Rakuten: 4K Membership Rewards / $40 referral bonus for both sides (2024)

Update:This post was originally reshared with incorrect info. The $40 bonus is only for the referring side. The person who signs up via the referral link (referee) gets an additional 10% cash back on top of whatever else Rakuten is offering (up to $50 maximum total cash back).

This means that, instead of getting $40 back after $40 in purchases through the portal, you’d need to spend $400 to get the same $40. That’s obviously a much less appealing offer, although it could be worthwhile for some folks. For most, it’s probably worth waiting for a better offer.

The Deal

• Shopping portalRakuten is currently offering a targeted referral bonus of $40 (or 4,000 Membership Rewards points) when you refer someone by May 13th and that person spends $40 or more within 30 days of signing up.

If you’re not a Rakuten Member and would like to use one of our referral links, you’ll find them below:

Nick’s Referral Link

Greg’s Referral Link

Tim’s Referral Link

Stephen’s Referral Link

Key Terms

• Qualify for a $40 Referral Bonus when anyone whom you refer (a “Referee”) signs up to become a new member using your referral link or other method supplied by Rakuten during the period beginning 9:01AM PT April 25, 2023 and ending 11:59PM PT May 13, 2024 (“Offer Period”) and makes Qualifying Purchase(s) totaling at least $40 within 30 days of signing up.
• You may qualify for a Referral Bonus more than one time.
• You and your Referee(s) must reside and be located in the 50 United States, District of Columbia, or Canada and comply with the Refer-A-Friend Program Terms.
• Referral Bonus(es) will be added to your next Cash Back payment, provided that your Referee(s) are Qualified Referral(s) according to the Refer-A-Friend Program Terms.
• A Referee will not be a Qualified Referral if they cancel, return, or exchange their Qualifying Purchase, if their Qualifying Purchase hasn’t earned Cash Back, or if their purchase is found to be fraudulent, abusive, unethical, suspicious, or otherwise inconsistent with our Refer-A-Friend Program Terms.

Quick Thoughts

When you sign up for Rakuten, your account preference is set to earn cash back by default. However, it’s possible to change your earning preference to Membership Rewards points. Rakuten will ask you to enter a name and address for Big Fat Check payments before setting a Membership Rewards earning preference even though you haven’t yet earned anything through Rakuten.

You can get around this by entering your name and address for check payments and then immediately switching your earning preference to Membership Rewards points. Some folks report that, by doing this before shopping, you can get 4,000 MR points. Others still end up with a $40 check for the referral bonus and find that all future purchases trigger Membership Rewards.

Just make sure your referees sign up by May 13th. Then, they have 30 days to make $40 in purchases through Rakuten; the last time they offered a $40 bonus your referee got 90 days to make the qualifying purchases, so note the shorter time period this time. Remember that they’ll also earn whatever the portal rate is for the store that they’re shopping at as well.