[UPDATE: Days after I posted this, Fold changed up its offering, removing the Amazon benefit from the free Spin card. It does still offer 5% back (up to $500 in purchases per month) on Amazon gift cards for those with the Spin+ card — which now has an annual fee of $100. In other words, the crux of this post is now moot but enjoy anyway]
How many times have you been sitting at home and thought, “Oh, I need to buy X” or “I wonder if X product exists” or some variation of those scenarios? If you’re like me, you’ve not only had such impulsive thoughts but also followed them up by going to Amazon. Thanks to the platform’s ubiquity, it’s become a go-to for many. In turn, gift cards for the retailer are nearly as good as cash in the eyes of many consumers — myself included. Admittedly, if I need to test a new debit card product, I’m likely to just add a view dollars to my Amazon balance since I know I’ll use it eventually. But, speaking of debit cards and Amazon gift cards, there’s actually another trick I use to earn 5.25% or more back on Amazon on every purchase: I turn to my Fold Spin card.
If you’re not familiar with Fold, it’s an app that allows you to earn Bitcoin back on gift card purchases from a number of retailers. I’ve actually been a fan of the application for a while, but came to find more use from it after it introduced its Spin and Spin+ debit cards. That’s because, rather than trying to navigate the Lightning network to earn the best rates on card purchases, I could just use my Fold card instead. On that note, one of the key perks of the Spin card is that customers can earn 5% back on Amazon gift card purchases, with these rebates being paid in the form of Sats (which are tiny little pieces of Bitcoin).
While this option has been available to me since I first got the debit card a couple of years ago now, the problem was that I never seemed to have enough in my Fold account to cover a gift card purchase — and didn’t want to wait for a transfer to go through before buying my Amazon item. Well, at long last, Fold has fixed this issue by introducing instant funding via debit card. Now, by linking my main banking debit card to the app (via Astra), I can add the funds I need to buy my gift card, add said card to my Amazon account, and buy whatever crap I’m eyeing at the time.
As I mentioned, with the Fold Spin card itself, I get 5% back on Amazon gift card purchases, up to $250 in cards per month. Yet, the fun doesn’t stop there as there’s still the Spin element of the Spin debit card to consider. After making a purchase, you’ll have an hour to spin the prize wheel in hopes of earning additional rewards. Alternatively, you can now opt for a flat 0.25% back instead of pressing your luck (big money, big money, no whammies, and stop!). Incidentally, I went ahead and bought a $50 Amazon card today using Fold and opted to give the wheel a shot. After I landed on the 2% back wedge on my first try, I decided to settle for that prize — meaning that I actually earned 7% back on my purchase.
Now, you may be wondering how I go about turning the Bitcoin I earn from Fold into “actual” cash. Well, once you hit 50,000 Sats on the app, you’ll be able to transfer them to an external wallet. Personally, I’ve used both Cash App and Robinhood for this task, since both have such capabilities and can also be used to sell assets easily.
While the process is fairly simple, there are a few things I should note. First, it may take some time for the Sats you earn on Fold to be ready for withdrawal. Specifically, it notes that Sats earned from your Spin card purchases will take 30 days to clear (although the ones you get from buying the gift card itself should be available right away). Second, Fold only sends Bitcoin transfers on Tuesday evenings. Finally, you’ll want to make damn sure that the wallet address you enter is correct lest you accidentally waste all of your Bitcoin earnings.
Now that Fold has added instant debit card funding to its platform, the service is now perfectly equipped to keep up with my Amazon impulses and earn my 5.25% back or more when I do make purchases from the online superstore. And although I realize that Bitcoin may not be everyone’s preferred method of payout, when you combine Fold with a Cash App or Robinhood, I’ve found it easy enough to transfer your Sats and turn them into USD if you prefer. For those reasons, if you’re interested in earning Bitcoin back on Amazon gift cards and the like, I think it’s worth at least checking out Fold and their Spin debit card.