When you work at KCL long enough, you're not just satisfied with saving money; you also want to find easy ways to earn money too, and passive income is where it's at. Thanks to the digital era, there are a slew of ways to put a little cash back in your pocket just by using your phone. Case in point: the Pogo app.
Simply put, the Pogo app is free to download and ultimately allows you to earn some money on purchases, surveys, game play, and more. How much you earn depends on which features you opt in to and how much information you share with it. We gave Pogo a test run to learn more about how it works, and share all that info with you.
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First things first, what's the Pogo app?
Here's the quick and dirty on Pogo (Android/iOS). It's a free app that kicks back points for purchases, scanned receipts, game play, survey completion, and other personal data. Points vary depending on the purchase spend, games you play, surveys you take, etc. However, 1,000 points is the equivalent of $1. You can cash out when you reach 5,000 points (or $5).
What benefits do I get when I use Pogo?
The Pogo app is basically an easy way to get a little bit of your money back on purchases you make. Also, if you tend to kill time on your phone, the surveys and games are an easy way to do just that while earning some points that will go towards your cash back. If you're looking to make more money, Pogo has suggestions for active side hustles too.
How do I use the Pogo app?
Once downloaded, the app itself is pretty intuitive and easy to use. It will ask you for some basic information (including your phone number) to get started. Then Pogo offers you a variety of different ways to begin earning points, which we’ll get into in a sec.
Link your email, plus debit and credit cards, to get automatic cash back.
Pogo takes things a step further compared to other cash-back apps, going beyond just scanning receipts or using a shopping extension. To really accrue points, Pogo is going to ask you to opt in to sharing certain information, like linking your debit and credit cards so they can reward you with points on those purchases.
Pogo utilizes Plaid to do this as safely as possible. Plaid is a widely used financial technology (fintech) company that securely connects financial accounts to apps and services.
The app works in conjunction with any of your other money-saving hacks, like applying coupons or using a cash-back credit card. So you don’t have to rely on one or the other to save money; you can use everything in your bag of tricks plus Pogo.
To put this into a real life scenario: picture yourself at the grocery store using a bunch of digital and paper coupons to take down your total. Then you pay with a card that gives you cash back on grocery purchases. But that same card is also linked to Pogo, which will also give you rewards points on that purchase towards cash back. This, friends, is what we call a winning strategy.
Scan paper receipts.
Hang on to your paper receipts! You scan them with the Pogo app to get additional rewards (usually around 10 points).
And, if you buy something in person, you can double-dip earnings by using a card linked to the Pogo app and scanning a receipt. Let's say, for example, you're in the checkout line at Target paying with a card linked to Pogo. You can still take that Target receipt and scan it later in the Pogo app to earn more rewards. So you'll earn rewards through the linked card and via the receipt scan.
Take surveys to earn points.
There are some quick-hitter surveys available on the app that mostly earn you anywhere from 10 to 20 points. These are truly fast — just a few questions that don't feel invasive at all. But you can also fill out a BitLabs profile in the app, which provides access to higher-earning surveys (like 210 points for an 8-minute survey).
Watch daily ads.
Each day Pogo will present you with a daily ad that you can watch to collect 5 points. These are short commercial spots that generally try to get you to download a game. It's a quick way to earn a few extra points while you’re doing just about anything — like brushing your teeth.
Trying new games through Pogo can reap major points.
If you find yourself playing games a lot on your phone, you might as well get paid for it. In some instances Pogo will reward 3,000 points ($3) just for trying out a new game. And many of the games featured (like Coin Master, Bingo Blitz, and Grand Harvest) pay $15 or more when you hit certain milestones
There are additional ways to earn points without changing anything about your day-to-day life.
Not everyone is into games, or taking surveys for that matter, but you can passively accumulate more points just by turning on a few of Pogo’s features. Then, just go ahead and live your life while the points add up.
These include the following:
Location Rewards (up to 1,000 points per month)
Health Rewards (provide access to your Apple Health app, etc.)
Browser Rewards (install Pogo's extension, get 400 points)
Link your Amazon and/or Walmart accounts (5 points per week)
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