[2022.11 Update 2] Walmart cashback is now 5.5%. Note that although it says many purchases are ineligible for cashback, Drop does not enforce this very strictly, and some cancelled orders still earn cashback. YMMV.

[2022.11 Update] Drop recently underwent a major redesign, and overall these are all good improvements.

  • IP access restrictions were removed, so non-US IPs can now access it too (including China)
  • The logo changed from the old bright green one to a purple color scheme
  • Added points redemption for physical items (you have to complete offers to redeem)
  • Added points redemption for cryptocurrency (currently supports Bitcoin)
  • Added more gift card redemption options. For $25 gift card redemptions, you can now redeem CVS, Walmart, and Target gift cards (much more practical than Apple gift cards).
  • Amazon gift card redemptions now start at $75
  • Added more mini games
  • Added more card-linked offers (need to be activated) and shopping portal offers (the rates can be pretty good too, such as Walmart 4% recently)
  • Added redemption limits (they were always there, just hidden): you can redeem at most $250 in gift cards per month
  • Other less important improvements; feel free to download the app and explore on your own

Also, thanks to system improvements, for older accounts that were registered in the past but have not yet completed their reward, if you log in again now, play a mini game (such as basketball), and link a bank account, you can instantly receive the points again, and the referrer can receive them too.

Drop APP signup link (register with your phone number and get 5,000 points. You need to earn 1,000 points first, which can be easily done through Amazon)

  • You can also download the app and register with email (do not use Apple ID). In "Add an invite code", enter: hs8kr

[The following is the 2021 article]

[2021.10 Update] Drop has redesigned again recently and launched Premium card-linked offers (just link the card; updated weekly). The offers have expiration dates:

  • Amazon 1.5% [no cap]
  • Target 1.5% [cashback capped at $10]
  • Kroger 0.5% [no cap]
  • ExxonMobile/Chevron 1% [no cap]
  • and others

Also, every two Premium offers you participate in (no spending required), the third one can get you 1,000 points as a bonus.

[2020.5 Update] Drop is no longer the old Drop that let you select merchants and track spending by linking cards; it has almost turned into a shopping portal app. Let me give you a fresh introduction to this app. If you have old Amazon and Walmart cashback accounts from before, treasure them. That said, it is now pretty good for using Drop to trigger AMEX streaming reimbursements.

Drop App Overview

Drop is from Canada. In the beginning, you could link your credit cards in the Drop app, and then all purchases at selected merchants would earn cashback from Drop, very simple. This cashback does not conflict with credit card cashback or cashback portal rewards; you can stack them. It is similar to the now-defunct Earn By Miscrosoft. In short, after linking a credit card, you do not need to do anything else — just keep spending as usual and still get free cashback. After Drop launched in the US, a number of similar apps appeared, but most have already died off. Drop survived and also made some changes (cutting benefits).

Drop once closed a batch of accounts, which led many people to stop using it. If you read the major blogs often, you will find that only DOC and this site have continued updating Drop. KUKU is quite fond of Drop and has posted many Drop deals and news in the 101 news section. If you are interested, take a look:

Drop Status

Drop is no longer the old version that let you select merchants and track spending by linking cards; it has almost become a shopping portal app, but it often has special offers. For example, there have been 15% on Apple Store purchases, 5% on Uber Eats, and 10% on Seamless, and it has now become, in my opinion, the best tool for triggering AMEX streaming reimbursements.

Inactive old users

Your points may already have been wiped out, and your account may have been closed. If you reactivate Drop, you no longer have the early linked offers. If you cannot reactivate Drop, create a new account or email them.

New users who are about to register

When new users sign up for Drop, most of the time it is best to think of Drop as an app similar to a shopping portal. Of course, sometimes it is still very strong, especially when paired with AMEX to trigger streaming reimbursements.

Registration and signup bonus

Sign up

Either of the following two methods works:

  • Drop APP signup link (register with your phone number and get 10,000 points. You need to earn 1,000 points first, which can be easily done through Amazon)
  • You can also download the app and register with email (do not use Apple ID). In "Add an invite code", enter: sg0qh (the third character is the number 0; complete 1,000 points, get a 10,000-point bonus, worth $10)

You can invite your own LDs and buddies (note that the referral cap is now 10 people). For safety, if you are using multiple accounts, do not go too hard, or you risk getting everything wiped out at once. I do not recommend farming multiple accounts; slow and steady wins the race.

Link a bank card

Drop still has some offers for linking bank cards, so you can continue to link one bank card for potential spending tasks. Log in to your bank account and link any credit card or debit card. Basically, you can find major banks, and some store cards can be linked too, such as the Amazon Store Card.

How to use it

The main interface has improved a lot compared with the old version. It mainly includes five sections: Shop, Games, Deals, Surveys, and Rewards. The best places to earn are Shop, Deals, and Rewards.

Shop page

This is now the main page. You can search for current good deals here, and the good streaming reimbursement deals KUKU found basically came from here.

You can search by category, or scroll down the page to browse. For example, the Boosted section has some pretty good offers.

Deals page

This page was recently introduced by Drop and mainly features some limited-time small deals. At first, you could still see offers for Amazon, Target, and Walmart linked by old users, but now those are gone too. At the moment, it mainly pushes small rewards for using linked credit cards at Amazon. I successfully earned all of them, and Drop did not renege on the payouts.

Rewards page

It is divided into two parts: the Rewards page for gift card redemptions and the Wallet page for viewing redeemed gift cards (explained in detail below).

Cashback categories

At present, Drop offers multiple cashback categories. It retains a few early linked offers and has also launched more cashback categories similar to a shopping portal. Summary below:

Track purchases linked to your bank

There are not many left now. One is a Giftagram offer, which still requires a linked credit card to trigger, as shown below. And the Amazon small reward mentioned earlier on the Deals page

If you're a big spender who loves to shop, this offer can actually save you quite a bit.

Open in the App

Mainly for app-based cash-back services, such as Uber Eats【see this 101 update】 and Walmart rewards【see this 101 update】

Email the Shopping Link

Most streaming reimbursements can be completed this way. Just open the link from the email or copy it into your browser.

Chrome Extension

This feature goes back to this 101 update: Drop now offers a Chrome shopping extension

Streaming Subscription Rewards

There are quite a few streaming subscription rewards on Drop. Taken together, they’re pretty substantial, and both new accounts and existing users can get them. On their own, they weren’t that useful, but paired with the AMEX Platinum card’s streaming reimbursement, these subscription rewards become a great monetization tool. For an introduction to streaming reimbursement, see:

KUKU has already taken advantage of quite a few and has received some of the rewards. These streaming offers are just enough to help you complete signup bonuses. The subscriptions usually require a new user or first-time subscriber. If you’ve subscribed before, try switching browsers or using a different email address. After you receive the points, remember to cancel right away. The terms for each Drop offer say the reward will be awarded after 30 or 45 days, so keep an eye on that (in practice, the points usually post 2-5 days after completion).

The ones that meet the official rules and are worth doing are as follows:

  • Apple Music, three-month free trial, reward 3,000 points (worth $3) [you don’t need to spend anything here; just grab it]
  • Hulu, one-month subscription ($6), reward 6,000 points (worth $6) [note: this is not the Hulu TV offer]
  • Disney Bundle, one-month subscription ($12.99), reward 10,000 points (worth $10) [note: not the annual version]
  • Luminary, one-month subscription ($4.99), reward 10,000 points (worth $10) [this reward has been boosted; it’s usually only a $5 reward]
  • SiriusXM, two-month subscription ($8 x2), reward 12,000 points (worth $12, limited-time reward) [can be activated without a car; this offer is on the Drop Boosted page. If you can’t find it, search directly in Drop. The only downside is that it requires a two-month subscription]

There are also quite a few streaming subscription rewards on Drop that are not in AMEX’s categories, and we’re not sure whether they can trigger reimbursement. If you try them, please share a DP. Hulu credits the fastest, while Disney+ Bundle requires pending. For tracking these subscription rewards on Drop, you can refer to this 101 update:

Other Small Rewards

Snake Game

Every 5 points earned (at least 1 point) lets you play one round of the Snake game, with three lives each time. If you’re really good, each game can yield up to 999 points. Keep an eye on the leaderboard—there really are power users who play every day. Grandfathered users have a lot of linked offers, so the game is easy to trigger. If any of those power users are readers of this site, feel free to leave a comment and pay your respects.

Snake mini-game (triggered every time you accumulate 5 spending points)

Mini Surveys

In some offers you’ll see small point rewards. Just tap randomly; each mini-survey takes about 30 seconds to finish. The points aren’t much, but better than nothing.

Watch-Video Rewards

Watch a short ad and earn a few points. The points aren’t much, but better than nothing.

Sweepstakes

Don’t enter; you basically won’t win.

Points Redemption

At the moment, points redemption requires you to link a U.S. phone number. It can be a virtual number, such as Google Voice. You may need SMS verification before linking your phone and redeeming gift cards.

Redemptions come in $25, $30, $50, and $100. If your account has been frozen before, your initial redemption amount may need to be $75; complete a Deal to unlock it.

  • $25 gift card redemption: iTunes is now Apple gift cards (can be used to buy iPhones), Groupon, Gap, Nike, Macy's, Banana Republic, and more
  • $30 gift card redemption: AMC, Domino's, Old Navy, Sephora
  • $50 gift card redemption: this tier is more popular, with Uber, Amazon, Best Buy, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Hotels.com, and more
  • $100 gift card redemption: AA, Stubhub, Revolve, ASOS, Four Seasons

I strongly do not recommend waiting to redeem for a $100 gift card: it’s hard, and having too many points in your account can get you shut down. Redeeming for a $50 Amazon gift card is enough. Normally, $50 (50,000 points) may not be easy to accumulate, but with AMEX covering streaming subscription reimbursements and a signup bonus, getting to 50,000 points is no longer difficult.

Some Tips

Over the years, people have discovered a few tricks with Drop.

Double Dip

Drop originally tracked credit card spending, so if you had separate online banking accounts for your primary and secondary cards (for example, AMEX primary and secondary cards, Citi Bank primary and secondary cards), you could double dip in the early days—for example, Amazon 2 x 2% = 4% cash back! Some offers that require linking a credit card could also be double-dipped this way. But this method now seems to be dead, or maybe not dead. I think it’s dead.

Triggering Offers at Overseas Merchants

Drop isn’t limited to U.S. merchants for rewards; in fact, some merchants outside the United States can also trigger cash back and rewards, just like the now-defunct Spent app did. Here’s what KUKU knows so far:

  • Many Canadian merchants
  • Starbucks almost everywhere in the world (including mainland China)
  • Most KFC and McDonald’s locations outside China
  • Uber seems to work too

However, new users can no longer choose linked merchants, so this trick isn’t very useful anymore.

Problems and Support

If you run into issues, such as rewards not tracking or a referral bonus for LD not showing up, you can contact Support. Path: avatar in the upper-left corner of the homepage — Support. I used to contact customer service frequently, and personally I thought they were pretty friendly. After you open a support case, you’ll receive a case email. In most cases, support replies on schedule, but YMMV.

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Drop Changes
Drop is getting stricter and stricter. For newly registered users, Amazon has been temporarily removed, and Walmart's cashback rate has dropped to 0.2%. For older users, there is no impact for now. In addition, Drop has added a points-earning limit in its terms: each user can earn only 5000 Drop points ($5) per week. This cap does not include one-time offers (HT.DOC). It’s fair to say that it’s basically impossible to make money from Drop now; at best, it lets you save a little money without noticing. The only play left is to look for one-time offers and turn a profit that way~ The good news is that many accounts that were previously blocked have now been restored, so points can be redeemed again. And these negative changes suggest that Drop may live longer...

Recently, point redemption and point earning have been seeing significant delays, summarized below:

  • Drop is investigating accounts whose points suddenly increased, and all point redemptions will be issued manually, so there is a delay
  • If you repeatedly make large purchases at certain merchants (such as MS, reselling, and similar commercial activity), Drop may cancel your points
  • Some accounts under review have already been frozen, and points cannot be redeemed

Choose merchants to link

  • Choose the 5 merchants where you want to earn cashback. Note that once you’ve made your choice, it can’t be changed, so it’s best to pick the merchants where you spend the most. Of course, if there are several people in your household, one account per person can cover all merchants. The available merchants are shown below:

Redeeming Drop points

Drop points are now worth a $10 gift card for 10,000 points, so the value is 0.1 cent per point. There are many gift cards available for redemption, including:

  • Starbucks: $5 = 5000 points
  • Amazon: $10 = 10,000 points. Old Navy, Itunes, Best Buy, Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and others can also be redeemed, with minimum amounts ranging from $10 to $50

Card-linked spending

Once you’ve linked your card and selected five merchants, you just need to use the linked card at those five merchants in-store or online to earn points directly. Cashback from the credit card itself and cashback from going through cashback portals do not conflict with Drop points. The cashback rates for all merchants are listed below (HT. DOC):

  • 20 points/$ (2%): Amazon.com, HEB, Fred Meyer, Seamless
  • 19 points/$ (1.9%): 7-Eleven
  • 15 points/$ (1.5%): Trader Joe’s, Uber, Starbucks, Chipotle
  • 17 points/$ (1.7%) : Dunkin’ Donuts
  • 11 points/$ (1.1%) : Safeway
  • 10 points/$ (1%): Walgreens, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, McDonald’s, Macy's
  • 3 points/$ (0.3%): Shell

After you select merchants, you can only see the point rate for the merchants you chose; you won’t see the others.

If you often spend at Amazon, Walmart, Safeway, and similar stores, it’s best to sign up using the merchants where you spend the most and where the cashback is highest, and link the corresponding credit cards.

【8/20 update】Drop recently updated its card-linked cashback list again, as follows:

  • Walmart – 2 points per $1 (.2%)
  • Lyft – 10 points per $1 (1%)
  • HEB – 10 points per $1 (1%)
  • Trader Joe’s – 12 points per $1 (1.2%)
  • Macy's – 8 points per $1 (.8%)
  • Dunkin Donuts – 14 points per $1 (1.4%)
  • Target – 8 points per $1 (.8%)

Limited-time bonus

Amazon is currently offering a limited-time bonus: spend $20 with your linked card and get an extra 2000 points. Remember to activate this offer before using it.

In the app introduction, Drop says that after you fill in more detailed personal information, it will issue certain bonus offers. These offers can generally only be used once. The current offers and how to add them are listed below:

First close the Drop app, then tap the links below in your phone’s built-in browser. You’ll be automatically redirected to the Drop app, and then the offer will be added. Before adding the next one, you still need to close the app and tap the link again~ Go ahead and add all the offers below. Note that you have to use them within a certain time after adding them, so don’t let them expire for nothing.

Participating in activities

In addition to earning points through purchases, Drop also offers some activities that can earn points, listed below:

  • Sign up with a referral code, get 1000 points
  • Link a second credit card, get 2000 points
  • Share on Facebook, like, follow Twitter, and similar actions can earn 50-200 points
  • Refer friends to sign up and get 1000 points; refer 5 friends and get 5000 points

I completed all of the easy tasks above and earned a total of 3290 points. Although that’s worth $3, if I keep spending little by little, I believe I’ll be able to redeem an Amazon gift card soon.

Best use

For the average consumer

For most people, just link your regular credit card and wait to earn Drop points. Of course, choosing the right merchants is important. I think most people will choose Amazon, grocery stores, and Starbucks.

Also, since Drop is a card-link program, it won’t affect credit card rewards or cashback from cashback portals, so in the ideal case, stacking three layers of cashback is still pretty good. However, it’s still unclear whether Drop cashback can be stacked with a similar feature like Ebates in store cash back. If it can, that would be even better. Feel free to try it yourself.

Category Conversion

Since many of Drop's partner merchants sell third-party gift cards in their physical stores, buying gift cards after linking your card effectively earns an extra 1%-2% cash back. For example, Amazon, Safeway, and Walgreens all sell quite a few third-party gift cards.

Small-Redemption Limits

Small redemptions are restricted. Gift card redemptions in the $5-$25 range (including Amazon) require one in-app purchase to unlock. One purchase unlocks it for 12 months; after that, you need to activate it again.

I checked, and if you're just unlocking it, you can simply buy something for $0.99 on Groupon (pick a category and sort by price)... basically wasting $1 for nothing.

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Signup Link

  • Drop app signup link (register with your phone number and get 5,000 points. You need to earn 1,000 points first, which can be easily done through Amazon)
  • You can also download the app and register with email (don't use Apple ID). In Add an invite code, enter: hs8kr

Note: The original author of this article is ymlulu; this version has been updated based on it