Emotional cheerful african american female consumer purchasing from home, young black lady sitting on couch among colorful shopping bags, using laptop, raising hands up.

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Top Money Saving Facts About the Capital One Shopping App

By The Money Manual

July 3, 2024

It goes without saying that Capital One is legit.

It’s a great brand with a great rep, that’s easily said.

So does that mean Capital One Shopping free browser extension and app is worth your time?

That’s what you’re about to find out.

Let’s take a look.

It’s Free? What Does It Do?

Yes, Capital One Shopping is a free browser extension or downloadable app that sits quietly in the background while you shop, busily scanning while you browse.

Once it finds great deals it alerts you to them, including suggesting coupons and coupon codes you didn’t know about for your chosen items.

You either approve them and save or reject them and pay more. (Choices, choices.)

It also alerts you to price drops and shopping rewards, basically making it tough for you to miss out on anything you might kick yourself about later.

For example, while you’re doing some shopping on Amazon, a Capital One Shopping widget is watching what you’re looking at and will tell you if the item is available for less elsewhere.

Shhh! We’re guessing Amazon doesn’t want you to know that!

Oh, and you can shop directly through the Capital One Shopping portal, either on mobile or your desktop.

Capital One Shopping interface shows one of its savings features. — *Possibly not Amazon’s favorite feature, it could become yours.*

Tell Me More About Shopping Rewards

Because you don’t need a Capital One credit card to use Capital One Shopping, the Rewards here are distinct from any rewards earnable with a Capital One card. You earn yours simply by shopping through Capital One Shopping’s partner sites, then trade them in for e-gift cards.

It works like this.

Capital One Shopping Rewards are provided as cash back offers. You can receive a specific amount for completing certain purchases, or you can gain a percentage of your spending through the Capital one portal.

The accumulated Rewards appear as a total amount in your Capital One Shopping account and, as stated, can be redeemed for e-gift cards from major retailers.

WARNING: Mission, Erm, Possible

Be careful!

Some readers may remember the TV show “24” starring Kiefer Sutherland. It’s possible that the folks at Capital One Shopping were fans, too, because there’s a Rewards challenge.

Here it is.

When a Rewards offer pops up, you have 24 hours to snag it and bag it with a qualifying purchase. So if you activate your offer, then get distracted by other deal sites or browser extensions, you could miss out.

Top Tip.

Shop around before activating your offer. Once you do activate, get focused on getting the biggest bang for your buck. We won’t repeat the naughty phrase 24’s Jack Bauer used to shout when time was running out, but that could happen to you, too.

Unless you pay attention to us. Here it is.

DON’T:

Have another savings browser extension installed after activating a Reward.
Click another offer or visit another deal site after activating a Reward.
Waste time in the loo or somewhere before snagging your Reward.

OK, actually you can do that last one. Still, this is your mission should you choose to accept it.

As always, that’s up to you.

One male and one female secret agent dressed in dark clothing and gloves break into a huge vault. — *Mission Impossible? Not even close, we just love the drama.*

How Do I Redeem My Rewards?

We figured you’d make that decision.

OK, once you’ve built up enough rewards, simply click through to the Rewards Redemption section of your COS portal, then select which retailer you want your e-gift card from, along with the amount.

Eligible amounts vary by retailer and are listed your page. With that, you’ll receive an email with card activation instructions. Make sure and do that before use.

What are the Major Pros and Cons?

Well, it’s a simple free install from a company with a great reputation, so trust and cost aren’t issues here, which is quite rare. Still, we’ll opt for:

PROs:

Capital One Shopping:

Is free and very simple.
Searches over 100,000 stores as you shop online.
Gives you coupons and promo codes.
Keeps you aware of price drops and better deals.
Offers Rewards to folks who can handle the big 24.
It calculates shipping costs when calculating great deals.
If you save an item instead of buying, COS will notify you if the cost drops.
Is compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari.
Its mobile version is available for both iOS and Android devices.
Boasts a 4.8/5-Star rating from 14.8K ratings on Chrome Web Store.
Boasts 4.8/5 Star-ratingfrom 44K reviews and 1M+ downloads on Google Play.

CONS:

Capital One Shopping:

Is designed for optimal use in the U.S. with limitations in other countries.
Has been known to glitch and enter coupon codes automatically, which could cause issues if you’re already working on a coupon code transaction and didn’t notice the switch had happened.
Gives you 24 hours on Rewards like you’re some grumpy old TV action star.

Oh, and you can earn extra points by referring a friend and having them complete the few simple steps you did. Apparently, if you have a bunch of friends who like saving while shopping, you could earn up to $500 in bonus Rewards.