Bumped App Review
I was scrolling twitter just today, and saw a tweet that the company Bumped had reached the one year mark from when they first starting bringing users onto their platform! As an app that I enjoy very much, I thought it would be fitting to celebrate their first year by writing up a review, offering my thoughts and hopefully turning a few people onto a rewards app that they may not have even heard of yet.
What is Bumped?
I first heard about Bumped last fall from a friend of mine. He was really excited about the idea, and after he shared some details, so was I. From what he told me, it sounded too good to be true. Basically, you link your credit card, he told me, and when you make a purchase from a partner brand, you get a reward in the form of that company's stock. So when I stop and grab that dollar coffee in the morning from McDonald's, I'd also be getting three cents worth of McDonald's stock. Not a lot, but hey, it's free!
It sounded like a great idea, but I knew there had to be a catch. So I started hitting him with the hard questions.
"I already get cash back rewards on my cards. I bet it'll mess with those, right?"
"Nope," he assured me.
"Well I use different cards for different expenses, I'm sure they limit you at one linked card."
"Nope," again.
"So it's basically Ebates, but with stock instead of cash back?"
Finally a "Yes".
For those familiar with Ebates/Rakuten, that comparison is probably the best way to explain Bumped. I've also heard it compared to Acorns, but there is a distinct difference in that Acorns rounds all your purchases up to the closest whole dollar, using your own money to invest, whereas Bumped does not add any further cost onto your purchase. The stock you receive is 100% free, assuming you already would be making purchases from partner brands.
Without delay I joined the waitlist, and not too long after, my account was approved. I've now been using the app for about five months, and have built up a current stock balance of $7.16. While I know this is not much, I have had to do absolutely nothing outside of creating my account and linking my credit cards. Also, as new partner brands continue to be added, and as I receive dividends and start the compounding effect, I foresee this total growing into the future.
User Experience and Review
Now that you know how the app works, I'll go into further detail on my experience using the app, noting any pros and cons that I have identified during my first five months on the platform.
Pros
The obvious pro of the app is that you earn stock as a free reward, instead of having to use your own money to purchase the stock, as is the case with apps like Acorns. What sets it apart from other rewards apps is that instead of receiving points or cash, you earn stock, which gives your rewards the ability to grow. This is really what makes Bumped unique. So instead of cash sitting idle in your account, as is the case with rewards programs like Ebates/Rakuten, your rewards can fluctuate in value due to fluctuations in stock price, or dividends earned on the shares you own. And keeping on the topic of dividends, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Bumped automatically reinvests dividends in your account, so you could really get a compounding effect going down the line.
Outside of the rewards themselves, another pro of the bumped platform is the ease of use. Within ten minutes of receiving my account approval email, I was able to open the account and link three credit cards. Further I cannot find anywhere stating that there is a limit on the number of cards you can link to your account.
The interface is easy to use, and the app now runs smoothly after a few updates. I've uploaded a few screenshots below to help anyone not familiar with the platform visualize the experience.
Cons
While I really enjoy the Bumped experience, there are a few cons that I've noticed. First, the platform seemed to have a few bugs right off the bat, as my transactions were linking more slowly on some cards than others, and the app would freeze every once in a while for long periods of time. However, a few updates later, the app now seems to run a lot smoother.
Another con of the app is that the number of partner brands is still fairly low compared to a platform like Ebates/Rakuten. However, with the company still in its relative infancy, I expect this number to grow into the future. Recently, actually, my rewards options were updated to include the choices of Lyft and Uber.
The last gripe I have with the app is that you make selections of the partner brands, and can only select one brand in each category. For example, I have to choose either Chipotle or Taco Bell as they both fall within the "Mexican Food" category, so I'm unable to earn stock from each company. This limits the amount of stock I can earn, as there are categories where I frequently use multiple partner brands, and others where I don't use any.
See below for a screenshot of some of my category choices. One interest thing to note, however, is that some people added to the platform at different times were actually offered partner brands broken down into different categories.
The Verdict
So I've listed the pros and the cons, but what do I really think about Bumped?
I love it! I think that regardless of the actual platform, the idea behind it is nothing short of revolutionary. While the reward amounts can seem quite small, Bumped has the potential to help individuals enter the stock market who otherwise never would.
And with such a great idea, the creators of Bumped did a great job in the execution of the actual platform as well. The app is easy to use, and was extremely quick to create an account and link credit cards. While the app ran a bit slow for me at first, this issue has been fixed with updates along the way. My only real complaint so far is that you can only choose one partner brand per category, but can you really complain about getting free stock?
For all the reasons I've laid out above, I give Bumped a score of 9 out of 10.
How can I get an Account?
So, you may be wondering "Where can I get an account?" Accounts are still being accepted on a wait-list basis, and you can join the wait-list here. If you spread the word, you can be approved for an account faster, as each person you refer to join the wait-list moves you up in line.
If you're looking for a way to enter the stock market with very little risk, looking to build positions in the companies you love, or even just trying to maximize your rewards programs, Bumped could be the perfect app for you!
- FI Anon
I first heard about Bumped last fall from a friend of mine. He was really excited about the idea, and after he shared some details, so was I. From what he told me, it sounded too good to be true. Basically, you link your credit card, he told me, and when you make a purchase from a partner brand, you get a reward in the form of that company's stock. So when I stop and grab that dollar coffee in the morning from McDonald's, I'd also be getting three cents worth of McDonald's stock. Not a lot, but hey, it's free!
It sounded like a great idea, but I knew there had to be a catch. So I started hitting him with the hard questions.
"I already get cash back rewards on my cards. I bet it'll mess with those, right?"
"Nope," he assured me.
"Well I use different cards for different expenses, I'm sure they limit you at one linked card."
"Nope," again.
"So it's basically Ebates, but with stock instead of cash back?"
Finally a "Yes".
For those familiar with Ebates/Rakuten, that comparison is probably the best way to explain Bumped. I've also heard it compared to Acorns, but there is a distinct difference in that Acorns rounds all your purchases up to the closest whole dollar, using your own money to invest, whereas Bumped does not add any further cost onto your purchase. The stock you receive is 100% free, assuming you already would be making purchases from partner brands.
Without delay I joined the waitlist, and not too long after, my account was approved. I've now been using the app for about five months, and have built up a current stock balance of $7.16. While I know this is not much, I have had to do absolutely nothing outside of creating my account and linking my credit cards. Also, as new partner brands continue to be added, and as I receive dividends and start the compounding effect, I foresee this total growing into the future.
User Experience and Review
Now that you know how the app works, I'll go into further detail on my experience using the app, noting any pros and cons that I have identified during my first five months on the platform.
Pros
The obvious pro of the app is that you earn stock as a free reward, instead of having to use your own money to purchase the stock, as is the case with apps like Acorns. What sets it apart from other rewards apps is that instead of receiving points or cash, you earn stock, which gives your rewards the ability to grow. This is really what makes Bumped unique. So instead of cash sitting idle in your account, as is the case with rewards programs like Ebates/Rakuten, your rewards can fluctuate in value due to fluctuations in stock price, or dividends earned on the shares you own. And keeping on the topic of dividends, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Bumped automatically reinvests dividends in your account, so you could really get a compounding effect going down the line.
Outside of the rewards themselves, another pro of the bumped platform is the ease of use. Within ten minutes of receiving my account approval email, I was able to open the account and link three credit cards. Further I cannot find anywhere stating that there is a limit on the number of cards you can link to your account.
The interface is easy to use, and the app now runs smoothly after a few updates. I've uploaded a few screenshots below to help anyone not familiar with the platform visualize the experience.
Cons
While I really enjoy the Bumped experience, there are a few cons that I've noticed. First, the platform seemed to have a few bugs right off the bat, as my transactions were linking more slowly on some cards than others, and the app would freeze every once in a while for long periods of time. However, a few updates later, the app now seems to run a lot smoother.
Another con of the app is that the number of partner brands is still fairly low compared to a platform like Ebates/Rakuten. However, with the company still in its relative infancy, I expect this number to grow into the future. Recently, actually, my rewards options were updated to include the choices of Lyft and Uber.
The last gripe I have with the app is that you make selections of the partner brands, and can only select one brand in each category. For example, I have to choose either Chipotle or Taco Bell as they both fall within the "Mexican Food" category, so I'm unable to earn stock from each company. This limits the amount of stock I can earn, as there are categories where I frequently use multiple partner brands, and others where I don't use any.
See below for a screenshot of some of my category choices. One interest thing to note, however, is that some people added to the platform at different times were actually offered partner brands broken down into different categories.
The Verdict
So I've listed the pros and the cons, but what do I really think about Bumped?
I love it! I think that regardless of the actual platform, the idea behind it is nothing short of revolutionary. While the reward amounts can seem quite small, Bumped has the potential to help individuals enter the stock market who otherwise never would.
And with such a great idea, the creators of Bumped did a great job in the execution of the actual platform as well. The app is easy to use, and was extremely quick to create an account and link credit cards. While the app ran a bit slow for me at first, this issue has been fixed with updates along the way. My only real complaint so far is that you can only choose one partner brand per category, but can you really complain about getting free stock?
For all the reasons I've laid out above, I give Bumped a score of 9 out of 10.
How can I get an Account?
So, you may be wondering "Where can I get an account?" Accounts are still being accepted on a wait-list basis, and you can join the wait-list here. If you spread the word, you can be approved for an account faster, as each person you refer to join the wait-list moves you up in line.
If you're looking for a way to enter the stock market with very little risk, looking to build positions in the companies you love, or even just trying to maximize your rewards programs, Bumped could be the perfect app for you!
- FI Anon
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