Rakuten Shopping Portal
We’ve come full circle. Several years ago, which somehow feels just like yesterday, shoppers could start earning Amex Membership Rewards rather than cash back from then-Ebates/now-Rakuten. But times are changing, and it might make sense for some points and travel hobbyists to switch back to the plain, old cash back-earning version of the Rakuten shopping portal. So why are my wife and I switching, and how exactly do individuals make this change?
Why To Switch Rakuten Shopping Portal Earning
Since the beginning, Membership Rewards earners picked up 1 point for each 1% cash back everyone else earned. Amex Schwab Platinum cardholders could combine this earning option to pick up 25% more value than normal Rakuten cash back members. Via the Schwab Platinum’s Invest with Rewards benefit, cardholders cashed out at 1.25 cents per point, with Rakuten normies getting 1%. That became slightly less lucrative with Amex’s summer 2021 devaluation of the Invest with Rewards benefit to 1.1 cents per point. And it got worse several months back, where Invest with Rewards cashout is now at 0.8 cents per point beyond the annual one million point redemption threshold. Consequently, certain high earners can now do better with the traditional Rakuten cash back option (or another portal).
And given the currently-volatile state of certain hobby aspects, some might now feel safer earning cash back versus Membership Rewards points with Rakuten, anyway. Meanwhile, some may feel moving to or maintaining a Membership Rewards-earning account is optimal.
How To Switch Your Rakuten Shopping Portal Rewards Option
Changing your rewards option with Rakuten is easier than I remembered. Or perhaps it’s improved since I did so several years ago. Here’s how you can easily change it:
- Log in, or create a new account if you don’t already have one, at Rakuten.
- Under your username in the top right corner, click Account Settings.
- In the middle of the following page, see the How You’re Getting Paid section and the current status. Select your preferred option (my wife picked to change from Membership Rewards to cash back via a Big Fat Check).
- An Are You Sure? pop-up box appears. Double-check your selection and click Continue.
- Add your mailing address for Rakuten to send your Big Fat Check. Check the I’m Not a Robot box if one appears. Click Add Address.
- Verify your account (if necessary) by typing the six-digit code Rakuten sends via email and clicking Verify Account.
- Your updated rewards method immediately displays. A Big Fat Check earner sees the associated mailing address under the selection. All done!
One must be mindful on their switching decision, including the timing. Before committing at the Are You Sure pop-up box, Rakuten informed:
Once you switch to Cash Back, any points earned before switching to Cash Back will be converted to Cash Back and sent via check on the next payment date.
Conclusion
My wife recently closed her Amex Schwab Platinum account, so for that and other reasons, her decision to switch to Rakuten cash back rewards was easy. I still hold my Schwab Platinum account and haven’t yet hit the one million Membership Rewards cashout threshold this year, so I’m standing pat with Amex points with Rakuten. But that’ll quickly change upon the next annual fee hitting, as I’m highly likely to close my Schwab Platinum, too.
Will my wife ever return to the Membership Rewards option with Rakuten? As things stand now and for the foreseeable future, that answer is clearly no. But I’d love Amex to make that a dilemma again, as they’ve periodically surprised us before. But we’re making the wisest decision for how things are now. We encourage you to do the same in your situation – whether you pick MR’s or cash back!
What’s your currently-preferred Rakuten rewards option and why?
It used to be that converting from Amex MR to cash back was irreversible. No going back.
I hear you, Jack. But hey, it looks like we can switch back and forth without much issue now.
1. Volatile state means that high volume points harvesters (like the author) does a slew of things every day to accumulate points. It’s called manufactured spending. Sometimes this behavior triggers shutdowns of the worst offenders/exploiters. And sometimes it’s just the exploration opportunities come and go quickly.
2. The value of MR is indeed much greater than 1.25cpp if you use them for flights, etc. But the points hoarders here have millions of MR and are in this game to make money as well as travel well, so cash value of points is usually more important than travel value.
Well I would disagree considering you can liquidate MRs at 1.25 these days via Amex BP Bookings
Sasha,
Perhaps you need that, but my family and I do not. We can each be correct for our own situations.
It would be 1.54cpp with the Business Platinum. That being said, I’d rather save MRs for a transfer to an airline at a higher redemption rate. As Benjy said, different people, different priorities.
Earning Membership Rewards points is a huge reason why I use Rakuten, and a major advantage for AMEX over other transferable points currencies. I have been collecting AMEX Membership Rewards points via Rakuten for over 6 years now, nearly 100,000 points in that time (~15000 points per year). My Membership Rewards point redemptions have always exceeded $.01 value per point, usually at least $.02-04 in that time transferring points to airline partners like ANA and Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) using for Business Class tickets. Asia Miles often offers transfer bonuses of 10%-20% (usually annually).
Probably the most likely reason for me to change back to cash on Rakuten would be if American Express Membership Rewards lost value due to airline FFP devaluations, loss of desired airline transfer partners, or a reason resulting in my closure of an American Express card earning Membership Rewards. Other than that, no need to switch.
While it can often make cash back a better option on paper, the whole focus of the miles and points hobby is to collect…wait for it…Miles and Points and in turn use them for outsized value, not commonly calculated redemptions. So while moving to cash back makes perfect sense, that is nothing new. If it was then we’d all have Discover cards or something like that and just pay cash for every flight and hotel room.
DaninMCI,
Your optimal move for what you define as “outsized value” doesn’t mean that same redemption (or earning structure) is optimal for me and/or certain others, and vice versa. Also, one must also take into account other developments which may impact the rewards they choose to earn. Different strokes for different folks. Enjoy!
Benjy,
Could you please explain this statement in the article:
“And given the currently-volatile state of certain hobby aspects, “
He means recent Amex Shutdowns
Some are no longer receiving NLL offers. Some are no longer receiving attractive refer-a-fruend offers. Certain Amex Offers are targeted. Ride-sharing credits must be for actual rides and not food. The card issuers are adapting. The rumored update on the Chase Sapphire Reserve will be disastrous to some. Etc
I’ll be intrigued to see what the Reserve’s actual refresh is, if/when Chase makes it official. But until then, I won’t waste any time dwelling on it. Thanks for reading, Lee!