Cashrewards

Last updated
Cashrewards
Company type Private
Industry E-commerce, loyalty programs, retailing
Founded2014
FoundersAndrew Clarke
Lorica Clarke
Headquarters Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Area served
Australia
Key people
Anthony Seymour-Walsh (CEO)
Services Cashback
MembersIncrease2.svg 2.5 million (2025) [1]
Parent 1835i
Website www.cashrewards.com.au

Cashrewards was an Australian cashback website. The company had over two million members and more than 2,000 partners including Apple, Amazon, Myer, Liquorland, Adidas, Bonds, Target, Booking.com and The Iconic. [2]

Contents

History

Cashrewards was founded in 2014 by Andrew and Lorica Clarke. [3] The company was bootstrapped for four years before it received $5.25 million in debt funding in April 2018. [4]

In 2018, Cashrewards launched its In Store Offers platform, with Visa Inc. The platform allows members with a Visa credit card or debit card to earn cashback at hundreds of stores in Australia. [5]

In June 2019, the company raised $5.2 million in Series A funding and announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) by 2020. [6] [7] In October of that year allowed users of In Store Offers to use Mastercard to access cashback from participating retailers.

In July 2021, Cashrewards and ANZ launched Cashrewards Max. Exclusive to ANZ credit and debit card users, Cashrewards Max members received higher cashback offers from participating sellers. [8] [9]

In January 2022, the remaining stake in Cashrewards was acquired from a group of shareholders by 1835i, ANZ's external innovation and venture capital partner.[ citation needed ] On 30 September 2022, the Cashrewards Max program was retired. In November 2022, ANZ added a feature to their app that allows access to Cashrewards' cashback from it.

In October 2023, Cashrewards launched Circuit, its retail media offering. [10] In August 2024, Cashrewards acquired Little Birdie, a product search and real-time price tracking platform. The company planned to integrate Little Birdie with its Cashrewards platform. [11]

On 8 September 2025, Cashrewards announced it was shutting down and ceased making offers available on its website, app and browser extension. Customers were given until 12 December 2025 to withdraw funds. [12] The Australian Financial Review reported that "Cashrewards was failing to meet ANZ’s expectations". [13]

Philanthropy

In 2017, Cashrewards joined the Salesforce charity initiative "Pledge 1%". Cashrewards was founded by the Clarkes after their child survived a serious illness, so they chose the Starlight Children's Foundation, due to the support the organisation provided to their child during the illness. [14] They pledged to match 1% of all cashback that their members withdraw and donate it to the Foundation. [14] [8] [9] By February 2024, the company had donated more than $2 million to the charity. [15]

Awards and recognition

YearCategoryInstitution or publicationResultNotesRef.
2016Finalist: Best Fintech StartupStartConNominatedAustralasian Startup Awards 2016 [16]
2016Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Awards Australia Deloitte Won Deloitte Technology Fast 500 2016 [17]
2017Finalist: E-commerce Company of the YearStartConNominatedAustralasian Startup Awards 2017 [18]
2017Finalist: NSW Region Telstra Nominated Telstra Business Awards 2017 [19]
2017Finalist: Eastern Region Ernst & Young (EY)Nominated Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award 2017 [20]
2017Smart50 List (4th Place)SmartCompanyWonSmart50 Awards 2017 [21]
2017Finalist: Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year Optus & MyBusinessNominatedOptus My Business Awards 2017 [22]
2017Media, Marketing and Advertising Business of the Year Optus & MyBusinessWonOptus My Business Awards 2017 [23]
2017Finalist: Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Awards Australia Deloitte Nominated Deloitte Technology Fast 500 2017 [24]
2017Businesses of Tomorrow Award Westpac WonWestpac Businesses of Tomorrow 2017 [25]
2018Fast 100 List (6th Place) The Australian Financial Review WonFinancial Review Fast 100 2018 [26]
2018Nora Best Loyalty MarketingNoraWonNora Solution Partner Awards [27]

References

  1. ↑ "Cashrewards boosts growth with investment in Circuit Media". MediaWeek. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  2. ↑ "How Cashrewards delivers high returns with "near-zero" risk". Cashrewards. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  3. ↑ Bowen, Nigel. "Generating Business Ideas: A Masterclass" (PDF). Content Sherpa. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ Powell, Dominic (2018-04-24). "Rewards startup Cashrewards locks in $5.25 million capital raise despite "a bit of a hitch" last minute". SmartCompany. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  5. ↑ "Cashrewards Teams Up with Visa to Launch New In-Store Cashback Program" (Press release). October 16, 2018. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  6. ↑ Smith, Paul (June 3, 2019). Stutchbury, Michael (ed.). "Online retailer Cashrewards banks Silicon Valley backing as market picks up pace". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  7. ↑ Blake, Dean (June 4, 2019). McIlvaine, Heather (ed.). "Cashrewards raises $5.25m, eyes IPO". InternetRetailing.com.au. Octomedia. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Michael, Luke (December 7, 2020). "Cashrewards takes social purpose to the ASX". Probono Australia. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Gray, Emma (July 22, 2021). “Cashback to the max”. BlueNotes. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  10. ↑ Jolly, Nathan (2023-10-22). "Cashrewards moves into retail media". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  11. ↑ Jolly, Nathan. "Cashrewards acquires retail tech platform: 'A major win for consumers'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  12. ↑ Catterson, Rosalea (2025-09-08). "Breaking: Cashrewards Shuts Down After 11 Years". Power Retail. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  13. ↑ Bharadwaj, Angira (2025-09-08). "ANZ venture fund calls time on cashback dud Cashrewards" . Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  14. 1 2 "Cashrewards: Rewarding Happiness for Starlight and SIck Kids". Starlight Children's Foundation. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  15. ↑ Ignacio, Celene (2024-02-23). "Cashrewards reports $2 million milestone in Starlight donations". Internet Retailing. Retrieved 2025-09-08.
  16. ↑ Mack, Cheryl. "Over 3100 attendees gathered in Sydney for StartCon and the Australasian Startup Awards 2016". StartCon. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  17. ↑ Bowen, Nigel. "Technology Fast 50 2017 Winners' Report" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  18. ↑ Mack, Cheryl. "Winners of the 2017 Annual Australasian Startup Awards". StartCon. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  19. ↑ Beeck, Jessica (April 29, 2018). "Online Retail Space is Heating Up: Aussie Cash Back Site Cashrewards Heralds New Era" (Press release). Business Wire. Bastion Effect. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  20. ↑ Kent, Melanie (July 5, 2017). "EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ regional finalists revealed". Ernst & Young. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Smart50 Awards 2017: Cashrewards". SmartCompany. 14 October 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  22. ↑ Zuchetti, Adam (November 11, 2017). "Optus My Business Awards 2017 winners revealed". MyBusiness. Momentum Media. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  23. ↑ "2017 Winners". MyBusiness. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Technology Fast 50 2017 Winners' Report" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Meet the 2017 Businesses of Tomorrow". MyBusiness. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  26. ↑ Bailey, Michael (October 31, 2018). Stutchbury, Michael (ed.). "Fast 100: Next Business Energy tops future-facing list". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  27. ↑ "Solution providers recognised at inaugural industry awards". 30 October 2018.
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