How to Use Credit Card Shopping Portals and Card-Linked Offers

If you like online shopping, then it's worth finding out whether your rewards credit card has a shopping portal or a section for card-linked offers.

These web-based portals and deals allow you to "stack" savings or points on top of your card's normal rewards rate, with just a few easy clicks.

Here’s a look at credit card shopping portals and card-linked offers, how they work and a few of the best ones around.

» MORE: NerdWallet's best credit cards for online shopping

A credit card shopping portal (sometimes called a "bonus mall") is an online portal, offered via your card's issuer, that features links to several popular retailers. When you click these links from inside the portal and make a purchase — as opposed to visiting the retailer's site directly first — you earn extra points or cash back at whatever rate the portal is advertising. These bonus rewards are in addition to the rewards you'd earn just by using your credit card for a purchase normally.

For instance, if your card earns 2% cash back on every purchase and you use it via your shopping portal at a retailer advertising 2% back, you'll earn a total of 4% back on that transaction.

Not all issuers have shopping portals. You can find out by logging into your online account or searching for “[issuer name] shopping portal.”

» MORE: 6 ways to optimize your credit card shopping portal

When you get to the credit card shopping portal, you’ll need to sign in with your online card account login information. After that, all you need to do is click on the link for the retailer of your choice from the list of available stores. The link will take you to the retailer's website where you can earn the extra rewards.

As long as you don’t click off to another site before completing your purchase, the bonus rewards will eventually post to your account's rewards balance automatically — sometimes within a few days, other times within a billing cycle or two.

Nerdy tip: To take advantage of the issuer’s shopping portal, you may be required to pay with a credit card from that issuer. Make sure your card is eligible for the bonus rewards before you use it.

Chase Ultimate Rewards® (Shop Through Chase)

The Chase Ultimate Rewards® shopping portal, known as Shop Through Chase, offers bonus points at hundreds of online stores, from Apple to Zappos. You have the option to designate some of your favorite stores and get notifications when those online shops are offering extra rewards. Chase says bonus points typically show up on your rewards activity page within three to five business days from your purchase, but it may take up to two billing cycles for them to post to your account.

Potential pairing: Use your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to get extra rewards at the Chase Ultimate Rewards® shopping portal. The card offers 5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through Chase, 3 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants, streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel, and 1 point on all other purchases. There's also a rich sign-up bonus: Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel℠ value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year. The card has a $95 annual fee.

» MORE: Chase Ultimate Rewards®: How to earn and use them

Citi Bonus Cash Center

The Citi Bonus Cash Center offers bonus rewards at hundreds of retailers. Only Citi cards that earn cash back qualify for additional cash-back offers in the shopping portal. Citi notes that bonus cash back usually shows up under your recent transactions within 15 days of purchase, but it might take one to three billing cycles for it to appear on your statement.

Potential pairing: Use your Citi Double Cash® Card in tandem with the Citi Bonus Cash Center. This card offers 2% back on every purchase: 1% back when you buy, and another 1% back when you pay it off. That's among the best flat rewards rates you'll find. The annual fee is $0. Plus, there’s a sign-up bonus: Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.

In recent years, some issuers have sunsetted their shopping portals in favor of stand-alone, limited-time credit card offers, such as virtual coupons, discounts or extra rewards when you shop with a specific retailer.

These can still be valuable deals, but unlike with shopping portals, the incentive is not automatic and instead requires you to opt in by "adding" or "applying" the offer to your eligible card. Only then will the deal be honored.

American Express offers

Log into your American Express account and scroll down the page until you see “AmEx Offers and Benefits.” There you’ll see a list of merchants touting various deals, both in-store and online. Some offers will save you cash, while others will earn additional Membership Rewards points in addition to what you’d normally accrue for using the card.

Click to add the offers you like to the card, then use that credit card to pay for a qualifying transaction. There’s no obligation to use offers you add, so feel free to add as many as you like.

You may find that the offers available to you are different from what your family or friends receive. And if you have multiple AmEx cards, even though you may see an offer available on several of them, you’ll typically only be able to use an offer one time.

» MORE: How cash-back sites give you money for shopping

BankAmeriDeals

You can find special offers and deals on your Bank of America® credit cards, too. Just scroll down the page when you’re logged in and you’ll see a list of BankAmeriDeals that are available to add to your card.

These are cash-back offers that will be credited to your statement after you pay. Make sure you’re spending enough at that merchant to meet the requirement for the offer, and remember to use the card you added the offer to when you check out.

Chase offers

Chase offers both the Ultimate Rewards® Shop Through Chase shopping portal as well as stand-alone Chase Offers linked to certain credit cards.

Log into your Chase account and add as many offers as you like. These offers will typically only be cash back in the form of statement credit (instead of extra points).

Citi Merchant Offers

Citi has card-linked coupons, dubbed Merchant Offers, that can help you save on dining and shopping when you use your Citi card. These offers can include both national offers and local deals. Click to add the offer to your card and once you make an eligible purchase you'll receive a statement credit.

My Wells Fargo Deals

This program from Wells Fargo offers both online and in-store bonuses. As with similar offers, you'll need to activate them first before using your card. (To earn in-store bonus rewards, visit the participating retailer and use your eligible Wells Fargo card at checkout.) Wells Fargo says bonus rewards will show up in your Wells Fargo Rewards account within 30 days of purchase.