Upromise Review: Earn Rewards To Boost Your College Savings

Upromise is a college of tools and services to help you save for college.

What Is Upromise?

Originally owned by Sallie Mae, the Upromise rewards platform first launched in 2000. In June 2020, it was announced that it had been acquired by Prodege, the parent company of several other popular rewards brands like Swagbucks, MyPoints, and InboxDollars.

Upromise is a pathway to help you save for your child's college education through earning rewards. There are four ways you can save and earn rewards:

1. Restaurant rewards
2. Upromise Mastercard
3. Online shopping
4. Savings tools and bonus opportunities

Let’s take a closer look at how each of these earning opportunities work.

Linking Your 529 Plan

They key step to start is making sure you link your 529 plan. By linking your 529 plan within the first 30 days of opening a Upromise account, you get a $25 bonus.

Then, as you complete the rewards listed below, your bonus offers can be transferred to a 529 savings plan (or to a checking account if you don't want to save for college - but that's why you're here).

Linking Your Student Loans

If you're already past saving for college, or you have your own debt, you can also link your Upromise account to your student loans and use your rewards to help you pay off your debt faster.

This can be a great option for parents who may be done saving for college already!

Upromise Restaurant Rewards

If you like eating out, don’t let those dining dollars go to waste! Upromise partners with approximately 10,000 restaurants across the United States. Each time you eat at one of these restaurants, you can earn 2.5% cashback on your purchase. 

You will have to sign up as a Upromise member first and then register your credit or debit card(s) with the program. Once you do that, you start to earn 2.5% cash back each time you order from any of the participating restaurants. And that is money that you can transfer to a checking or savings account or 529 college savings plan.

Online Shopping Rewards

You can also earn cashback when you shop online. Participating online stores include outlets like Under Armour, QVC, and Macys. And you can also book hotels through Upromise.

Upromise has a dedicated portal where you complete your transactions. It's important to sign into this portal whenever you want to buy anything from these retailers in order to earn your cashback.

Once Upromise verifies your purchases, you can earn as much as 12% cashback, depending on the online retailer.

Upromise Mastercard

If you’re approved for the Upromise Mastercard, you'll earn up to 1.529% in cashback for every $1 spent. You'll also earn 5% at participating restaurants instead of the regular 2.5%.

But the biggest value of the Upromise Mastercard comes if you connect your card to a 529 College Savings account. If you do, you'll receive a the top rate of 1.529% cashback!

Plus, there is no annual fee, new cardmembers earn $100 cash back rewards after spending $500 on purchases in the first 90 days, and cardmembers can also utilize Upromise Round Up, which lets you round up purchases for additional cash back rewards.

If you spend $2,000 on your card in a month and have $10 in round ups with a 529 linked, that's $40.25 each month into your linked 529, or $483 annually.

College Savings Tools And Advice

Upromise also provides you with the tools to set goals. You can use their platform to set up automatic transfers to your college savings plan or your bank accounts.

They also provide expert tips on how to meet and accelerate your savings goals. And if you have any questions related to saving for college, you can ask for advice on the Upromise Community Forum.

How Do You Get Started With Upromise?

Signing up for Upromise is simple. On their website, you'll find a JOIN NOW button at the top right hand corner. Once you click this, you’ll be prompted to enter your name, email address, phone number and home address.

To start earning rewards, you'll need to link the credit or debit card(s) you use regularly for completing transactions. From there, you’re set to start earning cash back rewards!

Remember, in order to earn restaurant rewards, you'll need to eat at participating restaurants. And, if you’d like to earn the rewards for online shopping, make sure you’re signed into the Upromise Shopping portal so they can verify your purchases easily.

And although the 1.25% cashback reward for every $1 (and 5% at restaurants) is nice, the Mastercard is completely optional. However, if you do decide to apply for the card, you'll need to meet its credit requirements. 

Is Upromise Worth It?

As a free rewards program and a credit card with no annual fee, there's really no downsides to using Upromise. And it's always great to earn rewards for the money that you're already spending throughout the month.

If you happen to eat out a lot at participating restaurants, the opportunity to earn 2.5% to 5% cash back could make Upromise worth it. And that's especially be true if you can link a 529 college savings plan, since that would qualify you for the Upromise Mastercard 15% cahback bonus.

However, Upromise's other rewards-earning opportunities aren't significantly better than you'll find with other top rewards programs. And if you don't spend on a lot of money each on dining, you may be able to earn more cashback with a different top cash back credit card that offers bonus cashback in other spending categories.

Upromise Features