Idea Exchange: How can we improve this community?

What about a quick reference or step by step checklist as to how Uprom works?  I know there is a link above, but some thing right up top in the my account section, where new members are more inclined to see it.  Like myself, I wasn't using Uprom correctly for two full years and if there was a link that really stood out in a place where I was more inclined to look...well you get the picture.  Seems like there are way too many posts about the same issue and if most new members could confirm that they are, first and foremost, using the program correctly, would help alleviate some of the frustration/posts.

Okay, I noticed that several companies are offering bonus savings right now, not just the Deal of the Week... for example, Home Depot through the end of the month, KMart until the end of August, and Sears too.  I think Old Navy is too (or st least it used to be listed as 2% and I noticed yesterday that it is 5%.)

They have a page for coupons and deals... why not make a link/page of all of the companies offering Bonus Savings and the timeframe for those Bonus Savings?

If you simply click on the link to see all companies, it tells you what percentage you can earn, but it doesn't tell you that they are Bonus Savings or when they expire (it used to tell you "through such-and-such date, but for some reason they stopped doing that on the list of participating online companies, and I thnk it NEEDS to be there so people notice it!)

I just think it would draw alot more people in to see the Bonus Savings to these companies if it was clear on which stores are Bonusing and for howlong!

Maybe set up regional message boards or let people see where others are from so we can swap recommendations / tips on restaurants, coupons, etc.

I'd come here alot more frequently if you added this. 

Let's be honest.  Many of us here do not use this credit card for the bulk of our purchases anymore.  We are instead gaming the card for the areas where the money we can extract exceeds that of what other cards offer.  Over time the 1% back offered through the Upromise card has become less and less competitive.  At the beginning of 2008, I got the new PFCU Platinum Cash Rewards Card which gives me back 5% back on gas, 2% back on groceries, and 1.25% on all other purchases.  Why go for an extra penny per gallon at Exxon on top of my 1% when I can get 5% at any gas station (so you lost all my gas business).  Why accept 1% when I can get 1.25% for normal purchases (so you lost all my typical purchase business).  This basically left you as my card of choice for groceries (but only when buying Upromise bonus products) and restaurants (again where I can get a bonus).  Today I started using my Schwab Invest First Card which gives me an unlimited 2% back on every purchase.  That's 100% more than what Upromise is offering.  Additionally, the $ flows directly into a Schwab brokerage account that pays nominal interest (vs. Upromise which holds my rewards hostage for upwards of 3 mths).  I can easily transfer that money out and then into my kid's 529 plan at a quicker rate than Upromise.  So, my idea is that you:

1) Increase the % back on standard purchases to stay at all competitive.

2) Decrease the amount of time you hold rewards before distributing them into my 529 plan.

3) Agree to pay nominal interest during the holding period.

Implementing any/all of these recommendations would greatly increase my Upromise card use as well as that of other like-minded individuals who found early utility with the card but have since moved on to better deals.

Thanks for your consideration.

There is so much to look into on the Home Page of the Community it would be nice to see some icon nest to the contest that entries are no longer excepted.

I like to look into each topic for idea's and answers, there are so many it would be nice to know which ones I shouldn't open due to the contest being over. Sounds smart on my end how about you guys, any feedback???

Would love to know what you think!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your time!!!

Could we get Huggies and Pampers to participate. After all, we are trying to save money for some of their biggest clients, babies/kids!!! If just one company participated then it would be that much more of an incentive to choose one brand over the other. I know Huggies participates through ecoupons but you are limited to one ecoupon per month (sometimes two if they offer a coupon for the regular Huggies and another for the Supremes). Not many people only buy one pack of Huggies per month. Also every month that they have offered two ecoupons, only one has credited for me and I have to wait the three months to be able to submit a request for the other. I would also like to see some of the Johnson & Johnson and Aveeno (which is a Johnson & Johnson brand) baby line of products added to the participating items. Maybe Toys R Us and Babies R Us could get upromise cards kind of like Public's has for those people who participate in the program. I just think that more companies which sell products that are positioned for children should participate in a college savings program for children.

Please remove offers from the Deal Hound or other sections of the community when the offer has expired.  Sometimes I see something that looks like it might be a good idea only to find out it expired months ago.

One thing that might help to improve the community would be to create a message archives for older or outdated posts. It could help to reduce some of the clutter on the boards, making it easier to see the newer posts. Since some of the older messages still contain very helpful & useful information, they could be retained in these archives which could be categorized by topic, month/year, or some other theme. This way these valuable, though older, sources of information could still remain easily accessible & searchable, while making room for newer posts. I think it might even generate more activity on the boards, since it would be easier to recognize which topics are the most current.

This idea could even be applied to topics involving expired offers or contests, such as the Deal Hound, etc. Instead of discarding the old, expired offers, an archives folder could be created so that people could see the various types of deals & contests that had previously been available, if they were curious about that sort of thing. Many advertisers like to refer to past promotions as examples of the types of future offers their customers might anticipate.

I don't know if this has already been proposed or not, but I thought it might be worth mentioning if it hasn't been before.

I would like to see pizzahut.com, dominoes, and other places where you can order your food online added to upromise. I already order pizza online and it would be great to get credit for those purchases.

I have asked Jeff from the Community about this and he is passing the idea around the Upromise people and just wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

I have a thought what if Upromise came up with some type of form or letter that we the community could mail, e-mail or forward over to restaurants, stores, places we love to shop and spend money to make them think again about partnering with Upromise.

If the whole community got together and sent Darden rest. or AMC movies an e-mail or letter requesting to be a part of the program they just might re-think their decision. Right?

I think with petitions or requests we are much stronger if not more persuasive in numbers!!!!!!!

Please give me feed back if this is something you as a Community Member would help with or take part in?

Thank you so much for your time and Spread the Upromise word!

HI, I have send an email with Idea way back, but here it is again.. it would nice to add a feature to show the TOP 10, 20 memebrs by total saveings they did via Upromise.  This will add some competiion to it, maybe even a monthly price for the top % increase or someting

Imad

Would it be possible to create some way of confirming that our transactions online have been correctly placed through Upromise? It would be especially comforting to see this when using the guest shopping links, so that we could be sure that our transactions will count for our hosts. I think some type of notation or confirmation at checkout (or even a pop-up from Upromise after check-out) would help to eliminate confusion & assure shoppers that they have completed the process correctly in order for them or their hosts to receive contributions. 

What about teaming up with the likes of Sallie Mae where Upromise members can allocate a portion of their earnings to a lending program, just like student loans.  So let us say the current rate is 6%, we'll let the administrator of the plan keep about 1% to 1.5% and return the rest to the Upromise participants.  We can pool the community's earnings to help students and get a return on it just like any other lender.  My kids won't need the funds for another 16 years, so why not lend it out and get back an annualized 5%?

I recently decided to purchase a laptop online from

Walmart.  I applied for the credit card, and the amount allowed was $300.00, not enough.  I was told I could buy a Gift Card and then make up the difference with a debit card.  However, it is getting really complicated for me for that $3 and I think the Walmart Credit Card should be enabled for the 1% for in store purchases!