Credit Karma Money™, a single destination within Credit Karma for spending and saving, has announced the launch of cash back rewards, “giving its more than 110 million members in the U.S. the chance to earn cash back when they spend money at certain merchants using their Credit Karma Visa® debit card.”
This experience, powered by Cardlytics’ cash back platform, gives Credit Karma members “access to Cardlytics’ network of thousands of merchants, including major brands like adidas and Shake Shack, as well as local small businesses across the U.S.”
This launch “serves as Credit Karma Money’s latest move towards making financial services more inclusive, giving members the opportunity to earn cash back when they spend.”
At launch, Credit Karma members who already have a Credit Karma Money Spend account “will automatically be enrolled into the cash back program–there is no need to sign up.”
From there, members can “begin earning cash back when shopping with merchants within Cardlytics’ network of partner brands.”
Unlike other rewards programs, cash back with Credit Karma Money Spend “offers real money, not points, and there are no payout minimums required.”
Any cash earned by members, “no matter how small the amount, will be credited back to their Credit Karma Money Spend account and can be used as soon as it’s available.”
Poulomi Damany, SVP/GM of Credit Karma Money and Tax, said:
“Cash back benefits and other such rewards have historically been reserved for credit cards. Specifically, those that are most often only obtained by consumers with prime credit. That didn’t seem fair to us. That’s why we sought to deliver cash back rewards to our members for spending with retailers they already know and love. The best part? They’re able to earn cash back for spending money they already have, resulting in more money in Americans’ pockets.”
Members can earn cash back “through automatic offers, which are earned when a member uses their Credit Karma Visa® debit card to make a purchase at any merchant within Cardlytics’ network.”
Purchases can be “made both in store and online, in most cases.”
Cash back rewards is Credit Karma Money’s latest feature “aimed at incentivizing consumers to spend within their means by giving them the chance to earn cash back for practicing good financial habits.”
This feature “follows Credit Karma Money’s launch of Instant Karma5 , a feature that randomly reimburses members for purchases made using their Spend account.”
Satyen Motiani, Product Manager for Credit Karma Money, remarked:
“Checking accounts are one of the oldest financial products on the market and yet, they’ve largely remained unchanged. In fact, most traditional checking accounts today don’t do much more than safely hold people’s money while charging unnecessary fees. We wish to change that. We’ve built Credit Karma Money to do more for our members and that starts with helping them develop better financial habits and giving them ways to make their money go further. Cash back rewards from Credit Karma Money is the latest example of that.”
Credit Karma is “an independent third-party and is not a bank.”
The Credit Karma platform “facilitates the opening and managing of Spend and Save accounts offered through our bank partner MVB Bank, Inc., Member FDIC.”
Founded in 2007 by Ken Lin, Credit Karma, an Intuit company (Nasdaq: INTU), is “a consumer technology company with more than 120 million members in the United States, U.K. and Canada, including almost half of all U.S. millennials.”
While best known for pioneering free credit scores, the company’s members turn to Credit Karma “for everything related to their financial goals, including identity monitoring, applying for credit cards, shopping for loans (car, home and personal), auto insurance, savings accounts and now checking accounts through [their] bank partner, MVB Bank, Inc., Member FDIC — all for free.”