Paymi Review: The Value of Cash Rewards

Are you a Canadian who loves earning loyalty rewards when you shop? If so, you’re in luck. Canadian shoppers now have a couple of apps that automatically collect rewards when you shop at your favourite retailers. In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about Paymi, which is one of the loyalty reward companies leading the charge. I’ll also touch on Drop, another top app I recently reviewed.

What is Paymi?

Paymi is a customer loyalty program that earns merchandise cash rewards whenever you shop online or in store at your favourite retailers. The Paymi mobile app syncs to your debit and/or credit card, and cash is earned automatically whenever you make a purchase.

Paymi has been around since 2018 and is available for download on both IOS and Android smartphones. They also have an official partnership with CIBC, which I’ll touch on a bit later.

How Does Paymi Work?

Opening a Paymi account only takes a few minutes. In 3 easy steps, you’ll be set up and ready to earn cashback when you shop. Not only that, but you’ll get a $5 cash bonus when you sign up.

Step 1 – Connect your debit/credit card. Once you’ve downloaded the Paymi App, it only takes a few minutes to provide your personal details and sync to your debit and/or credit card. This allows Paymi to track your transaction data whenever you make purchases. The Paymi App is available for download on both iOS and Android devices. 

Step 2 – Start shopping at Paymi partner stores. I’ve included a list of 20 Paymi partners below. I recommend checking the list before you shop. From there, all you need to do to earn cashback is start spending.

Step 3 – Earn rewards automatically and collect cash. Paymi will keep track of the cash back rewards you’ve earned from each retailer. At any time, you can transfer the funds you’ve accumulated to your primary bank account via an e-transfer, which is built right into the app.

Getting Paid with Paymi

According to Paymi, it takes between 5 and 7 business days after making a purchase before the cashback shows up in your Paymi account. The value of the cash rewards can range between 1% and 25%, although the average reward will be a lot closer to the lower end of that range. 

If you return an item you purchased, Paymi will claw back the related cashback rewards, which is understandable. If the item you’re returning is part of a larger purchase, the Paymi app is able to apply a partial claw back.

What Are Paymi Click to Earn Offers? 

You earn Paymi rewards when you shop online by clicking on an offer card. These rewards are exclusive to online offers and Paymi uses the offer cards to track your online shopping trip. Full details are available when you click on the applicable offer card. 

Redeeming Your Paymi Cash Rewards

You can redeem your cash rewards by sending them via Interac e-transfer to your chequing account at any time, assuming you’ve collected at least $2.00 of money back rewards. Keep in mind that Paymi does charge $1.50 for transfers below $25.00, so it wouldn’t make sense to only transfer a couple of dollars at a time. The good news is that if you wait until you’ve accumulated over $25, the transfer will be free.

List of Paymi Partner Brands

Here is a list of participating retailers that Paymi is currently partnered with. While Paymi provided me with this list, it’s always good to check their website for up-to-date info, as this one will change when new retailers are added, and others are removed.

• Aldo
• Burger King
• Contika
• Gap
• H & M
• La Vie En Rose
• Leon’s
• Lululemon
• Mark’s
• Mary Brown’s
• Milestones
• Old Navy
• PenguinPickup Market
• Revive Superfoods
• Sportchek
• Swiss Chalet
• Trafalgar

Is Paymi Safe?

I always address this when I’m writing about any fintech app that will have access to your banking information. In a world where online fraud is a daily occurrence, it’s good to question whether the companies you’re sharing your personal information with can be trusted. With that said, it is safe to use the Paymi app. That’s because Paymi uses the same 256-bit encryption levels used by Canada’s big six banks for their online banking.

In fact, Paymi has an official partnership with one of those banks, CIBC, further indicating that using Paymi is safe. Of course, always exercise due diligence by keeping your passwords secure, and never, ever give out your information to anyone over the phone or internet.

Paymi and CIBC Bank

Paymi has an official relationship with CIBC. How the partnership works is that when CIBC customers link to Paymi using their CIBC card (debit and credit cards), they will sometimes receive double the cash rewards or other bonuses! If you ask me, this is an offer all CIBC debit customers should be aware of. In the FAQ section of the Paymi website, they do list a few CIBC cards that are excluded from bonus offers.

Using Paymi to Stack Rewards

To get the most out of loyalty rewards programs, it’s always a good idea to find ways to multiply or stack your rewards. With Paymi, you earn more money by combining the cashback earned with the app with a cashback rewards credit card. In other words, if you connect to Paymi using a cashback credit card instead of a debit card, you’ll earn cashback through the credit card and Paymi.

The caveat here is that you always pay your credit card balance in full every month. If you don’t, you’ll be charged interest at a rate that will more than wipe out any cashback you receive. Of course, if you don’t have a credit card or prefer to use debit, that will suffice.

If you are interested in a cashback credit card but don’t currently have one, this review of the best cashback credit cards in Canada may help to steer you in the right direction.

Paymi vs. Drop

Drop is another leading loyalty app that works much like Paymi. The main similarity between the two is that your rewards are earned automatically. There’s no need to use your cell phone or provide a loyalty number when you’re at the cashier; as soon as you purchase with your debit or credit card, the rewards are automatically calculated for you.

Signup for The Drop App

Both Paymi and Drop are free of charge. There are no signup or monthly fees. The big difference between the two is in the rewards. With Paymi, you earn cashback that you can eventually transfer to your bank account. So, in a way, it’s a form of saving money.

When you sign up with Drop, you collect points that you can eventually redeem for rewards. I wouldn’t say that one is better than the other, it all depends on how you prefer to collect your rewards, through cash or discounts at your favourite stores. Ultimately, you can sign up for both to increase your earning potential.

Is Paymi Right for Me?

What I love about Paymi and Drop is that they make earning rewards completely seamless. And while we’re not talking hundreds of dollars, why not take advantage of these offers when you’re shopping at your favourite stores.

Open a Free Paymi Account

Take Walmart, for example. Most Canadians spend a lot of money at Walmart each year, either on groceries, clothes for the kids, or school supplies. By combining the rewards earned on a cashback credit card with either Paymi, or the Drop app, the extra 2-3% you earn will make a difference over the course of a year, or five years, with little to no effort on your part. The only tough decision is figuring out which one is right for you.