NerdWallet Shopping Rewards
Effective Date: September 18, 2023
THESE TERMS CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE, DISCLAIMERS, AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY.
Please read these Terms of Use (“Terms”) fully before participating in the Program (defined below). The Terms set forth the legal agreement between NerdWallet, Inc. (“NerdWallet” or “we” or “us”) and you for your use of the Program and Tools. Your download or use of the Program/Tools constitutes your acceptance of, and agreement to, the following Terms.
The NerdWallet Shopping Rewards Program (the “Program”) and Rewards Services are provided by NerdWallet. You acknowledge and understand that NerdWallet uses a third party, Wildfire Systems, Inc. Wildfire Systems, Inc. (“Wildfire”) to provide the Program/Rewards Services. The Program includes software, services, referral links, websites, features, content, browser extensions, shopping directories, tools, and mobile applications which we offer directly or through integration within third party services (the “Rewards Services”). The Program enables users of the Program and Rewards Services to earn Rewards for qualifying purchases from participating merchants. For purposes of these Terms, “Rewards” means any incentive that you may earn through the Program, including discounts, digital coupons, loyalty points, and other reward or loyalty mechanisms.
These Terms only apply to the Rewards Services managed and operated by Wildfire. These Terms do not apply to any services that you may use that are provided by us or a third party which are governed by NerdWallet’s or the third party’s terms of use.
If you do not agree to these Terms then you are not allowed to participate in the Program and/or to use the Rewards Services. Your participation in the Program is at the discretion of NerdWallet.
1. Acceptance of Terms. By registering for and/or using the Rewards Services, you agree to these Terms and all other operating policies that may be published from time to time within the Services, each of which is incorporated by reference and may be updated from time to time without notice to you. You also agree to abide by and comply with the NerdWallet Terms of Use, which are incorporated by reference herein. In the event of a conflict between the NerdWallet Terms of Use and these Terms, these Terms shall prevail to the extent of the specific conflict only.
2. Eligibility. We may, in our sole discretion, refuse to offer the Rewards Services to any person or entity and change eligibility criteria at any time. You are solely responsible for ensuring that these Terms comply with all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to you, and the right to access the Rewards Services is revoked where these Terms or use of the Rewards Services is prohibited or to the extent offering, sale or provision of the Rewards Services conflicts with any applicable law, rule or regulation. Further, the Rewards Services are offered only for your use, and not for the use or benefit of any third party.
3. Rewards. The Rewards Services enable you to access and earn Rewards, subject to the guidelines herein. For clarification, the Rewards covered by this Program and processed through the Rewards Services are redeemed in the form of a general-use prepaid gift card.
a. The Rewards Services may include referral bonuses activated by the creation of trackable links (referred to herein as a “Link”) for one or more “Merchant” (which include, for example, online retailers of products, services or content). Links may be embedded within browsers or other forms of digital communications and may redirect you to one or more Merchants. Links are configured to track and attribute transactions to you so that you may earn a Reward if you complete a transaction with a Merchant.
b. Some transactions may not earn Rewards or may earn at a rate that is different from the rate indicated by the Rewards Service. You are not guaranteed to earn a Reward from a transaction even if you (i) create a Link (ii) share a Link (iii) take an action to activate a Reward (iv) receive a notification from the Rewards Service (v) receive an indication from the Rewards Service that a transaction is eligible to earn (vi) you or your recipients complete a transaction or (vii) you receive from the Rewards Service a confirmation regarding a successful transaction. Even if the Rewards Services indicate that a transaction is eligible or confirmed, transactions may not earn Rewards for several reasons, without notice to you, including without limitation:
i. Merchants may alter terms, conditions, or commission rates;
ii. Merchants may discontinue their programs.
iii. Merchants may exclude certain products from Reward eligibility.
c. Merchants may have technical failures which result in transactions failing to be tracked or attributed to you. Links may fail to function properly. Links may be altered or disabled by web browsers or ad blockers. Merchants may reject transactions due to suspected policy violations. The communication channel or browser through which the Link is activated or shared may modify or block the Link, alter the tracking code, or strip out the tracking code.
d. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to withhold, cancel or adjust the amount of any Reward or Reward payment, for any reason at any time. By using the Rewards Services, you accept this condition. Additionally, we may choose in our sole discretion to institute a limit on how many times you may receive a Reward. We reserve the right at any time to cancel, modify, or restrict any aspect of the Rewards Services and we reserve the right to apply such changes retroactively to any Rewards which are accrued but not yet paid.
e. Some Rewards originate from marketing fees paid by a Merchant to us. Merchants may have holdback periods during which they hold a pending payment for a specified period, for example, until the expiration of a return policy and/or until a service is consumed. If we are not paid for a transaction by a Merchant, we shall have no obligation to provide any Reward to you for the associated transaction. We only provide a Reward to you after a transaction is successfully tracked and completed and after we receive payment for that specific transaction from the Merchant. If, for any reason or no reason, the Merchant pays less than expected amount or does not pay a commission for the transaction, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to adjust or cancel the Reward.
f. Some Rewards may include coupons, discounts or promotions from Merchants (“Offers”). We do not guarantee that Merchants will honor Offers. Offer codes may be expired or invalid. Offers may not be eligible for your transaction, based upon exclusions, terms and conditions determined by Merchants.
g. Any Reward amount which may be due to you is determined by us in our sole discretion. We reserve the right to adjust the proportion of a commission which we share with you at any frequency and at any time without notice to you and we may apply such rates for all pending and unredeemed Rewards.
h. When you activate Rewards and complete a purchase of eligible products at participating Merchants (or if you share a Link to a recipient who completes an eligible transaction using the Link), this may generate a pending Reward, which is conditional until confirmed as described herein. Any information sent to you, such as a notification, email or account message or displayed within your dashboard regarding a pending Reward shall be conditional and shall not create a contractual obligation. We may alter or cancel a pending Reward for any reason including, but not limited to: charge-backs, product returns, duplicate entry or other accounting error, Merchant non-payment, non-bona fide transactions, non-receipt of payment from or refund of payment to the purchaser by the Merchant, our inability to contact you in order to validate transactions, your distribution of Links via Unapproved Channels (defined below), or your failure to comply with Third Party Merchant or Affiliate Network Terms and Conditions. Merchants may alter or cancel their program, Merchants may cease to be affiliated with the Rewards Services.
i. We may be required to nullify Rewards due to limitations established by certain Merchants which prohibit payments of Rewards to users who reside in certain geographies due to tax nexus or other considerations.
j. In order to prevent fraudulent use of the Rewards Services, we may attempt to contact you in order to validate your account and determine whether you are performing acceptable promotional methods.
k. Rewards remain in a pending state until we receive payment from the Merchant for the associated transaction. After we receive payment from a Merchant for your specific transaction Reward, the Reward status may change from pending to confirmed.
l. Redemption of earned Rewards on to prepaid gift cards is subject to a minimum threshold, which may change from time to time, in our sole discretion, without notice to you. If your balance is below that threshold, Rewards will remain in your account and your balance may roll forward until the minimum redemption threshold is achieved. Rewards remaining in your account that have not been redeemed are subject to Dormant Account Fees as described herein.
m. “Redemption” of Rewards means that you receive a redemption of your Rewards in accordance with these Terms, which shall be in the form of a prepaid gift card. We are not able to redeem Rewards if you choose not to select one of the eligible gift cards, if you fail to provide contact information for electronic delivery of the gift card, or if the contact information you provide is not accurate. Redemption of Rewards may be performed via a third-party payment provider. Your information, including your contact and account information, may be collected and stored by us or by a third-party payment processor. We reserve the right to discontinue specific gift card issuers and change gift card issuers. If we choose to switch gift card issuers, you grant us (and the appropriate third parties) the right to transfer your contact and account information to the new third-party provider. You agree to promptly and accurately provide all information requested by us or by any of our affiliates, to validate your identity and to process any redemption transactions for you or on your behalf, including any Redemption of Rewards.
n. You agree that we have the right, but not the obligation, to seek on your behalf any and all Reward payments from Merchants or other third parties. You agree that we have no special relationship with or fiduciary duty to you and you acknowledge that we have no duty to take any action regarding collection of payment from Merchants or others.
o. If you have pending or confirmed Rewards, and your account has no new activity (defined as the earning of a pending Reward) for a period of one year (365) days, we reserve the right to assess a monthly fee of up to $5.00 USD (“Dormant Account Fee”), until such time as your Reward balance reaches $0.00. Any Dormant Account Fee which we apply may or may not be displayed in your user dashboard or other presentations of your account balance. If your account has no new activity for a period of 12 months, we reserve the right to void any remaining balance of Rewards in your account.
p.Your Reward earning potential in any calendar year is limited to $599.00. If any single offer or promotion would result in a Reward in excess of $599.00, the Reward will be capped at $599.00. If any offer or promotion would result in a Reward that brought your cumulative earned Rewards for the then-current calendar year over the $599.00 cap, the Reward for that particular offer or promotion will be reduced such that your total earned Rewards do not exceed $599.00.
q. You are obligated to independently assess and comply with all relevant tax and legal requirements. We shall not provide you with tax or legal advice. In the event that, during any single calendar year, a) a Reward redemption would result in payment to you of $600 or more, and/or b) you earn $600 or more in Rewards, we may require you to provide us with a completed IRS form W-9 and we may thereafter issue a Form 1099 for that calendar year. We may utilize a third-party service provider to perform this function. If we require a completed form W-9 from you and you fail to provide one, we reserve the right to void any Rewards.
4. Intended Use, Unauthorized Use and Promotional Channels. You may be rewarded for transactions completed by you or by others who click on a Link you have shared with them. You agree not to engage in or facilitate the promotion of Links through any Unapproved Channels including, but not limited to, those listed below. If you have questions or concerns about whether a specific promotional method is acceptable, please contact us in writing for written authorization before you begin using such a promotional channel. Failure to adhere to these restrictions may result in termination of your account and the voiding of any unredeemed Rewards. You agree not to allow any unauthorized third-party access to the Program or any information, data, text, links, images, software, chat, communications, and other content available through the Internet and proprietary in the Program. You agree to maintain the confidentiality of the usernames and passwords by which you access the Program.
Unapproved Channels include, but are not limited to:
a. Unsolicited Email, Messages or Notifications (Spam). Communications to people who did not provide consent or opt-in, or to recipient lists that were purchased or obtained illegally.
b. Indiscriminate Advertising. Search advertising, browser plug-ins, toolbars, pop-up or pop-under advertising, display advertising, or any paid promotional channel.
c. Fraud. Any attempted or successful fraud, or the failure to abide by these Terms and related user guidelines. You shall not cause any transactions to be made or Rewards to be activated that are not in good faith, including, but not limited to, through the use of any device, program, bot, i-frame, or hidden frame.
5. Link Operations.
a. You should not edit, remove or modify any element contained in a Link. Changing the Link may invalidate it or cause it to be inoperable.
b. Certain communication platforms may block, alter or otherwise disable a Link, in which case the tracking and attribution may be inoperable, in which case no Reward shall be earned.
c. Some Merchants may place cookies (or other forms of tracking beacons) on your device to recognize your device during a subsequent visit. This may enable the sender of the Link to earn a Reward for transactions which occur after the initial click on a Link. If you, or those clicking on your shared Link, block or delete cookies, tracking and attribution may be inoperable, in which case no Reward shall be earned.
d. We reserve the right, without notice to you, to add or remove Merchants, change commission rates from Merchants, and determine to which Merchant we direct a Link.
6. FTC Endorsement Disclosure Guidelines. Since you may earn a Reward by recommending a product or Merchant using a Link, the FTC Endorsement Guides require you to reference that fact within your message when you send a Link. Learn more at The FTC’s Endorsement Guides. You must comply with all FTC regulations and all other applicable law when using the Program or Rewards Services including the sharing of any Link.
7. Account, Settings and Notifications.
a. NerdWallet reserves the right to restrict use of the Program/Rewards Services at its sole discretion. You are required to create a user profile, which includes a username and password, on the NerdWallet website. Please be sure to follow the instructions to authenticate your account. This may include submitting your mobile number and entering the verification code that we send to you. Authentication may also occur in other ways, depending upon the requirements of third parties which integrate the Rewards Services within their applications. Our ability to attribute Rewards to you may depend upon you authenticating your user account and associating your device with your account.
b. You are responsible for all usage and activity on your account and for loss, theft or unauthorized disclosure of your account credentials. You agree to keep your username and password confidential. You may not use as a username the name of another person or entity that is not lawfully available for use, a name or trademark that is subject to any rights or another person or entity or is offensive, vulgar or obscene. If you suspect your password has been compromised, you must notify NerdWallet immediately at [email protected]. NerdWallet will not be liable for any loss caused by the unauthorized use of your account; however, you may be liable to NerdWallet or other third parties for any losses incurred due to such unauthorized use.
c. By using the Rewards Services, you opt-in and grant us the right to send you emails, text messages, app notifications and other forms of communications relating to your account, customer service inquiries, Rewards status, payment information, promotional opportunities and third-party notices. You agree that all legal notices provided via electronic means from NerdWallet satisfy any requirement for written notice.
8. Merchant and Third-Party Services.
a. We do not endorse, warrant or guarantee the products, services or content of Merchants or other third parties. We are not an agent or broker or otherwise responsible for Merchants’ activities, policies, products or services. When you use the Rewards Services to access Merchants or other third parties, you do so at your own risk. These Merchants and other third parties are not under our control, and you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any aspect of content, functions, accuracy, transactions, legality, privacy policies, practices, terms of use, prices, offers, rates, opinions expressed, appropriateness or any other aspect of such third parties. We do not guarantee that the product details, prices, coupon availability or other service terms, rates or Rewards offered by any particular Merchant or other third party linked to from our Rewards Service are actually the terms that may be offered or provided to you. We encourage you to be aware when you link to a third party and to read the terms, conditions and privacy policy of each third-party website or service that you visit or utilize.
b. You acknowledge and agree that we shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or relating to your use of or reliance on any such transaction, purchase, content, goods or services available on or through any such Merchant or third party. By using the Rewards Services, you release and hold us harmless from any and all liability arising from your use of any Merchant or third-party website or service. If there is a dispute between you and any Merchant or third party, you agree that we are under no obligation to represent your interests in any way.
c. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations, you release NerdWallet, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and successors from claims, demands, and damages of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to your use of the Rewards Services. If you are a California resident, you shall and hereby do waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH, IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”
d. The Rewards Service may contain third party software and may interoperate with third parties, including but not limited to Merchants and affiliate networks. Links to the terms and conditions of third-party affiliate networks are included within these Terms and are made a part of and incorporated by reference into these Terms. BY ACCEPTING THESE TERMS, YOU ARE ALSO ACCEPTING THE ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS, IF ANY, SET FORTH THEREIN. In the event that our Terms conflict with such third-party terms, these Terms shall supersede.
9. Downtime and Suspensions. Your access to and use of the Rewards Services may be interrupted for the duration of any scheduled, unscheduled, or unanticipated downtime, suspension or other unavailability, for any reason and in our sole discretion, including but not limited to: (i) as a result of power outages, system failures or other interruptions, (ii) for scheduled and unscheduled downtime to permit maintenance or modifications to the Rewards Services, (iii) in the event of a denial of service attack or other attack or event that we determine may create any risk to us, you or any of our users, customers, or licensees, or (iv) in the event that we determine that any Rewards Service is prohibited by applicable law or otherwise determine that it is necessary or prudent to do so for legal or regulatory reasons. We shall have no liability whatsoever for any damage, liabilities, losses (including any loss of data or profits) or any other consequences that you may incur as a result of any downtime, suspension or other unavailability of the Rewards Services. We cannot always foresee or anticipate technical or other difficulties which may result in failure to obtain data or loss of data, settings or other service interruptions. We do not assume responsibility for the timeliness, accuracy, deletion, non-delivery or failure to store any user data, communications or settings.
10. Termination. We may terminate your access to all or any part of the Rewards Services at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately, which may result in the forfeiture and destruction of all information associated with your use of the Rewards Services and cancellation of any Rewards which remain unredeemed. All provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
11. Applications. We may make available software to access the Rewards Services via mobile applications and browser extensions (Apps). To use an App you must have a device that is compatible with the App. We do not warrant that Apps will be compatible with your device. We hereby grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the App for one account for your personal use. The foregoing license grant is not a sale of the App or any copy thereof, and we or our third-party partners or suppliers retain all right, title, and interest in the Apps (and any copy thereof). You acknowledge that we may from time-to-time issue upgraded versions of the Apps and may automatically electronically upgrade the version of the App that you are using on your device. You consent to such automatic upgrading on your device and agree that these Terms will apply to all such upgrades. The Apps originate in the United States and are subject to United States export laws and regulations. The Apps may not be exported or re-exported to certain countries, or those persons or entities prohibited from receiving exports from the United States. In addition, the Apps may be subject to the import and export laws of other countries. You agree to comply with all United States and foreign laws related to use of the Apps and the Services.
12. Proprietary Rights/License.
a. Wildfire or NerdWallet solely owns and retains all intellectual property rights to any protectable part of the Rewards Services, including but not limited to design, artwork, technology, software, functionality, and documentation. You shall not directly or indirectly: (i) copy, modify, or reverse engineer any part of the Rewards Services (ii) decipher, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to derive any source code or underlying ideas or algorithms of any part of the Rewards Services (iii) modify, translate, or otherwise create derivative works of any part of the Rewards Services, or (iv) copy, rent, lease, distribute, or otherwise transfer any of the rights that you receive hereunder. You acknowledge that you obtain no proprietary rights in our trademarks, service marks, trade names, URLs, copyrighted material, patents, and patent applications, and agree not to use such marks or materials or challenge our proprietary rights.
b. We (and relevant third parties, successors and assigns) own all rights to the information collected about a user as a result of their use of the Rewards Services or a Link, subject to any underlying rights of the user with respect to the user’s personal data (“User Data”). All information, reports, data or results which are created, compiled or analyzed by us, resulting from the use of a Link or the Rewards Services, is our sole and exclusive property, subject to any underlying rights of the user with respect to the User Data. You grant to us a perpetual and irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, assignable and transferrable license to use in the course of our business all of your User Data that we collect in connection with your use of any Link, with the right to share such User Data and sublicense it in the course of our business, provided however that such license and right to share will be automatically limited in scope and duration to the extent such limitation is required by any applicable laws and regulations.
c. You shall not: (i) take any action that imposes or may impose (as determined by us in our sole discretion) an unreasonable load on our (or our third party providers’) infrastructure or otherwise inhibit the use of the Rewards Services by others; (ii) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Rewards Services or any activities conducted on the Rewards Services; (iii) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the Rewards Services or bypass, circumvent or attempt to bypass or circumvent any measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Rewards Services (or other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Rewards Services); (iv) run any form of auto-responder or “spam” on the Rewards Services; (v) use manual or automated software, devices, or other processes to “crawl” or “spider” any part of the Rewards Services; (vi) harvest or scrape any content or information from the Rewards Services or otherwise engage in data mining or data extraction; (vii) use the Rewards Services to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material that consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit and/or other harmful code or malicious software .or (viii) otherwise take any action in violation of our guidelines and policies.
d. Wildfire grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable license (without the right to sublicense or distribute) to install and use its browser extension or App for your personal shopping use only in connection with the Program and only in the form and format provided by NerdWallet.
13. Indemnification. In addition to your indemnification obligations set forth in the NerdWallet Terms of Use, you shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless NerdWallet, our affiliates and each of our and their respective employees, contractors, directors, suppliers and representatives from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, that arise from or relate to your (i) your negligence or intentional misconduct, or (ii) death, personal injury, or property damage arising out of, or relating to, your obligations hereunder.
14. Miscellaneous.
a. Entire Agreement and Severability. These Terms, together with the NerdWallet Terms of Use, are the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Program Rewards Services and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic) between you and us with respect to the Program and Rewards Services. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms will otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder.
b. Force Majeure. We shall not be liable for any failure to perform our obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond our reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation.
c. Feedback. You agree that we may use your feedback, suggestions, or ideas in any way, including in future modifications of the Services, other products or services, advertising or marketing materials. You grant us a perpetual, worldwide, fully transferable, sublicensable, irrevocable, fully paid-up, royalty free license to use the feedback you provide to us in any way.
d. Modification. You shall be responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any modifications we make to the Terms, including by checking these Terms periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Program and Rewards Services following notification of any changes to these Terms constitutes acceptance of those changes.
e. Assignment. These Terms are personal to you, and are not assignable, transferable or sublicensable by you except with our prior written consent. We may assign, transfer or delegate any of our rights and obligations hereunder without your consent.
f. Agency. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship is created as a result of these Terms and neither party has any authority of any kind to bind the other in any respect.
g. Headings. The section and paragraph headings in these Terms are for convenience only and shall not affect their interpretation.
h. Notices. Unless otherwise specified in these Terms all notices under these Terms will be in writing and will be deemed to have been duly given when received, if personally delivered or sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested; when receipt is electronically confirmed, if transmitted by facsimile or email; or the day after it is sent, if sent for next day delivery by recognized overnight delivery service. Electronic notices should be sent to [email protected].
i. Contact. You may contact us at [email protected].
EXHIBIT A. THIRD-PARTY TERMS AND CONDITIONS
AvantLink
Avantlink – Terms
Awin
Awin – Terms
CJ by Conversant
CJ – Terms
FlexOffers
FlexOffers – Terms
Impact
Impact – Terms
Pepperjam
Pepperjam – Terms
Partnerize
Partnerize – Terms
Rakuten Marketing
Rakuten Marketing – Terms
ShareASale
ShareASale – Terms
Refersion
Refersion – Terms
Ebay Partner Network
Ebay Partner Network – Terms
Admitad
Admitad – Terms
Commission Factory
CommissionFactory – Terms
Webgains
Webgains – Terms
