Archive
The New Upromise Community Forums
There are so many good web communities these days, there isn’t enough spare time to play around in them all. Here’s one I plan to make more time for though – the new Upromise user forums.
There’s no live link here because the company is making the forums available to a limited number of users first. I somehow got on the list – Upromise picked beta users of all sorts, a spokeswoman says.
A quick explainer: Upromise is a rewards program that helps you save for college. Little bits of refunds land in your Upromise account based on how you spend your money in various places. Then, you move those refunds to a 529 college savings account every so often.
Though there are all sorts of ways to milk money out Upromise, there’s one part of the program that’s so easy and lucrative that every parent (or grandparent) ought to be using it. I’ve racked up over $400 in savings in the last couple of years just by doing my online shopping through Upromise’s portal.
Somewhere between one and eight or so percent of what I spend at eligible retailers comes back to my account and ends up in my daughter’s college fund. All for things I would have bought anyway, from companies I was already about to patronize. You can learn more about how the (simple) system works here; many of our refunds come from iTunes, drugstore.com and Kodakgallery.com, but there are scores of other brand-name sites that participate.
Given my loyalty to the program, I was curious to see what would happen if I posted a tough question or criticism (or both) on the new forums. Turns out I got immediate replies, including some from Upromise employees. The company’s president himself helpfully posted the email address for an executive at a potential Upromise partner that I wish would join the program (Hello, FreshDirect!). That allowed me to lobby her personally.
To me, the real learning here is that when a company launches user forums for its own customers, it’s best to pile in and participate early. That’s when the company’s own employees will be watching most carefully – and reaching out to help people who make a lot of noise or post thoughtful, probing queries.
I’ll post the link to the Upromise forums once they open fully to the public, which should be in the next several weeks.
- Comments (3)
- Add a comment »
(3) Comments
Thanks for the tip, Ron. It’s time - we need to get Owen’s 529 account set up, and learning about Upromise (and it’s future forum) is an amazing supplement to that. Funny how some sites just don’t fall onto your radar until you hit new life stages.
Thinking about Upromise more, I have another 529 question. While I’m not sure I’ll choose it, California’s 529 plan has a rewards program set up with an AmEx card: “Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards American Express Card rebates 1.5% of purchases”. Have you heard if rewards options are common among 529 plans?
Jack, there are at least two cards that earn cash refunds based on what you spend that then get funneled into a 529. This Amex is one of them. There’s also the Citi Upromise MasterCard, which kicks back just 1% with a few bigger bonuses here and there.
The Fidelity card looks better at first glance. Two things worth considering though: Amex isn’t accepted everywhere that the Citi MasterCard is, so you could pile more spending on to the Citi card, thus earning more rewards.
Also, the Fidelity refunds must go to a Fidelity 529 account. If you end up paying higher fees for funds there than you would for investments made with Citi refunds, the extra money disappears.
I haven’t done the math on this, but it might make a good “Credit-Card Personal Shopper” feature if you’re game to go under the microscope…
