The Pogo app is one of the many apps that will reward you to shop.  Unlike most apps that require you upload a receipt to get rewarded, Pogo works much differently as all they ask you to do is connect your credit and/or debit card via 256-factor encryption.  This will then allow the app to pull receipts from the retailers you shop with and reward you in doing so.  Basically, you can sit back and do almost nothing, all while earning rewards.

Now, linking your credit or debit card may sound scary, and I get it.  The question here is if linking your card is worth it.  That’s why I wanted to create this review.

If you want to earn reward points every time you shop or eat, no matter where you may be, then the highly rated Pogo app may worth your time.

Let’s dive in and see why this app has such high reviews on the Google Play and iTunes Store.

How Does the Pogo App Work?

For every purchase you make with your credit or debit card, Pogo will award you points whenever they see a transaction.  According to the official app, they reward you EVERY TIME you shop, no matter the store, brand and where it’s purchased (online or in store).  This can include grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, online shopping and even your utilities.  Again, it seems to be everything.

As mentioned in the intro, you will have to link one of your credit/debit cards, particularly the one you use all of the time so that you can maximize your rewards.  The company uses the Plaid service, which is a 256-factor encryption option which links your credit card accounts, simply by you logging into your account and allowing the app to read your transactions.  Plaid is a very reputable service that is used by many major corporations.  There’s no worry here.

Signing Up

If this sounds like something of interest, then you can either download the app on the Google Play Store or iTunes.  It’s 100% free to do so and you can get started almost immediately.  You will need to reside in the United States and have a credit card in your name.  This mostly means you need to be at least 18+ years old.

After you download the app, the company will asks that you enter your phone number.  This will be used as your login information as well as to be used as two-factor verification.  They also will want your email as well as to agree to the terms of service, as seen below.

In agreeing to the terms, you’re allowing the company to provide you with personalized ads based on your past spending as well as to share your information with other companies so that they can better understand your shopping behavior, etc.  This is very commonplace among these purchase reward apps as they need to make money somehow.  They sell your data and then share some of the cash with you.

Agree and continue to start earning rewards.

How to Earn Points

To start earning rewards, as mentioned, you will need to connect your credit or debit card.  If you’re uncomfortable in doing this, then I understand.  However, you will not be able to continue to use the app, unfortunately, if you don’t do so.

But, if you continue to connect your credit card, then the company will give you points every time you make a purchase.  And again, this can be any purchase shown on your credit card transaction list.  Just connect your card and that’s it.  As long as the card is active and you’re making purchases, you will earn points.

For every account you link, the company, right away, will give you bonus points.  While I was writing this, for instance, they were giving out 300 points when you linked past purchases.  There will be a limit, however, usually up to 1,500 points.

Aside from connecting your credit card account, you can also link your third-party accounts such as Instacart, Target and Amazon, to name a few.

Now, the great thing is that you can link as many credit/debit card purchases as possible.  The more you link, the more you can make, as long as you’re making purchases.  You can also earn free points whenever you turn on your “allow location” when using your phone.  When you do this, the company will reward you whenever you pass a partnered retailer.

Aside from your purchases, you can also earn points whenever you take a survey.  If you see a survey, these often pay around 100 to 300 points or about $1 to $3 in value.  They are rare, but they do show up on occasions.  Like many survey sites, you won’t qualify for all of the surveys you apply to.

How Many Points Will I Earn?

How many points you earn will depend on how often you make a purchase and what you’re purchasing.  Every purchase that posts will need to be approved by you, however, it’s not as bad as you think.  You just need to “claim” your transaction whenever it’s approved.  Some find this annoying, as I would rather see it post immediately, but it’s not too hard to log in and click a button.

From my experience, as well as others, most transactions will earn you anywhere from 2 to 4 points, which equals $0.02 to $0.04 in value.  Every point you earn is a penny in value.

Doing the math, you will need about 30~ transactions to earn about a dollar.  I don’t know how much you shop or buy on your credit card, but this could take about a week or two, again, greatly depending on your spending habits.

Rewards

As mentioned, every point is worth a penny, so if you’re making 30 transactions a month, you will earn about $1.20 in rewards.  Remember, you don’t have to do anything to earn these. Sprinkle in referrals or even a survey, and your points can greatly increase.

You will need at least $3 in rewards, which equals 3,000 points, to cash out.  You can cash out at anytime once you meet that $3 minimum threshold.  You can either do so via PayPal or Venmo, the only two options at the moment.

Payments are usually almost instant but there may be a delay in some cases.

What the Internet Says

From reading the apps reviews as well as other websites, I found a lot of good as well as bad.

When I was writing this, the Google Play Store had a solid 4.7/5 rating, while the iTunes store users gave it a fantastic 4.8/5 rating.

As for the positives, users liked the following:

• many thought it was one of the better “receipt” like apps
• a great way to get paid for doing almost nothing

As for the negatives, here’s what they had to say:

• a lot didn’t like the idea of connecting a credit/debit card
• can take almost 100~ transactions before you earn $3 or so
• every transaction requires you to approve before you’re credited

Final Thoughts

5/10In the end, the Pogo app is cool as long as you don’t mind sharing your credit card information, etc.  If you do, how much you make will depend on how often you use your accounts.  On average, plan on making about $0.02~ per transaction, so you can do the math.  You’re not going to get rich, that’s for sure, but maybe you can make a few dollars sharing your information?  It’s really up to you.

The company is legit and they do pay out, so there’s no worry there.  The only problem is that many don’t feel comfortable sharing their data and I can respect that.  Personally, I don’t do it for that very reason.  I don’t feel it’s worth $3 to share 100+ transactions.  Maybe that’s just me.

That’s going to do it for now.

As always, if you want to share your thoughts, you’re more than welcome to do so in the comments below.