Incentive purchases and loyalty programs are becoming very popular. Major retailers pay companies to promote and market their brand. Smart companies are splitting their commissions with shoppers to route more purchases through their sites.

Wonder how they stack?

1. Lioness

advantage

• Grocery and gas stores
• Good selection of participating merchants.
• In store and online
• Ongoing direct referral payments
• Ongoing payments from indirect referrals
• Compound Loyalty Benefits
• Well established in Europe, new to the US

cons

• Membership is by invitation only
• Minimum purchase for free membership
• Requires moderate effort to maximize benefits

The reason I rank Lyoness as the number one cash back program is because of their loyalty benefits and the depth of payouts for referring other members. It also differs from other cash back programs in its potential to combine loyalty benefits.

Gasoline and groceries: Families benefit from being able to buy everyday products from major retailers that sell essential items like gas and groceries. Consumers earn cash back and benefit when they shop at retailers like Walmart, Starbucks, Lowes, Vonns/Safeway, BP Gas, and Exxon Mobil.

Direct and Indirect Referral Rebate: Ongoing cash back for direct referral (refer a friend) and indirect referral (your referrals) at 0.5% is great. It is one of the reasons why this program is especially attractive. Other programs offer no referral bonuses or only limited direct referral bonuses.

In-store purchases: Some purchases are best made in person. At this time, Lyoness cashback and loyalty can be earned by purchasing gift cards to use in store. However, Lyoness in Europe offers its members the ability to simply show their Lyoness card at checkout to get their cash back and loyalty benefits. Perhaps one day soon, Lyoness will be just as recognizable in the US.

Compound Loyalty Rewards: Lyoness offers a combination of loyalty points with its unique accounting system. Apparently, their tagline “together we are strong” points to this exclusive stacking loyalty plan.

Members who earn 75 Loyalty Account Points earn a “unit of account” that is placed in the Buyer Matrix. That unit stacks with other accounting units (yours and others’, direct and indirect) and can be converted into additional bonuses of up to $800 or more per unit.

2.Kickback

advantage

• Easy to register and use
• Direct Referral Payments
• Good selection of participating merchants.

cons

• online shopping
• No indirect referral payments

Kickitback.com earns the number 2 position because it offers cash back on continuous direct referral from friends. It has a wide variety of Merchant options and a simple system.

3. Fat wallet

advantage

• Easy to register and use
• Good selection of participating merchants.

cons

• No referral payments
• online only

FatWallet.com gets third place because it doesn’t offer any cash back for referrals, but it does offer ease of use and a good variety of powerful retailers.

Cash back programs are evolving and improving. Smart shoppers go the extra mile to earn rewards and cash for their everyday purchases.

My Grandma Betty used to say “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

Albert Einstein said: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it… he who doesn’t… pays it.”

Those are words to buy.