Ebates: You Can Now Switch Your Account from Cash-Earn to Membership Rewards Points-Earn

Ebates/Rakuten now added an option within the online account to switch your cash-earning account to become a Membership Rewards points-earning account instead. It might be possible to switch back from points to cash as well.

To make the change, go to Account Settings > Switch to Membership Rewards points.

This option is especially useful for someone who already has the Ebates credit card tied to their cashback account. Previously, the only option was to cancel the card and signup for a new Ebates credit card tied to a new points-earning Ebates account. Now, you can keep the account + card and just make the switch within the login. Note: prior cashback earned will be paid out in cash; it can’t be converted to points.

One of the most interesting developments of the year was when, back in February, Ebates partnered with Amex to allow the earning of Membership Rewards points instead of cashback. The Ebates credit card got much more interesting then as well. 

If you are new to Ebates, consider using my referral link to signup.

Hat tip to padlox

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26 Comments
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P
P (@guest_863359)
December 31, 2019 18:37

Is this still possible to do? All I see as an option is to Learn more about earning MR, no option to convert/switch.

justmeha
justmeha (@guest_983974)
May 21, 2020 00:21
  P

same here seems dead

AJ
AJ (@guest_985789)
May 24, 2020 11:58

try using a browser instead of the app. I couldn’t figure it out using the app but when I logged in using Chrome it worked

Louis
Louis (@guest_833494)
October 31, 2019 16:05

I currently have two Rakuten accounts. The first was prior to owning an AmEx card. The second is an MR earning account. I applied for the Rakuten Visa Rewards card for the MR earning account but was declined; however, I’m constantly bombarded with pre-approval offers on my non-MR earning Rakuten account. Is it possible to apply for the card on the non-MR account and, if approved, convert that account to an MR earning account or unlikely since I already linked my AmEx account linked to another Rakuten account?

SF
SF (@guest_833398)
October 31, 2019 13:55

Yay finally!

toddo
toddo (@guest_833138)
October 30, 2019 23:55

What’s the earning structure with MR points? 1 point for 1% cash back? If so, that would suck.

toddo
toddo (@guest_833141)
October 30, 2019 23:58

Answered my own question 1 additional MR for 1% cashback. That SUCKSSSS

cashback
cashback (@guest_833275)
October 31, 2019 10:38

Why is that bad? This is for those that value 1MR as > 1c, so this is good (like getting 5UR on Freedom rather than 5% on Discover). If you value MRs at less than 1c, use/keep the cashback version

SF
SF (@guest_833399)
October 31, 2019 13:56

Why does it suck? If you have an Amex card that lets you transfer MR points (I’m not sure if all cards allow this) that’s a great value

Miles
Miles (@guest_833095)
October 30, 2019 22:04

Anybody ever cancel the original MR earning card they signed up to eBates with? I have another MR-earning Amex, but unsure how the link works under the hood.

ZipZapKaZoom
ZipZapKaZoom (@guest_833023)
October 30, 2019 19:31

Did the conversion.

Bam!

All my cash-back since October 30th vanished. Hopefully, they will get it figured out.

Dailybread
Dailybread (@guest_833028)
October 30, 2019 19:41

You’re going to get the check for the remainder. Here’s the info on that:

Your next Big Fat Check for $xx.xx will be sent by xx/xx/xx via Check.
You earned this Cash Back before making the switch to a Membership Rewards® account on xx/xx/xx. Rewards earned after this date will be transferred to your Membership Rewards points account.

ZipZapKaZoom
ZipZapKaZoom (@guest_833075)
October 30, 2019 21:13

Good news. Thanks.

Jeff
Jeff (@guest_833115)
October 30, 2019 22:56

If you click on “Earnings Balance” it will show you the pre-conversion cash you will receive and when.

CT
CT (@guest_833014)
October 30, 2019 19:18

You can switch from points to cash as I tested it out with an alternative account a few weeks ago but if you do you can’t switch back to points.

Lrdxgm
Lrdxgm (@guest_833005)
October 30, 2019 18:52

Can one still cash out as cashback (or gift card) if one has an MR account? (Obviously yes with AmEx’s horrible 0.7c rate, question is through Ebates.)

CT
CT (@guest_833015)
October 30, 2019 19:20

If you looking to cash out for cashback or gift card you want to switch to cash rather than points. The only reason you would want points is if you are redeeming the points for travel.

Another Dan
Another Dan (@guest_833088)
October 30, 2019 21:45
  CT

Or if you have the Schwab Platinum.

K.M.
K.M. (@guest_833001)
October 30, 2019 18:40

Getting an error “Something went wrong. Please try again later.” so I’ll try again later. Still, great news!

Arthur
Arthur (@guest_833142)
October 31, 2019 00:06

I got that error too when I was visiting the site using Safari (desktop), but it worked after I switched Firefox. Not sure if that’s what you did but using a different browser might work.

Darin
Darin (@guest_833147)
October 31, 2019 00:24

Thanks for the tip, was having the same issue, switched from Safari to Chrome and success!

K.M.
K.M. (@guest_833190)
October 31, 2019 04:47

hey there, i was using microsoft edge for my android phone but am using microsoft edge on my computer now (the beta chromium version) and it worked. thanks for letting me know though!

OzMrOZ
OzMrOZ (@guest_862061)
December 26, 2019 23:50

Why do you live your live at the Edge?

Syn999
Syn999 (@guest_832999)
October 30, 2019 18:33

1 cent for 1 point?

Lrdxgm
Lrdxgm (@guest_833004)
October 30, 2019 18:50

As the article says, there is no conversion for current cashback.

Deborah
Deborah (@guest_833012)
October 30, 2019 19:13

Yes, if you click on the link to the earlier story you can see more info.