After a solid eight-year run (since launching a public beta), Dosh has announced that it’s shutting down its app next month. As I write this, the last day to make qualifying transactions to earn cashback has passed and the app will officially close on February 28th. That said, the last day to claim any funds you’ve earned is February 23rd. Anything unclaimed by that date will be forfeited.
Thankfully, even as they sunset, Dosh is exiting the stage with grace and consideration for its customers. For one, they’re giving us more than a month of notice. More importantly, they’ve also lowered the withdrawal minimum from the regular $15 to just a penny. That’s great news as I literally had $14.82 in cashback when the announcement was made and, if I lost that or had to make a last-minute purchase to clear the $15 threshold, I’d have been quite annoyed and thought of Dosh’s legacy slightly less favorably. Instead, I do think they’re doing right by us long-time fans and I appreciate that.
On that note, in the wake of this news, I’ve seen several people stating that they found the app to be great at one time but that it had since been rendered useless. While I wouldn’t say the current version of Dosh was its peak form, I’d have to push back strongly on the “useless” assertion. After all, I’ve been utilizing it more than ever in recent months as one of my favorite local breweries is featured on Dosh and I’ve been able to earn 5% back there each time (in addition to 3x Bilt Points using their neighborhood dining feature). Plus, not too long ago, I was surprised by Dosh cashback after making a Shake Shack purchase in Florida. What I’m saying is, although the offers found may not have been quite as plentiful or attractive as they once were, there was still a lot of good there.
Looking at my Dosh account, I’ve apparently brought in $450.76 in lifetime cashback. That’s honestly impressive to me. Granted, a good portion of that came not from purchases but from the generous referral bonuses they used to offer. Still, the value of the app is clear to me.
On the more personal side of things, I have a lot to thank Dosh for professionally. The app was one of the first I ever reviewed and helped me build a template for how to assess such tools — not to mention that it set a benchmark for other cashback tools to live up to. Moreover, my first video review of the app is among my most-viewed. Ranking at number 11, I actually thought it was higher than it was, but it would surely crack the top 10 if you added in views from the subsequent update videos I’ve made on Dosh over the years.
By the way, I should note that Dosh the company is apparently sticking around. In their email to customers, they wrote, “You can still access the cashback offers you know and love through your bank’s rewards program.” I know that Dosh currently powers rewards for the Venmo debit card but, unfortunately, I haven’t seen what other partners they have. If it’s enough to sustain their business going forward, I suppose I’m surprised that the customer-facing side lasted as long as it did!
As you can probably tell, I will certainly miss Dosh. Then again, this is far from the first time I’ve had to say “goodbye” to an app I love and will likely not be the last. So, rest easy, my dear Dosh — you made the most of your time on this Earth.