Bumped App Shutting Down

Update 12/19/22: Bumped sent out an email today that they are shutting down and all brokerage accounts will be have their custody taken over by their host, Apex.

Update 10/29/20: This is now live.

Update 9/30/20: Looks like Bumped is moving towards a shopping portal style rather than a card linked program. Probably makes it completely useless.

Update 8/14/19: Uber and Lyft added. Hat tip reader BF

Update 8/13/19: Kroger & Albertsons added and offering 0.5%. Hat tip to GC Galore

Bumped Rewards App

Direct Link to Bumped

The Bumped app is another one of many card link programs where users earn rewards when shopping at many various retailers by linking your accounts and cards. The twist with Bumped is that you earn stock instead of cash back. As an example, when you shop at Walmart, you’ll earn 1% back in Walmart stock.

You can only pick one store within a category to get rewards in. You can only change your choice of merchant with-in a category ONCE PER MONTH, and only a few times per year. So choose wisely! You can use these saved offers both online and in-store.

Available Retailers

Below are all available retailers, separated by category. Again, you only get one store per category. Bear in mind, the rates listed below are meant as a sample only; rates can always change, plus, some readers are seeing different rates.

• Burgers
  • 3% Jack in the Box
  • 3% McDonald’s
  • 3% Wendy’s
• Club Warehouse
  • 3% Sam’s Club
• Coffee
  • 3% Starbucks
• Drug Stores
  • 1% Walgreens
  • 1% CVS
• Family Dining
  • 2% Applebee’s
  • 2% Chili’s
  • 2% Olive Garden
  • 2% Red Robin
• Grocery
  • 1% Kroger (entire family of Kroger stores seems to work for this)
• Home Improvement
  • 1% Lowe’s
  • 1% Home Depot
• Mexican Food
  • 2% Chipotle
  • 2% Taco Bell
• Music Subscriptions
  • 1% Sirius XM
  • 1% Spotify
• Pizza
  • 5% Domino’s
  • 1% Papa John’s
  • 2% Pizza Hut
• Superstores
  • 1% Target
  • 1% Walmart
• Telecommunications
  • .5% AT&T
  • .5% T-Mobile
  • .5% Verizon
• Video Subscriptions
  • 1% Netflix
  • 5% Sling TV
• Vineyards
  • 1% Willamette Valley Vineyards

Signup Process

To signup for the Bumped app, you’ll first input your email address to join a ‘waitlist’, and eventually you’ll get an email allowing you to join.

There is no sort of signup bonus or referral offer to sign up for Bumped.

Privacy and Security

In order to use Bumped, you’ll have to both link a card account AND open a brokerage account. Linking an account will require giving your login credentials of the bank (not just entering a card number). Bumped uses Plaid for this process. Bumped will have access to your transactions.

You’ll also have to open a brokerage account with Bumped since rewards are earned as fractional stocks shares in the given companies. This will require inputting your personal information like Social Security Number.

Stack with Other Apps

Many of our readers use multiple cash back apps, and even try stacking the deal by earning rewards from various apps with a single purchase. It’s an art to know which rewards programs stack and which don’t, and we take a stab at clarifying those details in our post Complete List of Card-Linked Reward Programs.

So, does Bumped stack ____? Readers indicate that Bumped stacks with all other programs.

FAQ

Here’s an FAQ, adapted from reader Ben’s excellent summary:

• Q: Can you link VGC or MCGC?
  A: Nope, just your bank credit and debit cards (transactions must be run as credit).
• Q: Can you buy gift cards?
  A: The term exclude it, occasionally they’ll enforce the ‘no gift cards’ rule for large purchases.
• Q: What are the limits?
  A: $200/Merchant/Year ($20,000 at a 1% store like Target/Walmart/CVS/Walgreens). Note, that because there isn’t a weekly limit this works out better if you do a larger purchase like buying a TV.
• Q: Does this work for monthly subscriptions for Telecommunications or just 1-time purchases?
  A: It works for everything! Great way to get a completely passive 0.5% back on your phone bill.
• Q: What are the downsides?
  A: Unfortunately, because you have to open a brokerage account to use Bumped, you’ll have to pay taxes on your earnings. I haven’t cashed out yet so I do NOT have any further experience or knowledge in this (please ask your tax professional).

Our Verdict

Lots of readers have been telling us about Bumped as another valuable card-link program with many top retailers in the Bumped system, and I’ve been meaning to do a write-up on this for quite some time. I’m not entirely sure what they gain by giving us stock instead of cashback, maybe they think people won’t withdraw the funds as fast and they keep the float. Let us know in the comments below if you find Bumped worthwhile.