Shopping rewards company
Rakuten Rewards ( RAK-ə-tin),[1] formerly known as Ebates,[2] is a cash-back and shopping rewards company.[3] Its revenue comes from affiliate network links.[4] Members of the site click through affiliate links before shopping at a retailer's site.
History
Rakuten Rewards was founded as Ebates in 1998 in Menlo Park, California, by two former deputy district attorneys, Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman.[5] Funded by the venture capital firm Foundation Capital,[6] Ebates.com was launched on 3 May 1999, offering up to 25% cash back from about 40 online retailers.[7]
In September 2014, Ebates was acquired by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten for US$1 billion.[8] In 2019, the Ebates brand was phased out and replaced with Rakuten Rewards.[9]
Acquisitions
Name
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Description
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References
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Mobile app
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Free application for Android and iOS allows users to shop and earn cash back on mobile devices.
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[18]
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Hotels
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Users can book hotels to earn cash back.
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[19]
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Cash Back Button
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Browser extension for Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, Alerts users to cash-back possibilities on store sites and highlights offers in Google and Bing search results.
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[20]
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Marketplace
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Formerly located at Rakuten.com, the marketplace is an e-commerce site where users can buy goods from third-party sellers.
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In-Store Cash Back
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Users can earn cash back in stores by adding a credit or debit card to their accounts and using that card to pay in stores.
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Logos
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2017
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2018
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2019 (US, before renaming)
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2019 (Canada, before renaming)
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2019 (US and Canada, after renaming)
References