Rakuten is one of our favorite shopping portals because of its rocket fuel-like ability to pump lots of points and miles into our account for awesome travel.

Updated November 13, 2025. There is now the option to earn Bilt points instead of Membership Rewards points.

What is Rakuten?

The simplest description I can give for Rakuten is it’s an online shopping portal. If you head over to Rakuten first before visiting an online store and log into your Rakuten account, you can earn some extra cash back for your qualifying purchase at that store. What counts as qualifying is clearly defined on Rakuten’s website before you are transferred to the store’s website.

On top of that, there is the ability to link your credit card so that you can earn cash back from in-store purchases as well. However, you’ll need to select the offer before making a purchase. Just note that it only works for the first purchase made (in case you split purchases into separate transactions).

Cash back is paid on the following dates, if you earn at least $5.01 in cash back:

• February 15
• May 15
• August 15
• November 15

How to link Rakuten with Amex Membership Rewards (MR)

Rakuten is very popular amongst those in the points world. Why? Because instead of simply getting cash back, you can also choose to earn Amex MR points instead. The opportunity cost, then, is you’re essentially buying MR points for 1 cent apiece. You can earn either MR points or cash back, but not both at the same time. Payouts for MR follow the same dates as above.

If you want to set yourself up to earn MR, you must first have an MR-earning card from American Express. Eligible cards include:

• The Platinum Card^® (personal and business)
• American Express^® Gold Card (personal and business)
• American Express Green Card^® (personal and business)
• Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card
• Amex EveryDay^® and Amex EveryDay^® Preferred (not currently available to new cardholders)

While the Amex Rewards Checking account provides MR points, Rakuten does not recognize your account as eligible to earn MR if you don’t also have an eligible card.

To set it up, just head over to the Account Settings tab and scroll down to “How You’re Getting Paid”. Then check the section for “Membership Rewards^® points”. The linking process will then commence.

Ultimately, this helps anyone looking to earn points in programs you couldn’t with American Express:

• Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards
• JAL Mileage Bank
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• TAP Miles&Go
• Turkish Miles&Smiles
• United MileagePlus
• Accor Live Limitless
• World of Hyatt
• IHG One Rewards

How to link Rakuten with Bilt

If you’d rather earn Bilt points via Rakuten instead of Amex MR points, the best resource is Bilt’s FAQ. The process is pretty simple.

• Log into your Bilt account at biltrewards.com
• Via the hamburger icon in the upper-left corner, select “Everyday rewards”
• You’ll then see an icon allowing you to link your Rakuten account, or click here.

To link the accounts, your Rakuten and Bilt accounts must use the same email address. Admittedly, this is a bit of an annoyance if you traditionally have used different email accounts for Bilt and Rakuten, as I’ve done. Importantly, if you want to change your email address, do it before you link your accounts. Otherwise, you might need to contact customer service to fix the issue.

Using the shopping portal to earn points faster

I think it’s best to think of Rakuten as a tool that allows you to earn the equivalent of a sign up bonus without opening a credit card. I’m not that heavy a user of the shopping portal, but I’ve still managed to amass a decent number of points that have fueled our travels.

Yes, you could earn 400,000 MR yourself, but remember that doing so means that you’re forgoing the cash. I effectively paid $4,000 for those 400,000–a decision I would easily repeat–but don’t think of this as free. Points aren’t free, remember?

But once you’re ready, head over to Rakuten and get shopping. I find the interface is easy enough to understand if things are tracking properly. It’s also nice seeing what has counted and will be paid out at the next earnings release.

No Amazon, but it does help you earn more

The biggest online merchant (Amazon) is not on here. You won’t find it on any reputable cash back portal. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use Amazon to your advantage. What I mean by that is when Amazon has their Prime Day, I find Rakuten also increases its payouts for nearly all stores. On top of that, other stores tend to price match Amazon’s prices. So buy the stuff you would normally buy on Amazon but get extra cash back or MR for doing so.

On top of Prime Day, there are other times where payouts are increased. It generally happens during holidays or long weekends. Sometimes it comes around at random times. If you want to maximize your points earning, you’ll want to be patient if you’re making a bigger purchase.

As a reminder, you should also check other cash back portals to see if it makes sense to buy via Rakuten or not. I like using Cash Back Monitor to verify other payout rates on that date.

Don’t forget to stack with cash back offers

If you are purchasing goods off Rakuten, don’t forget that merchant-funded offers on your credit cards do stack with Rakuten. So if you have a card-linked offer for Blue Apron, add that to your card first. Then go out to Rakuten and make the purchase. In some cases, this can turn deals into moneymakers. It won’t be a life-changing amount of money you’d make, but it’s nice feeling like you can game the system sometimes, right?

Even if your account is set up to earn MR, you’re not obligated to use an Amex card on Rakuten. So check Amex Offers, but don’t forget to check other cards you have like Chase or Citi cards for their merchant offers.

A few things to keep in mind

Sometimes you don’t need to “buy” anything on Rakuten to get the bonus. It can be as simple as opening a banking account, like as I did at SoFi in the image above. That’s on top of the opening bonus the bank provided. Score!

You can sometimes find deals that offer around 95% cash back, like for Life Lock. Even if you had no intention of using the service, you’re practically buying MR at close to 1 cent each. These deals may be repeatable, but remember to cancel before you’re charged the renewal fee. If you had hopes of renewing, you’re better off going through Rakuten and earning a commission.

Be careful using promo codes not found on Rakuten’s site. There is a risk that these codes, including personalized or emailed offers, might not work. Rakuten does display a list of approved codes. Sometimes you can get away with these codes, but if they don’t, you’re not going to win a challenge. It’s up to you if you want to risk it.

Lastly, watch out when using gift cards at some merchants. Many don’t offer rewards for purchasing gift cards, but some even don’t give rewards when you use gift cards to buy goods! It should say in the terms if this is the case.

Suggested reading:

• Did You Know: Free Cash Back on Hotel Stays
• Quick Hit: Earning Amex Resy Credits
• The Best Options for Airport Lounges for Families