Shopper Rewards Card from Instacart - EVERYTHING You MUST Know!!

So Instacart has been pushing shoppers to get a Shopper Rewards Card recently, which is their new banking system. I have my opinions and I would like to talk more about it. 

So in this video, We are talking about:

• EVERYTHING You MUST Know about the Shopper Rewards Card from Instacart

• What they are saying vs How it ACTUALLY is

• Everything in between!

Disclaimer: The content of this video does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind, This video is for entertainment purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online. 

I also want to be clear that everything we are going to go over is very market dependent, and what applies to me and my market may not apply to you. 

DrivenWyld/YouTube

What Instacart Says About the Shopper Rewards Card

Get rewarded and save more with the Shopper Rewards business debit card and account, powered by Branch.

Shoppers get fast, free auto-payouts after every batch, plus cash back on eligible gas and EV charging. The higher your Cart Star tier, the more cash back you can earn!

Sign up hassle-free with no credit checks or minimum balance requirements.

Not a huge fan of how this is blatantly attached to your tiers and ratings. I know there are Diamond Cart Shoppers that are clicking their heels at this, but for those of us who work multiple apps and some even have their own App based card, this is kind of… ehh.

Also I find the whole no minimum balance requirements point to be kind of funny but more on that later. 

Fast access to your earnings

Get automatically paid after every batch to your Shopper Rewards account—at no cost to you.

Yeah, this is standard for Gig based cards and is the primary selling point for all of them, but that also said… I have also been a strong believer in not letting these apps have access to your money or see how much money you have available to you.

Branch is different because a lot of apps use it, but I still wouldn’t let them hold my money for any period of time than I had to. Also the point about fast access to earnings is fundamentally inaccurate but more on that later. 

Get up to 4% cash back on gas as a Diamond Cart

Get 1-3% cash back when you pay at the pump with your Shopper Rewards Card at any station. With additional Mastercard-exclusive gas savings at select stations, you can save a total of 2-4% in cash back. The higher your Cart Star status, the more you can earn.

Plus, cash back earned from the card adds up with what you earn with Cart Star through Upside.

This sounds good and a reason someone would want to build their Cart Star status on this account, but that doesn’t mean you should compromise your standards to accomplish this. This type of cashback should be icing on the cake and not the cake itself.

Also, why is it “select gas stations” and not at least a brand name or something? 

Like 4% cash back sounds great until you realize that saving money as certain gas stations might cost more to get per gallon or those “select gas stations” aren’t near you or you have to go far out of your way for them. 

Like a shopper should be able to look into that to make an educated decision, but it doesn’t say, it only says select. 

IMPORTANT: Select Credit or Bypass PIN to Receive Cashback on Qualifying Purchases. Selecting Debit or Entering Your PIN Number will disqualify

This is standard, but I find it interesting that this was part of the image on the page and not text that I can copy and paste. I wonder how that would affect SEO, like would it be harder to find that information in a single search on Google? 

Would that information become more buried as you searched for it? Also what question would you ask pre-sign up to acquire this information to make an informed decision on whether or not you wanted to sign up?

These are important questions that have a lot to do with how Instacart will be contesting the concept of paying you your cashback. I have a feeling this might cause some problems for people later. 

More exclusive benefits

EV charging: Get 1-3% cash back based on your Cart Star status.

Hotels & restaurants: Get up to 4% cash rebates when you make eligible purchases.

ATM cash withdrawals: Withdraw cash for free on your first 8 withdrawals each month at 55,000+ ATMs.

I feel like a lot of these benefits are starting to become less exclusive than they let on. I know not all cards have benefits of this nature but they seem to be expanding to a LOT of different cards. 

Also, I can tell that some of these benefits are based on the idea that a card like this is a debit card and not a credit card, but the point of benefits like this in my mind is to have more opportunities to earn while also building up your credit score.

And for a group of people that are going to inherently have a hard time with building your credit, that becomes more important than people realize. 

Regardless, the point is that these types of benefits are becoming pretty standard today. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Instacart also provided a fair amount of FAQ’s on this subject, also pulling from the same page. 

What is the Instacart Shopper Rewards app?

The Instacart Shopper Rewards app, powered by Branch, is a digital business account and debit Mastercard that supports you to reach your goals and more seamlessly access your earnings. You can use your card to pay for purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Branch is a company that a couple of companies already use. They used to work with Walmart Spark before they started prioritizing their One banking system. Frayt uses them for payments as well, honestly a lot of these companies use this app already. 

Which is a different perspective for me to be honest, because I remember getting into the point about the DasherDirect card from Doordash, the Doordash Crimson Card, and other cards of this nature and thinking… man, I have never heard of Payfare before.

I know Uber also used Branch for their Pro Rewards Card, but nevertheless, it is nice to see companies that actually are more recognizable, or a company that has been around for a while start to become more recognizable, even if they are smaller now.

Who is Instacart’s digital banking partner?

Banking services are provided through Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Instacart has partnered with Branch, a financial technology company and program manager for Lead Bank, to provide you secure, fast access to your earnings after every batch. Branch powers the Instacart Shopper Rewards app: a digital business account where you can track your earnings, save with cashback benefits, and manage your savings goals.

I have seen a fair amount of complaints from Lead bank and some are starting to be more concerning than others, unauthorized account sign-ups, major discrepancies in credit reporting and stolen funds. 

What I have found to be the most concerning is how the unauthorized account sign-ups are from Instacart as a primary example from Google, which then leads to various levels of speculation. 

Would Instacart want to partner with a Bank that has caused unauthorized sign-ups to their platform, keep their shoppers money with them to be stolen or manipulated, or rip the opportunity from your shoppers to grow their own credit by offering them benefits that a credit card WOULD provide by removing the protections that come with a credit card?

Obviously, that is pure speculation and the tin-foil hat is really putting in work here but nevertheless. 

Is Branch a bank?

No. Branch is a financial technology company that provides secure, faster access to earnings through banking services provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC.

This is such a side tangent, but if you are also keeping money in Branch, THOSE accounts would be FDIC insured and are partnering with banks for that. Lead Bank is just one of those examples. 

Don’t think that if you leave money in your Branch account that SUDDENLY your account could be compromised or something could happen to Branch or Lead and you would be SOL. 

This isn’t like leaving your money in your Paypal or Venmo, getting hacked and being fucked because of it, there is a level of protection there. Obviously, that doesn’t mean you give away your passwords but still.

Is the Instacart Shopper Rewards Card a debit or credit card?

The Instacart Shopper Rewards Card is a business account and Mastercard debit card, so you can do things like make purchases, transfer money to and from external accounts, and get up to 8 fee-free withdrawals per month at over 55,000 AllPoint ATMs. A $3.50 fee will apply for any withdrawal after the 8th transaction until the next month.

First of all, most cards like this have been reported to be less like a “debit card” and more like a prepaid card, and they have noticed limitations on when and where you can use it when you have low balances. Like if you go to a Gas Station with less than $75, it is declined at the pump.

I can’t confirm that with this card, because I am not an active shopper on Instacart, but that is a common factor with cards like this. 

Also, being hit with fees like this just seems ridiculous in general but now this is out of control. Imagine, just living your life and swiping your card where necessary and then getting hit with more and more fees? Heck no.

This is also a great example of people being forced into situations that keep you poor. Have you noticed that being poor seems more expensive than becoming wealthy? Like sure, it is cheaper upfront, but the LONG TERM costs are nuts!

Owning a car is more expensive to get in the door, but Ubering everywhere will cost more overtime. 

So using those accounts to get hit by those fees, just to avoid having a monthly maintenance fee is crazy. 

Does the Instacart Shopper Rewards Card require a credit check?

No. There’s no credit check, as this is a debit card and not a credit card. Once the Instacart Shopper Rewards Card is available to all shoppers in the United States, any Instacart shopper in the United States is welcome to apply, and most will be approved within minutes. ID verification is required.

I have made my stance on this pretty clear, but having a way to get your pay the same day without it costing anything is kind of nice to be honest. I don’t think it is worth it for me, because I am not the most active shopper but I can see how others would feel differently. 

Don’t just take my word at face value, do some research, evaluate your own goals, position and values, and make a decision for your life accordingly.

What exclusive benefits do I get with the Instacart Shopper Rewards Card?

Please see a summary of the exclusive card benefits you can get with the Shopper Rewards Card:

To earn cash back on qualifying purchases, select Credit or Bypass PIN. Selecting Debit or entering your PIN number will disqualify your purchase from earning cash back.

You can find the location of over 55,000 Allpoint ATMs in the Shopper Rewards app.

Yeah most of the benefits they mention that are worth anything are Diamond Benefits for Diamond Cart Rewards Members and I haven’t made an official video on this yet, but I still don’t think this is totally worth it in my opinion. 

In order to get the Diamond Cart Rewards you have to conduct a certain amount of shops a quarter and honestly, I just don’t shop for them as often. When their Base pay dropped as much as it did, I found that most of the orders were just not worth it. 

I know that most of the orders' best paying opportunities came from orders that were larger and had bigger tips but still, if you have to take terrible orders to justify conducting orders of this nature and getting these kinds of benefits, it just isn’t worth it.

Have you signed up for the Instacart Shopper Rewards card?

• Yeah, and I love it!
• Yeah, and I hate it!
• No, I haven't.

Instacart Influence on your Account

Look, I have never liked the idea of allowing a company to have long term influence on my accounts, which is why I tend to steer away from cards like this altogether.

This isn’t even a concept that is just Instacart by the way, this is all companies whether they are your gig company or if they are a W2 job. 

For a few years I worked in banking and many of the people that I worked with said that while the banks have the benefit of giving their highest value account to their employees, they wouldn’t want to open an account with them due to the overall concern of having the people you work with have a viewpoint of how much money you make or how much you have. 

Same goes for all of these apps, I wouldn’t want them to have that kind of information personally but do what is best for you. 

THIS IS NOT THE SHOPPER CARD!!

The shopper card is for buying the customers items on behalf of Instacart, and while you CAN make these purchases yourself and get the reimbursement, it is often a headache and not worth the trouble.

So don’t mix those cards up, it can cost you time and energy you don’t want to waste. 

Customer Tips

Customer tips are available for deposit two hours after each delivery is completed. This two-hour window allows customers to adjust the tip amount after the order has been delivered.

And yes, that also means it can come in much lower than the initial amount, which is why I tend to steer away from this app. Imagine shopping for all the items your customer wants, delivering it and realize they tip baited you? That is a pain worse than anything. That said, it can also deposit even higher too but I personally wouldn’t want to work with customers who pull that shit.  

Final Thoughts

Look, this video isn’t to tell you whether or not you should or shouldn’t get this card for yourself. I don’t like this card personally, but I know there can absolutely be an argument that just having the instant pay can be incredibly valuable for some shoppers. 

This can also be really valuable for shoppers who have established themselves to be Diamond Cart shoppers, as they will receive the maximum value of benefits that the platform has to offer. 

This video is meant for you to decide what is best for your goals and values and if it fits what you are looking for, go for it. I hope it works out well, I personally have different overall missions in what I am looking for. 

Do what is best for your personal financial situation. 

If you would like to add some other perspective to the Shopper Rewards Card on Instacart, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!