Maximize Your Credit score Card Rewards

Kudos is a useful net browser extension that helps you maximize your bank card rewards earnings if you store on-line. 

If in case you have a number of rewards playing cards, figuring out which card will get you the very best money again or journey rewards charge for various purchases is usually a problem. 

Between my spouse’s and my pockets, we have now greater than a dozen rewards playing cards. Whereas doing this overview, I signed up myself, because it appears useful for my private wants.

It is browser plugin routinely fills out your bank card particulars primarily based on which card provides the perfect rewards from that exact service provider. Right here’s a better have a look at how the Kudos pockets app works and who could profit most.

Kudos is a California-based enterprise capital-funded firm based in 2021. Founders Tikue Anazodo and Ahmad Ismail beforehand labored collectively at giant tech corporations and determined to unravel one in every of their largest challenges with rewards playing cards: figuring out which to make use of to maximise the rewards from every card of their pockets.

The Kudos system helps greater than 3,000 totally different credit score and debit playing cards and works with greater than 2 million retailers, so there’s probability it’ll work with all your bank cards and the locations you store most.

They declare to have helped their 200,000 members earn over $150,000,000 in rewards to-date.

Kudos has raised $7 million, giving it room to develop and enhance. These funds have additionally allowed the corporate to take a position closely in safety features to maintain your bank card particulars secure, which ought to put most customers comfy so that they don’t have to fret about including their playing cards to the app.

The principle function of the Kudos pockets helps you decide the perfect bank card for every buy, specializing in which card you may have that provides the perfect rewards in that buy class. It additionally works with over 15,000 taking part retailers to supply elevated rewards, just like different increase packages provided by bank card and funding corporations.

Kudos is finest used as a browser extension on desktop or laptop computer computer systems, although it’s also possible to use it with Safari on iOS gadgets. There’s presently no app for Android customers, but it surely’s on their roadmap.

Decide The Greatest Rewards Credit score Card At Checkout

The first function of Kudos is a brilliant bank card picker. The Kudos pockets seems at the place you’re purchasing and compares playing cards in your on-line pockets to decide on the perfect rewards card for that particular retailer. Whether or not you’re seeking to earn money again or journey rewards, the Kudos app considers the place you’ll earn essentially the most worth.

In line with the Kudos web site, it helps greater than 3,000 fee playing cards. Once I signed up, I used to be capable of simply discover and add each card my spouse and I’ve to my account. That features some older Chase and Amex playing cards which might be now not out there and each enterprise and private accounts.

Kudos Increase

Kudos Increase is a associate program (that’s additionally a part of the Kudos income mannequin) that means that you can earn enhanced rewards with taking part retailers. Whereas shopping the highest offers, I noticed massive manufacturers, together with Walmart, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Tractor Provide, Staples, Dick’s Sporting Items, Workplace Depot, Groupon, and CVS. The record consists of retail, journey, and different locations you possible already store.

To be able to earn Kudos Increase, you want to add your playing cards to your Kudos pockets and activate the extension at checkout. Increase rewards are gathered in your Kudos account. When you attain a steadiness of $10 or extra, you possibly can redeem them for an Amazon present card. Extra redemption choices resembling money or airline miles are coming quickly.

After finishing a couple of signup duties within the app, I earned greater than $4 in rewards earlier than making my first Increase-eligible buy.

Computerized Credit score Card Kind Filling

Whereas it’s not a standalone function, the added comfort of routinely filling in your bank cards when purchasing on-line is useful. Whereas I already get this from my browser and password supervisor, if I didn’t, I’d actually think about this a pleasant value-add. 

Kudos is totally free, so there’s not value so as to add it to your browser or iPhone and provides it a attempt. 

Kudos earns cash by referring individuals to new bank cards and earns an affiliate fee in the event that they join. It additionally earns income from the Kudos Increase program, getting a lower of the bonus or sale from taking part retailers.

Kudos isn’t the one fintech firm attempting that can assist you maximize rewards. A few different options embody:

MaxRewards is a free app that helps you select the precise card for every buy however doesn’t have the identical degree of automated integrations as Kudos. It’s extra highly effective for managing your bank card portfolio, and the premium model, MaxRewards Gold helps you routinely activate offers by way of your bank card portal. A Gold membership begins at $84 yearly. For extra particulars, take a look at our MaxRewards overview.

CardPointers is just like Kudos, but it surely additionally means that you can routinely activate merchant-specific bonuses in your current bank cards. Nonetheless, you need to pay $60 per yr to unlock a lot of the options.

Whereas standard purchasing instruments like Rakuten, Honey, and Capital One Procuring will help you get monetary savings by way of coupons and cashback provides, Kudos gives a extra holistic and automatic strategy to maximizing your bank card rewards. By seamlessly integrating along with your current bank cards, Kudos units itself aside as the final word rewards optimization device for savvy consumers and bank card lovers.

Opening an account took me about two minutes. I entered my title, e mail deal with, and telephone quantity and needed to enter a code to confirm each. As soon as verified, Kudos took me by way of an onboarding course of the place I added my bank cards and the browser extension.

It was a clean and simple course of that anybody with fundamental web expertise ought to be capable to deal with with out breaking a sweat.

Kudos makes a giant deal of person safety, and is clear about its app and the steps it takes to maintain your data secure:

• 256-bit encryption: This is similar degree of encryption utilized by banks and different monetary platforms to make sure customers can’t learn your data, even when they by some means break into Kudos.
• Exterior auditing: Kudos hires outdoors auditors for SOC 2 safety with constant outdoors monitoring by a specialised digital safety vendor.
• AWS internet hosting: Kudos makes use of Amazon Internet Providers secured internet hosting with encryption, one of many largest and most trusted cloud internet hosting suppliers.
• Knowledge by no means offered: Private knowledge is rarely offered or shared with third events outdoors of distributors used to make the service work.

The most effective place to get assist with a Kudos account or get solutions to questions is by emailing help@joinkudos.com. There are not any extra customer support strategies, resembling telephone help.

The help part has a hyperlink for a contact kind, which is actually the identical as e mail.

Why Ought to You Belief Me?

I’m a former financial institution supervisor and have been writing about fintech apps like Kudos since 2008. With greater than two dozen bank cards of my very own, I’m all the time looking out for brand new and distinctive apps that may assist me benefit from my bank card rewards. On this case, I signed up for the app myself.

The Faculty Investor workforce works to supply unbiased critiques to assist customers discover essentially the most useful accounts and instruments on the most affordable worth. If I wouldn’t suggest it to my sister, I wouldn’t suggest it to The Faculty Investor readers.

Kudos is for anybody with a number of bank cards searching for assist figuring out the place to make use of every card to maximise their rewards. Because it’s free, there’s no hurt in attempting to resolve if it’s match in your wants.

Contemplating that every bank card has its personal “finest” rewards perks, it may be onerous to ensure you’re profiting from your card in one of the best ways. Particularly in case your playing cards have annual charges. If in case you have a bank card with an annual payment, you wish to ensure you’re getting sufficient worth from the cardboard to ensure the payment is worth it. Kudos will help with that.

Kudos will not be price utilizing when you solely have one or two bank cards or are skittish about sharing your bank card particulars on-line. In any other case, it’s an amazing worth contemplating the price and options.

Try Kudos right here >>