I finally got around to signing up for Google Pay; by signing up with a referral link from the comments and then activating the Target offer and buying a $50 Target e-gift card, I’ll get $42 back. That sounds like a good deal in my book. (Update: apparently I’m wrong; you have to send a friend $10 or make a $10 NFC payment on an Android device in order to get the $21 referral bonus.)
Poking around the Google Pay app, I see see dozens of offers for places like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Gap brands, H&M, Adidas and more. Essentially, it’s the latest addition to the list of Card Link Programs whereby you add your credit card in the Google Pay app, and then you when it senses a transaction at one of their partner merchants you’ll get the stated reward.
Note an important difference between Google Pay and most other card link programs: with many programs you just link your card, set-and-forget style, and the credits come rolling in on their own. In the case of Google Pay, it’s more like Amex Offers where you need to first activate the offer in order to get credit. You do NOT need to pay with Google Pay in order to get credit; just enroll in rewards, add your card, and activate the offer you want to use. Only Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are eligible for rewards, not Discover cards.
If you are a big shopper, you might want to just periodically enroll in all offers. Personally, I’ll probably just check the Google Pay app for an offer before making a purchase at a merchant that might be in the Google Pay system.
We’ll try writing up dedicated blogposts on the bigger deals found on Google Pay (find them at this link), similar to what we try doing with Amex Offers, but just take this as a headsup that it appears like it’ll be a legitimate addition to the stacking game with card link programs. Of course it’ll stack with things like Amex Offers and other kinds of loyalty programs as well.
We’ll add Google Pay to our Complete List of Card-Linked Reward Programs. Note: Google Pay uses the Rakuten Card Linked Offer Network, so it likely won’t be able to double up with other card-link programs on that network.
Folks, this is not hard: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR REFERRAL LINK ANYWHERE IT DOESN’T EXPLICITLY ALLOW IT. If you do, it’ll get sent to spam, and that might make it harder for you to comment on the site afterward.
Have comments been turned off for the referral thread? There is no place to post a referral there anymore
Yes, we always turn off comments after 24-48 hrs.
Not recent news, but there are no longer any card-linked offers showing in the GPay app.
Has anyone tried if DOSH can stack with Google Pay?
Yes, it worked on the Walmart+ deal.
Does any one know how many days it will take to receive referral bonus after meeting the requirements? Thanks
I signed up during the $21 referral period, but was unable to make the $10 payment because Google kept erroneously locking my account. They finally fixed it today, but I only got $2.50 when I made the $10 payment.
I received $10 from someone so I linked my checking account and withdrew $10 for free. But when I go to Insights tab – Recent Activity, it shows $10 from money in google pay to my checking, and another transaction for +$10 from my checking to Google Pay (transaction ID is the same but has “-rev” at the end). My google pay balance is still showing $0. Anyone seeing this?
Don’t worry about it. It’s their way of confusing us with duplicate entries and their not so user friendly app. All will be well in the universe.
Seems like the google is changing the rules on the fly. Goes well with their new “be evil” motto. Just did a GPay in-store and it did not trigger the bonus as it was supposed. The icon with the bonus terms also disappeared from my account. Still have my referral link promo on the account though. Dunno, I might have to call them and complain.
Might just be the app, try a hard close. I find it very confusing to use in general. I would like to get the thing off my main phone when I don’t have any cashback pending.
Nah, seems to be the typical Google sheenanigans. My referral link also changed the expiration date from 31st to Dec. 21st. I know that some folks got screwed by the Fi bonus team. I was lucky there, but maybe not here. Bah, not a big deal after all.
Just to confirm, the offer in google pay can be added to multiple credit cards? I saw that option and enroll the same offer to both my credit cards on file. Could anyone confirm?
Will paypal checkout at Target still trigger $21 reward and stack chase freedom Q4 bonus?
Never mind – read through comments on another thread saw the one about clicking the gold box – finally found it and voila! The $21 referral bonus is now processing so all is well. Rather than delete the entire comment I thought I would leave it here for anyone with similar issue. Thanks everyone! I referred my spouse and he sent me $10 and my $21 referral bonus shows up fine. I also did the Target deal and so have $42 however his google pay app is only showing the $21 for Target and nothing for the referral. Anyone have a suggestion what we can do? Anyone contacted Google with similar issue with any luck? Thanks!
Withdrawals to debit card are no longer free (they used to be free and instant with the “old” GooglePay).