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Our ReceiptPal review covers exactly what you need to know about this receipt scanning app.
Although it has evolved a lot since its launch, the concept of scanning receipts for cash and points is one of my favorite ways to earn money.
I don’t use receipt apps to pay bills, though if you are diligent enough you might be able to. Instead I look at it as a perk for shopping. Spend some money and get money back.
Plus, there are loads of receipt apps that will give you cash back on normal purchases you were planning to make anyway.
Table of Contents
Our Full ReceiptPal Review
I’ll go over how the app works, how to get started, what you can expect and whether or not I think it’s worth the download.
Keep reading below for all the details.
About ReceiptPal
ReceiptPal was created by The NPD Group, Inc (NPD). NPD is a market research company that provides marketing services to help companies with their business decisions regarding product development.
NPD has been around since 1966 and is one of the top ten market research companies in the world.
ReceiptPal was launched in 2013, initially as an iPhone only app, but now it is available on Android platforms too.
NPD is known for their expertise in the food, fashion and technologic industries and helps businesses with product development by connecting them with users on a global scale.
Which is why they came up with ReceiptPal.
NPD uses ReceiptPal as a way to collect market data.
It was also a way to get consumers to hold on to their receipts in order to collect rewards.
Don’t worry, the information collected from your receipts is still private. So NPD won’t be sharing or seeing your personal information.
With ReceiptPal, any receipt is accepted. And I do mean any! These receipts could be anything from a restaurant bill to a Target haul.
The receipts can either be digital, if you connect your email address so that online purchases can be accounted for. Or you can upload receipts directly as a hard copy.
How ReceiptPal Works
With ReceiptPal, you earn points every time you scan a receipt. And as an added bonus, all of your receipts are stored on the mobile app so you can keep track of your spending too.
When out and about, all you have to do is snap a picture of your receipt and upload into the app. You’ll get 25 points for each receipt you share.
The mobile app is set up by point cards. Every time you complete a card you will get 100 points. You need to snap a picture of four receipts to complete one card.
Getting Started With ReceiptPal
Joining ReceiptPal is really easy. For me the downloading this app was fairly quick and it took maybe all of two minutes to complete my registration. It’s currently available for both the Google Play Store and the App Store for iPhone users.
Signing Up
Joining ReceiptPal app is completely FREE. If I have to pay for an app, I’m generally not interested in trying it. Unless paying for it unlocks some really cool features.
In general though, if you are just trying to make a few extra bucks in passive income, look for the free apps.
The minimum age requirement for ReceiptPal is eighteen. When you initially open the app you will be prompted to provide an email address, date of birth, gender and zip code. It is a minimal amount of information.
Once you are set up, you’ll see that the app is simply designed and easy to navigate. You’ll have your points on display, along with your punch card.
Along the bottom of the screen are the tabs for Receipts, Rewards, Messages and Account.
The Receipts tab is where you’ll see your points and punch card. Rewards will list your points and the rewards value, so you know what you need to work toward. You’ll also see your sweepstakes entries here and when the next drawing is scheduled for.
Messages will have anything ReceiptPal may send you, such as your sign-up welcome message, when you have earned points, or if a receipt you uploaded was invalid for some reason.
And finally the Account tab will have your receipt log, where you can track your receipts and spending, your refer-a-friend option, an app tutorial and frequently asked questions section.
Earning Points
Get Over 1000 Points Right Away
There are a few steps you can take to earn up to 1,000 points pretty much within minutes of downloading the app. And you don’t have to scan a single receipt to do it.
The first step is to link your email account with ReceiptPal. You will be required to login directly to your email via the app.
ReceiptPal will then peruse through your emails and validate any recent e-receipts that they find. You’ll earn 650 points just from connecting your email address.
Next, you will want to connect your Amazon account. Yes, those Amazon purchases and e-receipts count too! Again you’ll have to login to your Amazon account this time via the app.
ReceiptPal will give you 300 points for linking your Amazon information and validating any recent purchases too.
Just note that the process of connecting your email and Amazon account can take a few minutes as the mobile app is working to look for any receipts that they can find and delegate points for.
Finally, you can take a quick demographic survey for an additional 100 points. This survey will ask for all the information that the initial sign-up didn’t.
You’ll be asked to provide your household size, income, occupation, education, whether you have a dog or cat, and finally whether or not you are the main shopper for the household. It’s a really quick survey and takes around two minutes tops.
And there you have it. Ten minutes after downloading the app you’ll be halfway to having enough to cash out for your first payout.
Scan Receipts
This is probably the most important part of this entire ReceiptPal review since the primary way to earn extra money with ReceiptPal is to submit receipts. Once your sign-up is complete, you can start uploading your most recent receipts. These receipts cannot be more than a week old and best if they fall within what ReceiptPal considers a purchase week which is Sunday through Saturday.
You can submit receipts up until the following Tuesday. Receipts can be submitted only once and you can’t try to submit duplicate receipts.
When snapping a photo of your receipt, make sure the store name, purchase date, and purchase amount are clear or you’ll get a notification to resubmit the receipt with a valid photo.
Receipt validation can take up to 72 hours for e-receipts and 24 hours for photo submitted receipts. For me I’ve had receipts validated within just a few hours after scanning a photo and about 24 hours with digital receipts picked up in my email.
No matter the length of time, your points are automatically added to your account once the receipt has been approved.
What Kind of Receipts Does ReceiptPal Accept?
The best part about this app is that you can earn cash scanning receipts from any store. With other receipt scanning apps you typically have to submit receipts from particular retailers. Not ReceiptPal!
Referrals
Sometimes the ReceiptPal app has a referral program. This is usually a limited time offer and you never know when it is going to go away.
Currently as I write this, they are allowing referrals. For every friend you refer to ReceiptPal you get 250 points when they sign up up and connect their email.
ReceiptPal allows you to earn up to 6,250 points per month in referrals! I’d sign up ASAP to take advantage of this as it’s a super easy way to get extra points and quickly.
Sweepstakes
Whenever you upload a receipt, you will be entered into ReceiptPal’s weekly sweepstakes. This is an opportunity to win a $250 gift card.
Every validated receipt counts as an entry. They draw three winners every week. Winners are notified via email, so make sure you check your junk mail so you don’t miss out on an opportunity.
Maximize Your Earning Potential
Scan Receipts Frequently
The primary way to earn money on ReceiptPal is to scan receipts. The more often you upload a receipt, the more often you can earn points.
And keeping things frequent means you can accumulate points that much faster.
When you open the app, you will see punch cards. Each card earns you 100 points after you scan four receipts.
You have five total punch cards to fill out at one time. After which you’ll get extra cash rewards and sweepstakes opportunities. ReceiptPal rewards the users using the app the most frequently.
After filling out your five punch cards, you will get three additional punch cards every week following. You should be able to earn at least a few extra dollars per week with this method.
Bonus Games
After completing a card, you have an opportunity to play a game. These games can reward you with points or extra sweepstakes entries. You’ll have to follow the onscreen instructions to see what your reward will be.
You can get a maximum of five bonus games each week. You can accrue these and they will remain active for whenever you want to play them. But you can’t accrue more than five at a time.
But, if you go 90 days without using ReceiptPal, you’ll lose your accrued bonus games.
Earn With ReceiptPal
Okay, now that I’ve talked about all the details, you probably want to know what kind of reward system ReceiptPal has.
Obviously they work with a point system. This means you’ll need to earn enough points to then exchange for something of monetary value. Or in this case, e-gift cards.
While earning direct cash would be much easier, you have to work with what you get and the point system isn’t too bad with ReceiptPal.
In the app, all of your points are clearly indicated in the top left of the screen, followed by your current point card front and center.
The card displays little check marks that will fill in when you scan a receipt and it meets approval. On this card is a little camera, which you click on to snap a photo of your receipt. It is really easy and simple.
Also, one thing to note about e-receipts is that PayPal purchases don’t count. I don’t know why but these purchases don’t and some companies aren’t accepted either. This is primarily an issue for e-receipts and not paper receipts.
Cash in Your Points for Rewards
Once you earn enough points you can cash out for rewards.
ReceiptPal has their cash rewards broken down by levels, which are defined by a certain amount of points. Currently, Level 1 rewards are a $5 Amazon e-gift card or a $5 Retail e-gift card, which you can select for a favorite retailer of your choice.
Right now, Level 1 rewards are worth 2, 200 points. But like their referral program, ReceiptPal can change this amount at any time by either increasing or decreasing the point requirements.
Level 2 rewards start at 4,000 points for a $10 e-gift card and 9,250 points for a $25 e-gift card. These are all Amazon gift cards or to other retailers also.
Level 3 is the highest level and offers $50 Amazon gift cards for 17,250 points or $100 Amazon gift cards for 32, 250 points.
An Extra Way To Earn Rewards With ReceiptPal: Sweepstakes
When I first downloaded the ReceiptPal app, there were nearly 200K in sweepstakes entries and the number was only growing.
So while winning the sweepstakes would be awesome, don’t put too much hope into getting that $250. There are several other people gunning for it too and they only select three winners each week.
But the good news is that it is a weekly drawing, so you get four chances every month to win. And as I said before, the more receipts you scan, the more entries you get into the sweepstakes.
If you complete all five of your punch cards, you can start earning 2x the sweeps entries.
The more you use ReceiptPal, the more the app will reward you.
Remember to Keep Using the App
There are a lot of positives to using ReceiptPal, the main being that it is such an easy way to earn points and get rewards.
That being said, there is one thing you have to remember with the app and that is to keep using it.
I’m not saying you have to upload a receipt every day or even once a week, once or twice a month would suffice.
This is because if you do not use the app for 90 days, then all your earned bonus games and all of your points will go back to zero.
Since most people probably buy at least one item once a week, whether it is a latte from Starbucks or toothpaste from CVS, those receipts with just that one item count. So scan it.
If you find scanning at the moment too tedious, you can always set up an alert on your phone to scan all your valid receipts from the week on Saturday before the start of ReceiptPal’s new week.
Pros and Cons of ReceiptPal
Pros
- FREE to Sign up
- Minimal sign up information needed
- Clearly defined point system: 4 receipts =1 card = 100 points
- Option to earn additional points by taking surveys or playing games
- All receipts are accepted: restaurants, clothing stores, groceries and more!
- Weekly sweepstakes where you could win $250
Cons
- Sporadic referral program
- Can’t earn or redeem direct cash; gift cards only
- Can take up to 72 hours for e-receipts to be validated
- Can lose points if inactive for 90 days or more
- Will take a long time get the points needed for a bigger payout.
Like any points app, there are always pros and cons. Fortunately I like more about ReceiptPal than I dislike. Though I do have a few complaints.
My biggest gripe with the app is that you don’t get points for every receipt scanned. Instead you have to wait until you have four receipts just to earn 100 points.
I would prefer a system where you earn points based on each receipt and then on the amount, as receipts with a higher amount should net more points.
But, it is convenient to be able to scan a receipt that has only one item on it and have it count toward your points card.
Another complaint I have is that there can be a fluctuation of changes within the app. Like their referral program. It’s not always available.
And though this next complaint hasn’t happened to me, I’ve read that sometimes the points required for a reward can change, usually increasing per NPD’s discretion.
Is ReceiptPal Legit or a Scam?
You’re probably wondering if the ReceiptPal app is a scam or legit.
ReceiptPal is a legit app that’s been around long enough to have a good reputation and solid customer base. The points are real and so are the gift cards they reward their members with.
ReceiptPal currently has a 4.6 rating and a ton of excellent reviews. For me personally, I’ve always received my payouts in the correct amount and always on time.
I rate this app as a legitimate way to make money online from your phone.
A lot of people blame ReceiptPal for not paying when in fact it’s the user’s fault because they didn’t submit a receipt with the store name, purchase date, etc.
Be sure to take a picture of the entire receipt to avoid missing anything.
Is ReceiptPal Worth Your Time
The answer to whether or not ReceiptPal is worth your time is both a yes and a no for me. I love that they made earning points so ridiculously easy!
But, speaking of points, fair warning it feels like it will take forever to get the points needed for a reward payout. With only five points cards to start with, you have an opportunity to earn 500 points in the first week.
To get that 500 points you need to submit 20 receipts! 20 is a lot and I doubt anyone is doing that kind of shopping, unless you literally go to a couple of different stores and buy one or two items.
That would get exhausting fast. For some users it took around 4 months to accumulate 4000 points.
As long as you don’t think of this app as a super money maker then you will be fine. Accumulate the rewards in your own time and cash in your points when you can. While $5, $10 or $25 may not seem like much, every little bit counts. Of course it’s not the best way to earn money, but it does help add a few dollars to your pocket along with free gift cards at no cost to you. As far as we’re concerned, we haven’t come across any weekly limit when taking pics of your receipts.
Alternatives to ReceiptPal
We gave you a lot of details about how to earn some extra cash scanning receipts in this ReceiptPal review.
But there are a lot of other money making apps out there to make money online.
Some of them are grocery store specific, while others, like ReceiptPal, let you shop at multiple retailers.
I also like that some of them are cash based earnings where you really see money accrued and have a chance to deposit into your bank or PayPal account for extra money.
If ReceiptPal doesn’t work out for you, I highly recommend trying some of these.
At the most, you can use them in conjunction with ReceiptPal and greatly increase your earning potential.
- Ibotta: $20 sign-up Bonus and you can scan receipts or shop online via the app to earn cashback instantly! You need $20 to cashout to PayPal. By far my favorite cashback app. Check out our full review.
- ReceiptHog: referral code zuss1319 for 5 free spins. When you upload your grocery receipts you’ll earn rewards and spin opportunities.
- Fetch Rewards: bonus code HH3MN for $1.50 bonus. Scan any grocery receipt from any grocery store and earn points. Fetch Rewards is quickly becoming a very popular money making app that pays to upload receipts. Check out our full review.
- Makeena: No sign-up bonus, but it is very similar to Ibotta but steered for more health conscious and organic foods. You need $20 in order to cash out.
Cashback apps work similarly, except most of them require you link a debit or credit card so that when you make qualifying purchases, you can get a percentage back.
Which Is Better: ReceiptPal Or ReceiptHog?
We often get asked if ReceiptPal or ReceiptHog is better if you want to make money taking photos of your receipts.
In terms of earnings, you’re probably slightly better off with ReceiptHog since the process is quick and straight forward.
If you’re looking for a friendlier and more fun user interface, ReceiptHog also tends to be better.
I tend to use both so I can double dip my earnings and receive even more extra money.
Both pay via PayPal and free gift cards.
Final Thoughts
We hope you’ve enjoyed our full ReceiptPal review.
Scanning receipts is probably one of the easiest ways to make money on the side.
You don’t have to worry about clicking through surveys, watching videos or playing games. I usually find that I can make a few extra dollars per week in extra money.
It usually takes a bit to cash out for the gift cards.
I do think Ibotta is a similar app that’s a better starting point when it comes to using receipt apps, but ReceiptPal is still a good one to download and try.
If you do decide to try ReceiptPal, I would commit to it for a good four months to get the most out of it and a clear idea of how it works.
If at that time you dislike the app, feel free to delete.
If you have anything you’d like to add to our ReceiptPal review or know of any other clever ways to earn cash, feel free to let us know in the comments below.
