I LOVE cashback sites, so it’s always fun to look at a new one. In this My Money Pocket review, I take a look at a UK site that’s snapping at the heels of more established options such as Quidco and TopCashback.
If you don’t use a cashback site when you make online purchases, you’re making a BIG mistake. It may sound a little over the top, but it’s literally free money for things you intended to buy anyway. This is why I love these sites and go on about them a lot – not just online but to my friends too.
BEFORE WE START: Please note that My Money Pocket is a UK site. If you’re in the US, I suggest looking at TopCashback instead, which we’re also reviewed in full here.
Let’s start right at the beginning:
What is My Money Pocket?
My Money Pocket is a UK-based cashback website. It allows you to earn a percentage of cash back when you purchase from a huge range of online retailers, or take advantage of certain offers.
My Money Pocket is free to join, and there’s no minimum cashout requirement.
How do Cashback Sites Work?
Many online retailers and organisations pay websites a commission for referring customers. Cashback sites simply pass some or all of this commission back to the purchasers.
Due to the sheer numbers of people typically involved, the cashback sites can still make an enormous amount of money.
Is My Money Pocket Legit?
My Money Pocket is a legitimate site. Before publishing our My Money Pocket review, we took part in some cashback offers, and waited until we successfully received a payout.
My Money Pocket Review: Our Experiences
When we first discovered My Money Pocket, we thought it was a pretty bold venture. After all, the existing players in the online cashback scene are long-established, making this a competitive industry to get into.
But first impressions were good. In fact, My Money Pocket has managed to find a particular place for itself in this niche. It’s hard to describe, but what we would say is that My Money Pocket manages to be a lot more…fun….than the competition.
Whereas Quidco and TopCashback feel like financial sites, first and foremost, My Money Pocket is good at showing and suggesting offers, and feels more inspiring to use. (Obviously if you’re easily tempted, this may not be a good thing! To make the most of cashback sites, you really want to be earning money on things you were going to buy anyway!)
My Money Pocket works like any other cashback site: You find a retailer you’re interested in, either by browsing categories or using the search facility. Then, you click through to the website and make a purchase. In theory, your purchase shows up in your dashboard shortly afterwards.
We tried out a couple of offers for the purposes of our My Money Pocket review. The good news is that we got what we were promised in the time expected, and managed to cash out. However, there were a couple of minor hiccups:
The first was that one offer, an effectively “free” greetings card from Moonpig, didn’t track at the full value. We had to get in touch with My Money Pocket to get this corrected. The second was an error message when we first tried to cash out. Again, this was rectified after getting in touch.
These are – especially the latter – things I would describe as teething problems. In fairness to My Money Pocket, things tracking at the wrong value, necessitating a chat to support, is something that’s quite common across all cashback sites.
Payouts
At the time of writing, My Money Pocket offers just one cashout method: BACS bank transfer to a UK bank account.
On one hand this is the best possible method; It’s real money, straight into your bank, and there are no fees for the transfer. Once we initiated a successful transfer, the money appeared in the bank in just a few days.
On the flipside, we’re told that My Money Pocket intend to add more cashout methods, and that’s no bad thing. Many people like to use PayPal for stuff like this, so the lack of PayPal payment is currently conspicuous by its absence.
My Money Pocket vs TopCashback vs Quidco
In reality, there’s really not much to choose between My Money Pocket, TopCashback and Quidco. All of them often work with the same retailers and highlight similar or identical offers.
That said, there are exclusives on all of the platforms, and My Money Pocket is particularly good at bringing them to your attention. This applies not just to how the website itself is designed, but also to the promotion emails sent out, which do a good job of alerting you to new deals.
On the flipside, both Quidco and TopCashback are more established platforms, with a larger range of payout options and more refined processes.
Ultimately, there’s no harm in joining all of these sites, and choosing which to use each time based on the offers and cashback percentages available.
The Best Way to Use Cashback Sites
There’s a bit of an art to earning good money from cashback sites. Here are some things to remember:
- Always remember to USE the sites: It’s REALLY easy to arrange a huge holiday booking or make a big purchase and only THEN remember to see what cashback is on offer. (Been there SO many times!) You really do need to develop the habit of ALWAYS looking what cashback may be available.
- Realise the importance of high-value and subscription purchases: You can grab really big payouts from things like insurance policies, mobile phone contracts, broadband subscriptions and savings accounts.
- Consider gambling! We would never suggest or endorse gambling money away. However, if you do enjoy a flutter, there are typically some large cashback offers for new members on casino and bingo sites on all the cashback websites. Some even allow you to effectively have a “free” gambling session – but only if you have the self discipline not to keep playing once you’ve met the staking requirements!
- Use multiple sites: Quite often, you find the same retailers offering cashback on multiple sites, but with a different percentage. Sometimes it’s only a small difference, but it can be considerable. Obviously it always makes sense to order via the site offering the most.
Conclusion
My Money Pocket is a great addition to the cashback scene in the UK, and it’s well worth signing up. We particularly like the approachable interface and the inspiration offered by the emails the company sends out.
As we’ve emphasised, it’s always best to forego temptation and only use cashback sites when you’re going to buy something anyway. But whether you’re looking for a gift, choosing a new insurance policy or booking a holiday, it’s always a good idea to see what cashback is available.
Just before we conclude our My Money Pocket review, we will add that the site’s not yet perfect. We experienced a couple of glitches, and more payment options would be good to see. However, for a newcomer, this service is doing pretty well so far.
My Money Pocket Pros and Cons
The Good
- A friendly, inviting interface.
- Plenty of cashback offers to choose from.
- Payment made by direct bank transfer.
The Bad
- A few teething troubles.
- No PayPal option (yet).
- UK only.
Founder of HomeWorkingClub.com – Ben has worked freelance for nearly 20 years. As well as being a freelance writer and blogger, he is also a technical consultant with Microsoft and Apple certifications. He loves supporting new home workers but is prone to outbursts of bluntness and realism.
