Paymi Review: Shop and Collect Cash Back Rewards

Paymi is a free and easy-to-use app offering cash back rewards on your everyday purchases at popular partner retailers. Read our in-depth Paymi review to find out how it stacks up with other apps on the market.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to collect points and receive incentives for your shopping, you likely already have a rewards credit card or two. These are a solid start towards making your spending habits pay—but why not really max out your earnings opportunities? For this, you need to get Paymi. In this Paymi review, we’ll look at the free app, run through how it works, and determine whether adding Paymi to your purchasing process is worth it for you.

What is Paymi?

Paymi is a free app that lets you earn cash back rewards on your everyday spending, just by shopping in-store or online at partner retailers. While the percentages of cash back vary by retailer and promotion, they start at 1%—which is in line with many cash back credit cards—and have been reported as high as 30% for an exceptional Lowe’s promotion.

About Paymi

Paymi is dead simple to use. You download the app at the Apple store or Google Play Store and then register online.

Next, you link your credit and debit cards to the app. This is how Paymi keeps track of what you spend and where, so they can deposit cash into your account. After that, all you have to do is shop. When you make purchases at Paymi partner brands or retailers, you get an automatic credit applied to your account. You don’t have to upload receipts or report your purchases—the app does it all automatically.

Redemption is easy, too. Once you have a minimum of $2.00 in your account, you can request an Interac e-Transfer and have the money deposited into your account. If you wait until you have $25.00 or more, there is no fee for withdrawal; under that, you’ll pay $1.25.

It’s unbelievably simple and you can start earning money right away. It’s why we’ve named Paymi one of the best budgeting apps in Canada.

Paymi Partner Brands and Retailers

Obviously, the strength of this program rests on its partner brands and retailers because this is where you get cash back rewards. Paymi’s brand offerings change but judging from their previous or current partners, you have the opportunity to earn plenty at many popular stores.

For example, Paymi includes shoe and apparel stores like:

Zara
Old Navy
Marks
Lululemon
La Vie En Rose
Aldo
Indochino

They also work with popular food and dining establishments like:

Sobey’s
Milestones
Starbucks

Travellers can take advantage of their partnerships with brands like:

Lion World Travel
Insight Vacations
Contiki

Finally, you can link multiple debit and credit cards from various banks with Paymi to make sure you get your Paymi cash back no matter what plastic you use on a purchase.

Paymi CIBC

CIBC recently partnered with Paymi so you can even earn on purchases made using your CIBC debit card. It’s simple: pay with your CIBC card and get more money back. No need to load offers or enter coupon codes. Plus, you can collect money back on top of any rewards you already earn with your CIBC cards.

How Does Paymi Compare?

Paymi isn’t the first app to offer rewards for your everyday purchases. But in Canada, it only has two main competitors: Drop and Koho.

	Paymi	Drop	Koho
Sign Up Fee	$0	$0	$0
Monthly Fee	$0	$0	$0
Type of Rewards	Cash	Points	Cash
Redeem For	Cash	Gift cards and merchandise	Cash
Rewards Earning	Automatic	Automatic	Preloaded debit card or Apple Pay

Comparing Paymi, Drop, and Koho, all three apps work in a similar way—by tracking your purchases and rewarding you for them – and they’re all completely free.

However, only Paymi and Koho reward in cash. Drop gives you points that are then redeemable for merchandise or gift cards. While Paymi and Drop let you earn rewards automatically using your existing credit and debit cards, Koho rewards you for using their preloaded debit card or Apple Pay. For those without a rewards credit card already, this may be a good option but it’s less flexible than the other two offerings.

Paymi: Pros and Cons

There are a few big benefits of using Paymi. However, Nothing’s perfect – not even Paymi. So there are also drawbacks.

It’s free: There is no cost to download or use this app which sets the risk bar very low and opens the door to try it out without any financial outlay.
It’s simple: In the early days of these kinds of rewards apps, there were a lot of conditions to meet in order to get your rewards. With Paymi, you needn’t keep or scan your receipts, and there’s nothing to upload. Paymi automatically tracks your spending and credits your account.
It’s cash! Paymi puts cash into your account – the most flexible reward out there.
Getting paid is easy: The $2.00 minimum threshold is easy to generate and payment by Interac e-Transfer directly into your bank account means your money is accessible, where you need it, quickly.
You can double-dip! Just by linking your credit or debit cards, you can make money on spends you’re already being rewarded for. Imagine you make a $10 purchase with a cash back credit card that offers 2% in money back. You’ll get back $0.20. But if you’re linked to Paymi, you’ll also get their reward—an additional 1% – 30%, which could be anywhere between $0.10 and $3.00. Worst case scenario, you make $0.30 and in the best case, you’ll earn $3.20 cashback per $10.

Limitations on earnings: Not every purchase at a partner retailer is eligible for cash back with Paymi. You have to engage with the app enough to follow the retailers and promotions.
Rotating retailers and promotions: The retailers change and so do your offers, so you have to research to make sure you’re getting the best deals.
You donate your consumer profile and shopping information: Paymi works by tracking your spending habits. If you have an issue with your data being used in this way, the app is not for you.

How Safe Is Paymi?

Obviously, you should do your due diligence when it comes to giving your personal or banking information to any person or app. In addition to your name, address, date of birth, and other personal details, Paymi needs access to your shopping history, as well as your banking details to pay you. However, Paymi cannot withdraw money from your bank account—they can only download your “read-only” transaction data. They use bank-level 256-bit encryption, and their partnership with CIBC definitely lends credibility to the company and their security protocols. That said, every user should take the typical precautions when setting up and managing their accounts.

Is Paymi Worth It?

Yes! Shopping with a rewards app like Paymi is one way to take advantage of everyday purchases you make anyway, as well as to “double-dip” on rewards or cash back by using it in addition to your credit card or other rewards apps.

Those looking to beef up their cash rewards would do well to sign up for Paymi. It’s free, automatic, has a low payment threshold, and tends to partner with major retailers. Plus, pair your Paymi purchases with one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada or best travel rewards credit cards in Canada, and you’ll really be rolling in the dough!