below, we compare each of the 5 best cashback apps:
| JamDoughnut* | TopCashback* | Airtime Rewards | Shopmium | GreenJinn | |
| How does it work? | Earn cashback on digital gift cards and vouchers | Earn cashback on purchases | Earn cashback on purchases | Get discounts and freebies on food shopping | Get discounts and freebies on food shopping |
| How much can you expect to earn? | £10-£20 per month | £10-£50 per month | £5 per month | £5-£10 per month | £5 per month |
| When is cashback paid? | Instant cashback as soon as you have hit a minimum of 1,000 points (worth £10)
Get a £5 first-time purchase bonus*. Simply click on the link and use referral code MTTM. |
Within 30 days. No minimum cashback amount (unless requesting an M&S ecode which has a threshold of £1) | Within 30 days once you have hit a minimum of £10 cashback | Usually within 48 hours once you have hit a minimum of £10 cashback | Usually within 3 working days once you have hit a minimum of £1.50 cashback |
How to stack cashback to maximise your cashback
The true holy grail of cashback is the fact that you can stack multiple cashback apps on top of each other. It can be a great way to save even more money on your purchases and it can certainly add up.
Let’s say you were buying a new outfit from New Look. First of all, make sure you check the JamDoughnut* app and you’ll get 7.25% cashback on orders. New Look is also on Airtime Rewards, so you’ll get another 1% in cashback from them. This boosts your total up to 8.25%.
So if you spent £100 across two cashback apps, you will get £8.25 as cashback. And that’s just with one retailer. You can quickly see how the cashback adds up. It may not seem like much when used on their own, but used together, it can add up to a lot of money.
Summary
Having these 5 apps downloaded on your phone could add up to £10s or even £100s in savings each month. Over a year, this could amount to £1,000s. Think about what that extra £1,000 could get you while you click, scan and swipe away, now is the perfect time to start!
If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link, Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses or take advantage of any exclusive offers - TopCashback, JamDoughnut
