Plink has shut down, according to an email to members tonight. It cites an inability to acquire funding as the cause.
I think one of the things that held this program back was its requirement that members give the company their login and password to the bank where their credit or debit card was issued, in order to receive points for shopping at one of their participating merchants. The program was legitimate, it’s been around since January 2012 and had a great pedigree, founded by some of the staff of Memolink, which is an old-timer in the online rewards program space. I know that I was personally paid, and quickly, each time I cashed out. But convincing people to trust Plink with their credit/debit card login and password was something that I know MY readers and commenters here to my original Plink review had a difficult problem with.
What I liked was that they intended to push text offers to users of their cellphone app when they were in the area of a participating Plink merchant. I thought that was a fantastic idea (though it can be overdone — Shopkick’s push notifications whenever you’re near a Best Buy or Target can be pretty annoying).
Always sad to see a rewards program close, particularly one that had so much promise. RIP, Plink.
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I had the same problem! I loved Plink and cashed out quite a bit, but could never get anyone to trust their info to do such a thing. It really was a great program! I’m going to miss it. Hopefully someone with better funding will be able to launch a similar program!!
http://random-research.org/2014/04/03/250000-final-close-reported-by-plink/
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