Upside Review 2023: How Does It Work?

How Does Upside Work?

The creators of Upside developed the app to help consumers increase the value of their purchases and help businesses see measured improvement in their profit margin. Although you may incur fees in some instances, Upside still makes saving money easy and convenient.

Learn: How To Get Cash Back on Your Everyday Purchases

As an Upside member, you can:

• Save up to $0.25 on every gallon of gas purchases.
• Earn up to 45% cash back at grocery stores or restaurants.
• Get up to 30% cash back on your grocery bill in select cities.

How To Use Upside

Using Upside is easy and takes just five steps.

1. Download the Upside app from the App Store on iOS or the Google Play Store on Android devices.
2. When you purchase gas, groceries, convenience store items or food at a restaurant, simply open the Upside app.
3. Claim the best offer from a merchant near your location.
4. Use your debit or credit card to make your purchase.
5. Check-in or take a photo of your receipt on the Upside app.

You can start earning cash back on your transactions directly in the app. Cash out your earnings through an e-gift card, bank account or PayPal.

Upside App Key Features

The Upside app, through your GetUpside account, lets you earn money back on your everyday purchases at any time. Here are some of Upside’s key features.

1. Availability 
2. Ease of Use
3. In-App Help
4. Fees

1. Availability

Upside works at over 45,000 merchants across the U.S. — including Shell, Burger King, Cub Foods and Dunkin’ Donuts, among many others. Whether you’re looking for a restaurant or filling up the gas tank on a long drive, you shouldn’t have much difficulty finding a nearby offer.

Unfortunately, Upside’s grocery offers are only available in select cities for now.

2. Ease of Use

Using Upside is simple: download the app from Google Play or the Apple App Store — it has excellent ratings on both. Then use the app to find an offer, pay with your usual credit or debit card, and submit your receipt or Check In to earn your cash back. You’ll receive an email when your purchase is verified.

You can also sign up on their website.

3. In-App Help

Although Upside does not provide a customer service phone number, making it difficult to get help in the moment, it does have a comprehensive Using Upside page with the answers to most questions. Users encountering issues with the app or having trouble claiming an offer can reach out by submitting a request and waiting for a response.

4. Fees

Unfortunately, Upside does charge a $1 fee for cashing out smaller amounts. Cashing out with a bank account for amounts under $10 or with PayPal under $15 will both cost the $1 fee. However, there is no fee for cash outs over those amounts. Users will want to consider whether the fee is worth it before they cash out.

This fee can be waived by referring to just one person who is actively using the app.

What Makes Upside Stand Out?

Cash back apps are a saturated market, so knowing what features you prefer for your user experience is important. Whether you want to get paid in digital gift cards or want to make uploading receipts as easy as possible here are some of Upside’s other features to consider:

• Secure transactions: Upside never has access to your full debit or credit card number or any of its security information.
• Additional bonuses: Merchants provide customized offers and bonuses when cashback offers are limited. You receive email notifications of these special offers.
• No receipt is necessary at some locations: Previously, you had to snap a photo of your itemized receipt and upload it to the app to show proof of purchase. Now, you only have to check your merchant’s offer to verify your purchases at participating locations.
• Revenue: 1% of all revenue goes toward sustainability work.
• User cash-back: Users of the Upside app have reaped $200 million in cash back from their purchases.

Upside prides itself on impacting communities by transforming routine activities into significant change.

How Does Upside Compare With Competitors?

Here are a few competitors with similar features that help you pay less at the pump, just like the Upside app. All of these cash-back apps are available on Android and iOS smartphones and save you money on gas — and other categories in some cases. Compared to the others, Upside seems to be the most comprehensive and user-friendly.

Gas Guru vs Upside

Gas Guru allows you to find cheap gas prices nearby, compare gas prices near your favorite locations and see the amenities available at gas stations before you make the trip.

GasBuddy vs. Upside

The GasBuddy app offers exclusive deals and rewards and challenges to win free gas, as well as enabling you to search for local gas prices.

Receipt Hog vs. Upside

With Receipt Hog, you can submit pictures of your receipts to earn rewards, track your budget, keep receipts for returns and offer feedback to brands.

Is Upside Right For You?

No app is perfect, and Upside is no exception. Aside from its fees, Upside does have a few drawbacks, but it can be the best app for your needs as well. To understand this further, here are some potential drawbacks, but if you are comfortable with them, Upside may be the app for you.

• Security: Although Upside never has access to your full card number, it does require the first six and last four digits to verify your purchases. This combination also indicates the type of card you’re using.
• Verification time: It can take up to three business days for your purchases to be verified. Once verified, you’ll receive an email.
• No discount at the time of purchase: Upside does not work like a coupon or discount code – it doesn’t offer any money off your purchase up-front, so you do have to wait for your purchase to be verified to receive your cashback.

Final Take To GO

A little cash back at a time adds up fast, especially with frequent purchases like gas and food. If you’re confident in Upside’s security procedures and shop frequently at participating businesses, you could end up saving some extra money — just don’t expect it to appear in your bank account immediately. However, if you’re concerned about the security risk of Upside keeping your partial card number on file and don’t often shop at locations it works with, you might be better off saving money another way.

Kathy Evans contributed to the reporting for this article.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article

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