Maximize Your Credit score Card Rewards

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

When you’ve got a number of rewards playing cards, figuring out which card will get you the absolute best money again or journey rewards charge for various purchases is usually a problem. 

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

It is browser plugin robotically fills out your bank card particulars primarily based on which card affords the very best 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 massive tech corporations and determined to unravel one in every of their greatest 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 completely different credit score and debit playing cards and works with greater than 2 million retailers, so there’s a superb 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 security measures to maintain your bank card particulars secure, which ought to put most customers relaxed so that they don’t have to fret about including their playing cards to the app.

The principle characteristic of the Kudos pockets helps you decide the very best bank card for every buy, specializing in which card you’ve gotten that provides the very best rewards in that buy class. It additionally works with over 15,000 collaborating retailers to supply elevated rewards, much like different enhance packages provided by bank card and funding corporations.

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

Choose The Greatest Rewards Credit score Card At Checkout

The first characteristic of Kudos is a brilliant bank card picker. The Kudos pockets seems to be at the place you’re buying and compares playing cards in your on-line pockets to decide on the very best 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 cost playing cards. After 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 not out there and each enterprise and private accounts.

Kudos Increase

Kudos Increase is a accomplice program (that’s additionally a part of the Kudos income mannequin) that lets you earn enhanced rewards with collaborating retailers. Whereas looking the highest offers, I noticed huge manufacturers, together with Walmart, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Tractor Provide, Staples, Dick’s Sporting Items, Workplace Depot, Groupon, and CVS. The listing contains retail, journey, and different locations you possible already store.

As a way to earn Kudos Increase, that you must add your playing cards to your Kudos pockets and activate the extension at checkout. Increase rewards are amassed in your Kudos account. When you attain a stability of $10 or extra, you’ll be able to redeem them for an Amazon present card. Further redemption choices similar to money or airline miles are coming quickly.

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

Computerized Credit score Card Type Filling

Whereas it’s not a standalone characteristic, the added comfort of robotically filling in your bank cards when buying on-line is useful. Whereas I already get this from my browser and password supervisor, if I didn’t, I’d actually contemplate 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 folks 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 minimize of the bonus or sale from collaborating retailers.

Kudos isn’t the one fintech firm making an attempt that will help you maximize rewards. A few different options embrace:

MaxRewards is a free app that helps you select the appropriate 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 robotically activate offers by means of your bank card portal. A Gold membership begins at $84 yearly. For extra particulars, take a look at our MaxRewards evaluate.

CardPointers is much like Kudos, nevertheless it additionally lets you robotically activate merchant-specific bonuses to your current bank cards. Nevertheless, it’s a must to pay $60 per 12 months to unlock a lot of the options.

Whereas fashionable buying instruments like Rakuten, Honey, and Capital One Procuring may also help you lower your expenses by means of coupons and cashback affords, Kudos supplies a extra holistic and automatic method to maximizing your bank card rewards. By seamlessly integrating together with your current bank cards, Kudos units itself aside as the final word rewards optimization instrument for savvy consumers and bank card fanatics.

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 means 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 abilities ought to be capable of deal with with out breaking a sweat.

Kudos makes an enormous deal of consumer safety, and is clear about its app and the steps it takes to maintain your data secure:

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

The perfect place to get assist with a Kudos account or get solutions to questions is by emailing assist@joinkudos.com. There are not any further customer support strategies, similar to telephone assist.

The assist part has a hyperlink for a contact kind, which is basically 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 at all times looking out for brand new and distinctive apps that may assist me take advantage of my bank card rewards. On this case, I signed up for the app myself.

The School Investor staff works to supply unbiased opinions to assist customers discover essentially the most useful accounts and instruments on the most affordable value. If I wouldn’t advocate it to my sister, I wouldn’t advocate it to The School Investor readers.

Kudos is for anybody with a number of bank cards on the lookout 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 making an attempt to determine if it’s a superb match to your wants.

Contemplating that every bank card has its personal “greatest” rewards perks, it may be onerous to be sure you’re profiting from your card in one of the best ways. Particularly in case your playing cards have annual charges. When you’ve got a bank card with an annual charge, you need to be certain you’re getting sufficient worth from the cardboard to verify the charge is worth it. Kudos may also help with that.

Kudos might not be price utilizing if you happen to 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 important worth contemplating the fee and options.

Take a look at Kudos right here >>