Kudos' free browser extension maximizes credit card rewards

Money left to pick is of no use to you if you never notice it's there. It may not grow on trees, but if you neglect credit card cash back and rewards, you might as well let the money rot on the vine.

According to Experian, the average American has 3.9 credit cards. Many have more. Since almost every card has a unique rewards program these days, it can quickly become overwhelming to keep up with who's earning how much and where. Enter Kudos, a free browser extension that tells you which of your credit cards gets you the most rewards points, miles, or cash back for the site you shop on.

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Always pay with the best card

“We believe many people are leaving money on the table when it comes to maximizing their credit card rewards and benefits, which is why we created Kudos,” writes Kudos. If you're like me, you have a credit card that's best for buying plane tickets, restaurant meals, and taxi rides, another card that's best for gas and groceries, and another card that's best suitable for earning cash. And then I just forget about it. It doesn't matter that some of my cards change reward rates and categories every three months. It's mind-blowing to keep up. Too many times I've signed up for one card or another to pay my monthly bill and realized that if I had used a particular card for last week's Home Depot purchase or backcountry purchase, I would have earned more rewards . Oops. Too late. Happens all the time.

In October 2024, Kudos users will receive 5x rewards at 15 select retailers. This means your total reward rate could be 25% for retailers like Expedia, Backcountry, Booking.com, Nike, HalloweenCostumes.com, PetSmart and more.

“Kudos is like Apple Pay, Honey, and Nerdwallet all rolled into one,” is how Kudos describes itself. Like Honey does with coupons and discount codes, Kudos cares about figuring out how to maximize your savings – or in this case, your rewards so you don't have to go through all the conditions and benefits of your cards yourself. They say kudos to which credit cards you have, and when you shop at one of the (more than) 15,000 participating online stores, you'll find out which of your cards you should use. If you follow the recommendation, you will earn the maximum number of reward points, miles or cashback. Even if your card doesn't earn rewards, you'll earn Boost points at a rate of 1%. So if you spend $300, you'll get 300 Boost Points if none of your cards offer anything better. Every time you earn 1,000 Boost Points, you can redeem them for a $10 Amazon gift card.

Automatically fill in your card information with one click

Kudos is not only a reward finder, but also a payment solution. Like Apple Pay (or Google Pay or Samsung Pay), all your credit card information is stored securely so you can shop online with one click. Even the CCV (security code) is saved, so you never have to reach for your wallet to take out your card to take a look. For this reason, however, it is important to ensure that only you (or very trusted people) have access to your login information.

Kudos has been around for two years now. Founded by former Google, PayPal and Honey engineers, they say they have attracted more than 200,000 users since launching, earning a total of over $150 million in rewards.

DISCOVER YOUR NEXT CARD

It shouldn't take a crystal ball to figure out your next credit card. CardMatch by Kudos provides you with credit card recommendations that best suit your usage purposes. Thanks to Kudos' partnership with The Points Guy, a trusted financial advice website with a special focus on making sense of credit card rewards, airline miles, etc., users can access the highest sign-up bonuses offered on any new credit card The total value of the mess of credit cards on the market today.

Rewards are a low-risk way to make purchases that you would (ideally) make anyway. But like cutting out paper coupons, getting overwhelmed by searching for the best deals can leave you feeling like it's not worth it. Kudos seem like an interesting way to shorten the path to optimizing your rewards. I'm sure I passed up on deals just because my confused brain didn't want to waste the time figuring it out on my own. But a percent here, a percent there add up. With a Since it's a free browser add-on that takes the work out of figuring out how best to use the credit cards I already have, I'm not sure I have any good excuses left.