This Facebook App Gives 4% Cash Back on Amazon Products

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — College students looking to save up buy an iPad may want to check out the new Facebook application GoalCard.

The app, launched by Seattle-based startup Bobber Interactive, can be linked to any debit card so cardholders can track their expenses and save toward a specific item selected from Amazon’s online catalog. Users can then earn up to 4% cash back on the item by playing different games and reading various materials aimed at promoting financial literacy. For instance, they may read an article about how to plan awesome but still frugal dates or earn points for cataloging a day’s worth of debit card purchases.

“Our goal is to engage younger audiences around their financial lives and get them to save more money,” says Eric Eastman, co-founder of Bobber Interactive.

Users earn energy points and when they reach a specified amount of points, they qualify for 4% cash back at Amazon. Once you reach one goal, you can begin earning cash back towards another item at Amazon.

“It’s about building a muscle towards savings,” Eastman says. “What is an iPad today is the house or the car tomorrow.”

The app is geared toward a target demographic between 18 and 28, but there is nothing preventing an older or younger individual from logging in. It is currently available for use on Facebook in a beta version and updates are introduced about every two weeks. And if you’re concerned about privacy, Bobber Interactive says it does not share any of the data users input into the application.

Bobber Interactive’s other founder, Scott Dodson, says both a mobile and Web version of the app is on the horizon. He also says several large financial institutions are looking to offer a version of the app directly to their customers, though he did not say which ones. More details will be available sometime this year.

Credit card issuers are also taking to Facebook to enhance existing offerings. Check out other ways they are incorporating social media to offer better rewards in this MainStreet article!

—Jeanine Skowronski is staff reporter for MainStreet. You can reach her by email at Skowronski.jeanine@thestreet.com, or follow her on Twitter at @JeanineSko.