Should You Download the Dosh App? A Complete Review

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No matter what stage you’re in financially, I doubt you’d turn away the chance for free money. The promise of earning a dollar by clicking on a website or downloading an app seems almost too good to be true.

However, it’s true! There are hundreds of cash-back apps or websites promising big returns for little effort. But since I can barely keep up with funding my kid’s lunch account, squeezing in another obligation to earn only a few dollars doesn’t seem realistic. There’s no possible way I have time to earn a little extra money without having to put forth quite a bit of effort.

Yet now it seems like this is an actual, legit option. Intrigued? So was I, which is why I wanted to share this review of the Dosh App.

Table of Contents

What is the Dosh App?

Simply put, Dosh is a smartphone app that allows you to earn cash back from restaurants, retail stores, or certain online purchases. If you link your card to the app, it’ll automatically notify you of the cash you’ve earned on qualifying purchases.

The cash back amounts range anywhere from 2% of your purchases to upwards of 10%, or there might be a flat amount designated. There aren’t any points or receipts to keep track of because the information is linked to your card. You shop with your linked card and you earn the cash back. That’s it.

You have the choice to link either a debit card or a credit card, and you can also link multiple cards. At the time of this review, Dosh only allows you to link cards from Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

With Dosh, you grant access your location information, and you can automatically see which establishments qualify for cash back. The app will tell you which local or national places of business nearby are eligible and how much of a bonus you’re entitled to.

Not only will you see popular restaurants such as Pizza Hut or Dunkin Donuts, but you’ll also find several of your local eating establishments as well.

How Can You Make Money With the Dosh App?

By now you’re probably wondering how you could make enough money to warrant downloading another app. Fortunately, Dosh has created several ways for you to beef up your earnings.

First, your account will automatically be credited with $5 for each card you link. Bam, $5, done! But it doesn’t stop there. This is only the beginning of how you can earn cash.

Then, any time you spend money on your linked cards at a partner establishment, you’ll earn cash back. Dosh’s partners include Dunkin Donuts, Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples, gas stations, and many local establishments. If you shop online, you can also earn cash back, you just need to first click through from the Dosh app.

Finally, in addition to shopping or eating (which pretty much sums up my two favorite activities), you can earn additional money for referrals. Every time one of your friends or family members signs up and links a card, you can earn $5 for each verified card.

If you want referrals, don’t be shy about sending out your personal referral code provided by Dosh! You can share it on all the social networks so your friends and family can easily see your code.

Since Dosh is constantly adding new partners, you’ll want to allow the app to send you notifications on offers available nearby.

How Do I Get Paid by the Dosh App?

At this point, you might ask what hoops you need to jump through in order to receive your funds from Dosh. Each time you shop at a qualifying retailer or restaurant, and you use the debit or credit card which is linked to your account, then your account will automatically be credited.

Once you hit the $25 mark in earnings, you can start transferring the money over to your PayPal, Venmo, or bank account. You’ll have to provide the information for these accounts in order for you to receive your money.

Another neat feature you can choose for the Dosh payouts is to donate your earnings to charity.

One of the points that I think is most appealing about the Dosh app is that you don’t have to keep up with any receipts for your purchases in order to be reimbursed. This is perfect for moms like me who can’t even keep a dollar in their wallet, much less keep track of receipts.

Does the Dosh App Keep My Information Safe?

I don’t know about you, but in this day in age, I feel like online security is an absolute must. I’m concerned about the threat of someone copying my credit card number and using it to do their own shopping. I’m also worried about my personal data being sold or distributed and being used for who knows what.

Dosh appears to understand the concerns about safety and chooses to address it from the very beginning. From the moment you open the app to the time you link your card, you’re given information on the security features of the app.

Dosh promises to provide “bank-level” security with several safeguards in place for your data. All data is encrypted with their very sophisticated software. They even take it a step further and don’t store any of your banking or credit card information. All the information is housed with a third-party company called Braintree, which is a PayPal company.

Dosh also uses a multi-factor authentication process to make sure you’re the only one accessing your account, and they will not sell any of your personally identifiable information to a third-party.

The Downsides of the Dosh App

Yes, the benefits of earning cash for purchases you’ll make anyway seems like a no-brainer. But are there any downsides to having something so easy to use right at your fingertips?

Keep in mind you do have to link a credit card. Right now you can only link certain Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards, and the app currently excludes linking store or corporate cards.

Another point to consider is the $25 payout level. While $25 doesn’t seem like a large amount of money at first, it may take quite a bit of time to get to the level for payout.

When you’re finally able to cash out, there have been reports of it taking multiple days or weeks for your earnings to be credited to your account in some cases. Maybe this isn’t a big deal, but this could be a drawback if you’re looking for ways to quickly access money the money you’ve earned.

Aren’t There Other Apps Which Promise Cash Back?

Dosh isn’t the first app to come along to promise you a payout for shopping at a specific retailer. A quick Google search for cash-back apps and you’ll realize how many are out there making big promises.

But how does Dosh compare to other popular cash-back apps in the market?

Ibotta

Ibotta is a very popular option for earning cash back on both your in-store and online purchases. The basic premise is you look up the current offers on the Ibotta app and match it to your receipt and the store where you’re shopping to receive a designated amount back. It could be as little as 25 cents or as much as a percentage of your purchase.

Ibotta requires you to upload your receipts in order to verify the purchases. Again, if you’re unorganized or forgetful and let too much time go by (many of the offers are time-sensitive), you might have a harder time using this app.

However, what Ibotta does offer is a huge amount of items where you can earn cash back.

If you’re going to the grocery store, chances are high you’re going to find an offer you can redeem with Ibotta. If you combine this with an item you already have a coupon for or one that’s on sale, then you can save even more. And like Dosh, you earn additional money through referrals and extra monthly bonuses.

There is a $20 payout level for Ibotta and you can choose to send it to your PayPal account or have it applied to a gift card.

Ebates

Ebates is another popular cash-back option, but the focus for this app is mainly with online purchases. This company partners with retailers to earn cash back and splits the commission with you. The retailers are constantly changing, as are the amounts you can earn. You can also add money to your account by referring friends and family.

This app is similar to Dosh in that you don’t have to upload receipts; you simply open an account.

Where Ebates differs than other sites is it takes about 90 days to receive your payout. (You can only get paid out once a quarter.) But you can have cash credited to your PayPal account.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is slightly different because the focus is you being able to earn money by taking surveys and watching videos online. Each survey or video will allow you to earn a certain number of Swagbucks and, once you reach a designated level of Swagbucks, you can convert your points to cash.

You can also set Swagbucks as your default search engine so you can earn even more “bucks”. You can also play games, purchase gift cards – there are several ways to beef up your bucks.

Where Swagbucks gets tricky is you have to spend quite a bit of time online in order to earn a significant amount. If you’re online quite a bit anyway, then this could be another option.

Give It To Me Straight – Should I Download the Dosh App?

The Dosh app is undeniably easy to use. The fact that it’s safe and partnered with many different types of retailers is a great bonus. So, I would definitely recommend downloading the Dosh app to save on your normal purchases. As long as you understand the money will trickle in.

The Dosh app isn’t set up to be a full-scale side hustle. But it never hurts to have a few extra bucks in your pocket with no extra work, right?

Have you used the Dosh app? How much cash back have you earned? Share your experience in the comments!

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