PSA: Bumped Changes (Opening to General Public, Stock Back Changes, Introduction to ETFs)

Hi all, Bumped sent out an email this morning (to me, at least) that there are some upcoming changes. Some of these changes actually might be YMMV because I'm aware that some people already see different stock back options than I do.

Here's the main takeaways of this email:

1. Home Improvement Category reward percentages are now decreasing. The rate is now 0.5% (down from 1.0%).This change might affect several people now since this is the time of year when people begin building/renovation projects, and hardware stores are hardly being hit by COVID-19 affects.
2. Club Warehouses are moving to ETF rewards. Sam's Club is the only warehouse available. If you have selected Sam's Club, you need to go into your app right now and re-select it. You'll notice that you're now getting the same 1% rate as before, but now you're getting 1% in VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund). I personally view this as a positive change. Slow Growth ETFs are personally high value for me since I'm someone who enjoys hodling investments for a long time.
3. Bumped is preparing to launch for the general public. Since their launch, Bumped has had a waitlist that slowly let people in. The waitlist took people an average of 6-14 months. This upcoming change is a huge win for users on the waitlist now.
4. They're hinting that soon there may be more brands, banks, and businesses added to the CB options. Not sure what they mean by banks. We'll have to wait and see.

Overall this update seems very positive, but I'm always skeptical when it comes to changes like this. I'm excited for the future of Bumped in the sense that their cash back is already low, which means it'd be hard for them to even devalue the program further. Since some CB options are already as low as 0.5%, I find it unlikely it goes any lower than that. 0.25%? Someone sees that and I imagine they'll find the app fucking stupid and just skip over it.

If you're on (or not on, for that matter) the Bumped waitlist, I have a full review available here that also includes about 15 other similar apps.

For anyone curious, here's the full email they sent today:

Our team is preparing a major update to the Bumped platform that will help make stock rewards more available — namely, reducing the waitlist and creating access to stock rewards from even more brands.

Preparing to move from the pilot and into general availability first requires a few changes to the current experience Bumped users have in-app.

What is happening?

Reward percentages in the Home Improvement category are decreasing. From today, purchases made at The Home Depot and Lowe’s will receive a 0.5% stock reward.

We’re also changing reward types in the Club Warehouse category, and offering ETF rewards for purchases made at Sam’s Club.

What do I need to do?

If you had previously selected Sam's Club, you'll need to visit the Loyalties section of Bumped and reselect your loyalty to receive an ETF reward.

What's next

Bumped is preparing to launch to the general public. As we continue to grow, we will implement additional changes to how the platform works; this is just the first of more forthcoming changes.

No spoilers, but we’re really excited about what these shifts will set the stage for — delivering more opportunities to get stock rewards from even more brands, banks, and businesses.

We’ll announce and explain further updates as they come, but don’t worry, our aim remains the same. We are committed to rewarding loyal customers—like you—with free fractional shares of stock, and look forward to expanding the ways to do this.

I want to learn more

If you have any questions, email support@bumped.com, or send us a message through the app.

Thank you so much for your patience and support as we work to fine-tune our platform through the Bumped pilot.

–The Bumped Team