AD  If you love to earn cashback when you shop, but find traditional cashback sites frustrating then you need to try JamDoughnut. This post will tell you everything you need to know about the Instant Cashback app including how it works, how much money you can make and tips to maximise how much cashback you make from JamDoughnut.  Sadly there are no actual donuts available when you sign up, but you will find it a simple way to get cashback on baked goods as well as coffee, clothes, take aways and even a tube of toothpaste. From earning a bonus on your normal weekly shop to holidays and days out, it is worth finding out more. 

JamDoughnut Instant Cashback Review

How To Get Instant Cashback On Your Groceries and Other Everyday Purchases in the UK - JamDoughnut Review

What is the JamDoughnut Instant Cashback App?

JamDoughnut is an app available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Search for JamDoughnut: Instant Cashback (no space between Jam and Doughnut) to download.  Once installed on your phone you can set up an account which allows you to earn free instant cashback from buying gift cards to use in store and online.

How Do Cashback Sites work?

The big cashback sites that you might have heard of all work in a similar way. You click through from the cashback site to a shopping website and cookies track your visit so if you make a purchase they can see which site you came from. Once the cashback is tracked it can show as pending in your account for months before it is approved, paid and available in your account. With these websites the percentage cashback you get varies depending on the retailer, what you are buying and whether you have previously bought from that retailer before. If you use a discount code it can invalidate your cashback claim. This makes it confusing to know how much you can expect, when you will get the money and sometimes the cookies don't track properly so you don't get the cashback at all. I have used them many times over the years, because after all it is free money, but I find them very frustrating.

Vouchers can be used in stores as well as online (depending on the retailer)

Why JamDoughnut Is Different To Other Cashback Sites

With JamDoughnut you get your cashback in your JamDoughnut account straight away. Instead of clicking through to websites you buy gift vouchers on the JamDoughnut app for retailers of your choice and then you can spend those vouchers at your leisure. These are the same as the e-gift vouchers you could buy direct from the brands and they normally last up to 2 years if you don't spend them. 

My favourite thing about JamDoughnut is it allows you to get cashback really easily on purchases you are going to make in store as well as online. So for instance if you are about to go to the supermarket you can buy gift vouchers from JamDoughnut then when paying for your food at the till you use the e-gift voucher instead of cash. If your shopping comes to more than the voucher you can part pay with the voucher and pay the rest with cash or card. If your shopping comes to less than the voucher amount then the rest of the e-gift voucher can be spent another time. 

An added bonus of JamDoughnut cashback is because you are paying with a gift voucher you can normally use discount codes and other vouchers as well, this isn't normally allowed with tracking link types of cashback sites.

How Does JamDoughnut Instant Cashback App Work?

To get started you need to download the cashback app and signup. When you plan to go shopping buy an e-gift voucher on the JamDoughnut site for where ever you are going to shop. They don’t have every store, but they do have a really good range.  The gift vouchers are normally available straight away, but they warn it can take up to 48 hours. Every one I have purchased has been available within a minute. 

You get instant cashback in your JamDoughnut account as soon as the voucher has been processed and you can use that gift voucher online or instore to buy whatever you want. 

You can sign up by clicking here and using my referral code EEFE. As a new user you will get 200 bonus points (equivalent to £2) added to your account when you buy your first voucher.

How To Use JamDoughnut Cashback App

In the app it is easy to find the retailer you want a voucher for: you can look at the suggested retailers, browse the categories or use the search box at the top of the screen. When you select a brand the app will open up a page with the details of their vouchers, it’s really important you read this as each store is different and you need to make sure you can use your voucher as you plan. For instance it says if that voucher can be used in store, online or both, as well as if there are an exemptions.

Click 'Purchase Securely' at the bottom of the screen and select the value of the gift voucher you want. There is normally a minimum of £10 spend per voucher, but this depends on the conditions of the individual retailers. When you choose the amount the app will show you the maximum amount of cashback you will get. 

Click 'Purchase Securely' again and it will offer you the payment options of 'Pay with your Banking App' or 'Pay with your Card'.  It also shows you the cashback amount you will receive depending on how you pay. If you choose to pay by card you get a lower rate to cover the banking fees. 

To get the highest cashback amount you need to pay with a bank transfer (Pay By Bank). If you have an online banking app on your phone this is really easy to do. When you click on the option it takes you to an advisory page, then you select your bank and it takes you to your banking app where you can complete the payment securely in a few clicks. Alternatively you can use Apple pay or Google pay and earn slightly less cashback, but it's still free cash you wouldn't get paying with your card in store.

Once JamDoughnut have received the payment an e-gift voucher is processed and will be available in the wallet section of the app. You also get an email to confirm the purchase.

If you are using the voucher in store just open the JamDoughnut app up, go to the wallet section and tap on the voucher. The cashier can usually scan the barcode on the voucher, but in some stores they might need to type it in manually. If the store has no mobile reception you might want to take a screenshot of your voucher or print it out.  If shopping online enter the voucher code where the retailer asks.

It can take a bit of practice to remember to prebuy the vouchers, but you will soon get used to it. The easiest way to get started is by using it for your supermarket shopping. Supermarkets you can currently buy vouchers for (and therefore get cash back on) are Aldi, ASDA, Iceland, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Tesco currently offers the lowest rate of these stores at 1.5%, but that's still £1.50 back for every £100 pounds you spend. If you use Tesco for you main family grocery shopping you and buy vouchers to pay for it you could easily earn £5 cash back a month. At other supermarkets you can earn more than double that.

Save money on your weekly shop

How To Claim Your Cashback from JamDoughnut

The cashback is available in your account as soon as your voucher has been processed, but you can only withdraw it when you have over 1000 points (equivalent to £10) available. 

You can get your payment as a voucher and receive the full amount you’re earned: just message JamDoughnut to let them know where you want it for. Alternatively you can get it paid out in cash to your bank, but there is a small processing fee for that to cover their costs (I believe this is currently 30p).

What is the JamDoughnut Referral Bonus?

When you sign up you get a JamDoughnut referral code (mine is EEFE). You can share this with friends and family to encourage them to sign up. If they do sign up and use the app you will get 400 points (equivalent to £4) when they cashout for the first time. As they need to earn a minimum of £10 before they can cashout this wont happen right away, but they get 200 bonus points when they first buy a voucher which will help them on their way.

Tips On How To Earn The Most Cashback Through Jam Doughnut App 

• Earning cashback is great, but you need to make sure you use any gift vouchers you buy or it will cost you money. Every year a huge amount of money is lost because people lose gift vouchers they have been given or they expire without being used. Are you one of those people who always forget to use the gift vouchers you have? They are much easier to manage with JamDoughnut: with the wallet area you can see the vouchers you have in one place. 
• Only buy vouchers for places you regularly shop or just before you know you are going to buy something. While you could use it to save up vouchers for big events like Christmas with interest rates being high at the moment a savings account would be a better option as you will earn interest and then you can get cashback too when you convert the money to gift vouchers when you need them.
• Normal rates range from 1.5% to 12% cashback depending on the retailer.
• Every so often the cashback gets 'pumped up' for some retailers for a limited time. This means you can buy vouchers at higher rates so check regularly and if there is a retailer where you regularly shop and you know for sure you will use the voucher buy when it is on offer to get the higher cashback rate. 
• It's worth checking the app daily for pumped up offers and the Daily Doughnut page. Every day 10 referral codes are listed on this tab of the app and if one is yours and you contact JamDoughnut you get £10 worth of points.
• Make sure you regularly cash out because points expire. Any bonus points you earn (like those 200 points from your first purchase) are only valid for 6 months. Any cashback points you earn are only valid for a year from when you earned them. It’s free money, but it would still be frustrating to lose any of it.
• It’s also worth noting that if you decide to close your account you need to make sure you have used all your vouchers first because you lose access to them when you close your account. They can also close your account with a months notice if you haven’t purchased a gift card for 12 months (read their T&Cs for full details).
• You wont always be able to buy a voucher for the exact amount you need, but if you plan to buy something costing £19.99 the best option would be to buy £20 of vouchers. You might never use the 1p remaining on the voucher, but you will get more cashback than if you buy £10 or £15 if that retailer only sells in £5 or £10 increments. 
• ​If you partially use a voucher make sure you update it in your JamDoughnut wallet to show your remaining balance. You can also archive the voucher when you have spent it all. 

JamDoughnut have over 150 brands available for cashback and I am confident that you will use at least a few of the retailers they have on the app. The range of retailers are varied and include really popular High Street stores, supermarkets and great online stores. They can change at any time as more are added or they become unavailable but currently you can get JamDoughnut cashback on big name brands like: B&M, Ikea, Hobbycraft Costa, Just Eat, Uber and Butlins. Once have bought a voucher that voucher is valid even if the retailer stops working with JamDoughnut. 

JamDoughnut Cashback Reviews

JamDoughnut is one of my favourite money-saving apps, but don't just take my word for it, there are lots of positive reviews. Currently on Trustpilot it has 4.7 stars (out of 5) from 684 reviews which is higher than other UK cashback sites. Looking at the few negative reviews they are mainly people who didn't understand how it worked or the occasional glitches with gift voucher software (often at the retailers end which JamDoughnut have no control over). Having read all of this post you should have a good understanding of how it works and whether it is going to be good for you.

This post is in partnership with JamDoughnut and includes affiliate links. You can sign up with my referral link here quoting my code EEFE