The CheckPoints app will reward you with free gift cards and cash back when you simply scan barcodes whenever you’re out and about with your phone.  If you’re familiar with Shopkick, it operates just like it, only that I would say it’s not as popular.

Now, this app isn’t going to make you a ton of money, but it may be one you will want to have downloaded on your phone if you find yourself shopping a lot.  It’s as simple as scanning products the app asks you to and earning points for doing so.  It’s a legitimate app, I can promise you that, but the question is how much can you earn?

As in all of my reviews, I’m always honest, I never recommend something that I don’t like nor do I push garbage that only makes me money.  I just don’t work that way.

Who Runs It?

CheckPoints is operated by InMarket LLC.  The website doesn’t say much about what the company is or who runs it, but with a quick glance on their LinkedIn page, I saw that they were a ” leader in 360-degree consumer intelligence and real-time activation for thousands of major brands.”  Founded in 2010, the company has helped partners learn more about who their customers really are.  The page says they have 51-200 employees and is currently based in Culver City, CA as a privately held company.

Signing Up

CheckPoints is available for both Google Play and iTunes.  It’s only a mobile app at the moment since it requires you to be at a location in order to scan particular barcodes.

When you sign up, it will ask you to go through a tutorial as well as practice scanning a barcode at home.  While you do this, you can earn points, about 20 in total.  It’s not much, but it all adds up, I suppose.  It takes maybe a minute, but it’s very simple to do.  To create an account, you will need either a Facebook account or you can sign up with your email address, whichever you prefer.

Once you create an account and confirm your email address, you can start using the app immediately.

Earning Points

Whenever you log into your dashboard, it’s going to look something like this:

It’s a lot to absorb, but the company makes it easy to understand what you’re looking at.  Let’s break it down.

Scan Receipts

Whenever you scan a receipt, you can do so in one or two ways.  You can either connect your debit/checking account and earn 100 points as well as earn 40 points per receipt, up to twice a day.  This is 100% optional, and I don’t recommend connecting your bank account to this app, but I’m not going to stop you.  They do use a third-party service called Plaid, which is secure and private.  A lot of reputable sites use this when you connect any bank account.  If you do so, they will continue to scan your purchases and then ask for the receipts in question.  If you were to submit two a day at 40 points, that could equate to 2,480 points (31 days x 80).

Another way to earn points is simply by looking at the list of receipts needed and submitting one.  As long as it’s from the retailer, it can be any receipt.

As you can see, it will tell you which retailer they are looking for as well as how many points you can earn.  Keep in mind, again, this can be any receipt, so you don’t have to worry about having a specific item on your receipt.  You won’t earn much, maybe five points receipt, but you can earn 100 points for your first receipt submission.

You can earn points for the first two receipts per day and then one coin after that for the day.  This will reset every 24 hours and receipts must be less than two weeks old.

Scan Barcodes

This is where you’re going to make most of your money.  Here, you will be asked to scan specific items at certain stores.  And, when you click on the link, this is what you will see…

It will list the location, the address as well as the brand.  Depending on where you live, you may see hundreds of jobs, whereas in other areas you may only see a few.  Your results will vary.  Usually, I have found that there are around 10-20 stores to shop.

So, when you see a location you’re either at or willing to go to, just click on it, and it will then display something like this…

It will then list a variety of products, sometimes one, sometimes many.  If you see any of these products in the store, pick it up, scan it and then you will receive the points noted.  In this case, 25 points.  Just make sure the product matches the picture and description.  As long as you do this, you will be rewarded.

• TIP:  To find stores nearby, click on the “In Store” button near the bottom and this will display the stores closest to your location.

Answer Surveys

This is another self explanatory one, wherein you can answer survey questions and earn points.

Like the many survey apps I have talked about in the past, you will need to let them know more about you, and in turn, they will send you survey opportunities.

It seems as if they work with a lot of third-party offerwalls, which is okay, but you will find that that other sites offer the same opportunities, but they pay a lot more in most cases.  Even so, the surveys don’t pay much, a few points here and there, and most of your points will be earned in scanning the barcodes.

Rewards

At the moment CheckPoints offers a variety of rewards, including the following options:

• Amazon (335 pts+)
• Walmart (340 pts+)
• Target (340 pts+)
• GameStop (17,250 pts+)
• PayPal (2,500 pts+)
• Groupon (8,500 pts+)
• Starbucks (8,500 pts+)
• Home Depot (3,440 pts+)
• Domino’s (3,330 pts+)
• Sephora (8,500 pts+)

At a minimum, you will need at least 335 points, a $1 value, to cash out for an Amazon and Target gift card.  Everything else requires at least $5 in points, sometimes more.  I put the minimums above to give you an idea as to how many points you need to cash out.

How Much Are the Points Worth?

As mentioned briefly above there, every 335 points are worth about $1.  It’s a stupid system, but if you can think that every 335 points are worth about $1, then it makes it somewhat easier.  Unfortunately, they don’t use a one point equals a penny-like system.

As for the point value, every point, depending on which reward you choose, is worth about $0.002 each.

Earn Prizes as Well

Aside from cashing out for a guaranteed gift card, you can also play games with your points, in which you will have to gamble your points.

At the moment, they had two games, Paradise Slots and Jungle Lotto, and each one would cost 12 points per play.  Picture it like a slot machine and lotto ticket.

Looking at the official rules, prizes seem to be coins, up to 150,000.

Remember that this is a gamble.  If you plan on saving up for a gift card, I feel the odds are not worth it.

The Pros:

• get paid to scan barcodes
• legit company
• get paid to upload receipts

The Cons:

• negative BBB rating
• low income opportunity

Final Thoughts

As you can see in my example, you could earn about 25 points per barcode.  If you were to want a $1 Amazon card, you would have to find 14 items inside the store to earn that.  Of course, you can earn money with the surveys and referring friends, but there isn’t much in that regard.

Keep in mind that some scans can pay more, but from what I saw, most paid about 25 points, maybe a pinch more.  My point is that you’re going to invest a lot of time in a store to earn $1, the main reason I won’t recommend it 100%.  While the app is legit, it won’t be on my phone.  I feel Shopkick is better off in this regard if you want to earn points scanning items as they pay much more.

That’s going to wrap it up!

As always, check out the site and my YouTube channel to learn about the many ways to make, save and be smart with your money.  I’m always honest and will continue to add as many guides as I can to help save you time.  Thanks for stopping by!