NEW: Curve Card launches cashback rewards
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If you have a Curve Card sitting in a drawer, you may want to dig it out again.
Curve has launched a new cashback rewards programme. This allows you to earn cashback, credited to the ‘Curve Cash’ part of your Curve account, when you spend at qualifying retailers.
I don’t know:
- if this is currently targeted to specific people or card types
- if this replaces the previous Curve Rewards programme
You must opt-in to each individual retailer offer. There is no ‘add all’ option and, in a bad bit of design, you need to open each offer individually before you can save it to your account. It also isn’t made clear that you do need to opt-in.
What is Curve Card?
Here is a quick reminder for new readers about how Curve works. To learn more, read our introductory article to Curve Card here.
Curve Card is an intriguing payment product which has something offer to miles and points collectors. The key thing to remember is that Curve Card is free – in fact, they pay you £5 for trying it – so you have nothing at risk.
Curve is NOT a bank account. Curve is simply an intermediary card, a Mastercard to which you can link all of your existing Visa and Mastercard payment cards.
Via the Curve app you can select which linked card you want to use at any particular time. Curve transactions are automatically recharged onto that card. Even if a shop does not accept credit cards at all, only debit cards, you can still pay with your Curve Mastercard, which is a debit card, and earn miles on the underlying Visa or Mastercard.
You will even earn miles and points on ATM cash withdrawals up to certain limits.
You can find out more about Curve in this article. You can sign-up via our link here which gets you £10 for joining.
How do I find Curve cashback rewards?
Open the Curve app and click on ‘Rewards’ at the bottom. If you get a blank screen, try fully closing the Curve app and reopening it.
I don’t know if the offers list is personalised or not. This is what I see:
- 5% at fanatics.co.uk or kitbag.com
- 5% at Five Guys
- 5% at Coach
- 5% at Kate Spade
- 5% at Selfridges (£30 cap, note)
- 5% at Hawes & Curtis
- 5% at Quiz
- 5% at FatFace
- 5% at Harvey Nichols (online only)
- 5% at Kidly
- 5% at Amazon Fresh
- 5% at Mountain Warehouse
- £10 at HelloFresh
Some of these offers are doing the rounds on other cashback schemes, and are often more valuable. My MBNA credit card, for example, is offering 7% at FatFace, 10% at Harvey Nichols online, 10% at Coach, 10% at Kate Spade and 15% at Hawes & Curtis.
Is Curve simply negotiating poorer deals because of its smaller size, or is it pocketing the difference between what MBNA is giving out and its own cashback? That said, I haven’t seen a Selfridges offer anywhere else.
Does cashback replace Curve Rewards?
I don’t know if this replaces the old Curve Rewards programme. The Curve website still talks about Curve Rewards and does not mention the new cashback programme.
Curve Rewards was primarily a time-limited scheme for most people:
- free Curve Card holders got 1% cashback at three retailers, chosen from a list, for three months
- £50 Curve Black holders got 1% cashback at three retailers, chosen from a list, permanently
- £150 Curve Metal holders got 1% cashback at six retailers, chosen from a list, permanently
This new scheme offers higher rewards and the list of participating retailers will change on a regular basis.
There is no downside – except that so many credit and debit card issuers are now offering cashback rewards, it is increasingly hard to keep up with them, and their impact will inevitably drop.
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.
Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card
1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review
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