Upside

Is Upside worth it for gas, grocery and restaurant shoppers?

Upside pays cash back on offers you claim before you pay at a nearby station, grocer or restaurant, and you take it out as a bank transfer or gift card. It only earns on in-store purchases you make yourself.

How much Upside pays

Offers vary by location, and Upside's home page gives averages rather than a rate card. Upside doesn't publish a typical per-gallon amount for gas. It says it earns money by bringing new business to participating retailers, not by charging consumers fees, so the retailers fund the cash back. Upside's terms say it validates a purchase from the card you linked or a receipt photo, and may also use retailer data or your phone's location.

How and when Upside pays you

Cash back posts after Upside validates the purchase, and you request a withdrawal separately. Upside's terms say there is no automatic redemption, and that the minimum and any fee show in the app's Cash Out feature. Upside's home page and terms still mention PayPal, but its help page says PayPal is gone. Trust the Cash Out screen over either.

How to sign up for Upside

Upside's app is free to download. You claim an offer first, because Upside tracks the purchase you claimed, then pay with a card that is in your Wallet.

How much you can make on Upside

The grocery and dining figure and the first-year figure come with no method or sample, and "frequent users" is not defined. Upside doesn't publish a median or typical monthly total, so what you earn depends on whether offers near you match what you already buy. For how cashback apps compare as a group, see cashback and receipt apps.

How does the Upside referral program work?

The referral rows above come from Upside's help page. Its terms say the program is for friends and personal acquaintances, and they bar posting your code on a website or blog, buying ads for it, or leaving it at gas stations and restaurants. Upside allows sharing from personal social accounts with fewer than 2500 followers, but not in public discussion forums or groups. People who want to promote Upside more widely are invited to its affiliate program, and you can't take part in both. Upside says it can change referral terms at any time.

What data does Upside collect?

Upside says it uses your purchase history, card details and location to match purchases to offers. Its privacy policy says merchants send your purchase history to Upside when you register, and that Upside shares your purchase history at a merchant with that merchant so it can validate the service. The policy says it doesn't sell app and transaction data, and that it only sells business-partner contact data for marketing. Bank cash-outs go through a Plaid login.

Can Upside deactivate your account?

Yes, and Upside can keep what's in it. Its help page lists fraudulent purchase confirmations, referral or affiliate violations, disputing valid Pay with Upside charges and hostile behavior toward staff or users as reasons. Its terms also require individual arbitration and bar class actions. For steps that apply across apps, see how to appeal a gig app deactivation.

Is Upside legit?

Upside's terms name Upside Services, Inc. as the operator. The only legal record in the sources is a private lawsuit about the referral program, not a government action.

Scams that use the Upside name

Taxes on Upside income

Upside doesn't say whether it treats cash back as a rebate or as income, or what threshold triggers a 1099. See taxes on side income for how the rules work.

Upside vs other cashback and receipt apps

Compare minimums, payout speed and whether the app needs a receipt or a linked card before you split your shopping across apps.