My Experience Using Dosh (Guest Review)

This guest post was written by Jacob C., a blog reader who I asked to write up his thoughts on Dosh.

Dosh is a free cash back app currently running in a public Beta. The app offers “Dosh” or cash back on purchases made in stores, restaurants, online and through booking travel. To get started you download the Dosh app, sign up, and link your credit or debit card, and start saving. Easy money, right?

Dosh has partnered with thousands of popular stores and brands like Home Depot, Target, Barnes and Noble, and Patagonia among many other local and major retailers. Dosh doesn’t require a UPC or receipt scanning, you earn cash back automatically by using the card (or cards) you have linked. No extra steps, no coupon codes, just link the card and shop. Dosh takes care of searching your transactions for offers or coupons that match, and then applying them to your account.

As you earn Dosh you can then use it by either donating it to charity (for example, the Red Cross or United Way), or cashing out to your PayPal or bank account. It should be noted that you must have a balance of $15 in your Dosh wallet to initiate the transfer.

Consumers can shop or dine in brick and mortar establishments, but there are also ample opportunity to shop though the app by using the store link in the online section of their offers. This shopping portal makes applying Dosh offers very user friendly, and many online retailers offer free shipping and satisfactory discount rates.

Dosh’s travel booking is geared toward finding the lowest possible rates in whatever location you search for, whether you need a hotel room or a car rental. It a lot works like most travel booking websites, and rebates are typically a fixed rate as opposed to the percentage rates you find with retailers.

A challenge of card linked loyalty programs like Dosh is attracting new merchants, so it remains to be seen how many new merchants they’ll be adding in the future. Retailers can’t control which transactions qualify for rewards, which could make stacking offers an issue. However, Dosh uses geo-targeting to send notifications of offers in your immediate area. There is also a local listing of offers in your area.

Users are also rightfully wary of giving an app personal information like credit card numbers. Data breaches can and do occur. Dosh states that they encrypt all purchase transactions at the bank level.

Dosh also offers a great referral program. For every person you refer to Dosh, you’ll get $5. Additionally, when you link your first card to the app, they will give you $5, and $1 for the second and third. Users also get a $5 credit applied to their account for the first card you link, and $1 each for the second and third.

Even though there are a few concerns (with any app like this that stores personal information), the perks may be worth it. There’s a wide array of offers, and many avenues on which to receive significant cash back. Dosh is definitely worth it to try and see how it works for you and your spending habits.