SumUp Now Pays Up to 5% Cashback — Here’s How It Works

So, I got an email from SumUp today.

The SumUp Pay app is now just called SumUp, they’ve updated the branding, and there’s a new pink virtual card in the app.

But the part of the email that actually caught my attention was the cashback.

SumUp says you can now earn up to 5% cashback when spending with the SumUp Mastercard, capped at £10 per month.

That’s a strong headline, and on the surface it sounds like a pretty decent offer.

I’ll be honest though — I haven’t used SumUp much since they stopped being useful for cashback stacking.

Last year, you could add SumUp into a payment chain, where one card charged another and you could earn cashback from multiple layers. For example:

£50 spend at Amazon → pay with Zilch (2%) → Zilch charges Curve (1%) → Curve charges SumUp Pay (0.5%)

For a while, that made SumUp genuinely interesting. But once the system changed and cashback no longer passed through reliably, I switched my cashback stack to a different setup.

So this new 5% headline definitely got my attention.

After doing a bit of digging though, it’s not quite as simple as “5% cashback everywhere”.

Before we all start throwing every transaction through SumUp and calling it a day, there are a few things worth knowing.

How the new SumUp cashback works

SumUp now pays cashback at three different rates:

SumUp says cashback is capped at £10 per calendar month, and excludes things like gambling transactions, crypto purchases and topping up a wallet with another provider.

The good news is that this is proper low-effort cashback.

There’s no activating retailer offers.
No minimum spend.
No waiting around for a cashback site to track.
No “pending for 60 working days”

You just spend with the card and the cashback builds up inside the app.

The catch: finding 5% SumUp cashback retailers

Here’s the slightly awkward bit.

SumUp says you can earn 5% cashback across 4 million small businesses, which sounds great on paper.

But from what I can see, there doesn’t seem to be a proper way to search for those businesses before you spend.

The Rewards tab shows the cashback categories — 5% at small businesses, 2% at supermarkets, and 0.5% everywhere else — but it doesn’t appear to show a searchable retailer list, map, or merchant directory for the 5% rate.

With something like Zilch, you can search for a retailer and see what reward is available before you pay (usually 2%).

But SumUp doesn’t seem to offer that same experience here. The only guidance they give us is "5% cashback across 4 million small businesses."

My assumption is - these are businesses that uses SumUp to take payments. Local cafes, barbers, salons, takeaways, food stalls, market stalls, independent shops and small service businesses. But you may not always know in advance whether a specific small business will trigger it.

That doesn’t ruin the offer, but it does mean I’d treat the 5% cashback as a nice bonus when it lands, rather than something you can perfectly plan every purchase around.

How SumUp cashback works

SumUp cashback is card-based cashback. They provide you with a virtual card, or you can order a physical one. And the spending on that card is what triggers the cashback.

The basic flow is:

1. Open a free SumUp account.

2. Verify your identity.

3. Get your SumUp Mastercard (virtual or physical).

4. Spend online or in-store.

5. Cashback goes into a separate cashback balance.

6. Move the cashback into your main balance when you want to spend it.

That makes it much less fiddly than traditional cashback sites but there's nothing stopping you using both! (more on that later).

Which supermarkets get 2% cashback?

SumUp lists the following supermarkets for cashback:

• Tesco

• Lidl

• Sainsbury’s

• Aldi

• Asda

• Co-op

• M&S

• Waitrose

• Iceland

• Morrisons

The important catch: SumUp says the 2% supermarket cashback only applies to grocery purchases. Non-grocery supermarket purchases, including things like fuel, SIM top-ups, car washes and laundry services, earn 0.5% instead.

Source: SumUp Cashback terms

SumUp + cashback sites for grocery spending

For me, the most interesting use case for SumUp is supermarket spending.

That’s because SumUp pays 2% cashback on supermarket groceries, and supermarket shops are one of the easiest places to stack cashback without making things overly complicated.

For online grocery shopping, cashback sites usually track how you got to the retailer.

SumUp tracks how you paid.

Those are two different layers, which means you can earn both.

The flow looks like this:

Search the supermarket in Bank Boost → click through from the best cashback site → pay with SumUp → earn both cashback layers

For example, right now Rakuten is offering 4.2% cashback at Sainsbury’s, and SumUp pays 2% supermarket cashback, the stack could look like this:

That’s a much better result than just tapping any old debit card at checkout.

You can still collect supermarket loyalty points too. Nectar points aren't just for nans!

Before placing an online supermarket order, check the Bank Boost cashback comparison tool first. If there’s a decent cashback site rate available, click through from there, then pay with SumUp to add the card cashback on top.

Where SumUp fits for other spending

Aside from the 2% on supermarket grocery purchases, the other obvious use case is paying at local businesses in person.

That’s where the 5% SumUp business rate could be a nice surprise. Based on my understanding, this should apply when the business uses SumUp to take payments, but as mentioned earlier, there does not currently seem to be a clear merchant search or public list showing exactly which businesses qualify.

So for now, I’d treat the 5% rate as a bonus when it appears rather than something you can perfectly plan around.

That may change. SumUp may add a better way to discover eligible 5% merchants in the future, especially if cashback becomes a bigger part of the app.

As for general spending at 0.5%, I’m far less excited.

At that point, I’d usually check Zilch first, as it often offers better Pay Now rewards at specific retailers. Just remember that with Zilch, you normally need to activate the retailer in the app before paying.

My verdict: is SumUp cashback worth it?

Yes, but only for certain types of spending.

The 5% rate is genuinely strong if you spend at eligible SumUp businesses.

The 2% supermarket rate is pretty good, especially because food shopping is regular spending.

The 0.5% everywhere else rate is fine, but I would not get too excited about it.

The £10 cap means SumUp is best used as a targeted cashback card. Use it for small businesses and groceries, then switch to other cashback methods once the cap is hit.

Want to go deeper? Read the full cashback stacking guide to see how cards, cashback sites, gift cards, loyalty points and receipt apps can work together.

SumUp cashback FAQs

What happens if you get a refund?

If you get refunded for a purchase that earned cashback, SumUp says the cashback from that transaction will be deducted from your cashback balance. If you have already moved or spent the cashback, your cashback balance can go negative.

This is normal for cashback cards.

It also means you should not treat cashback as yours forever until the underlying purchase is definitely staying put.

If you return the item, the cashback is going with it.

How much cashback can you earn with SumUp?

You can earn up to £10 cashback per calendar month. SumUp also says the maximum cashback from a single transaction is £10.

Where do you get 5% cashback with SumUp?

The 5% cashback rate applies at SumUp businesses. But as of May 2026, there doesn't seem to be a searchable list or partners.

Which supermarkets pay 2% cashback with SumUp?

SumUp lists Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, Co-op, M&S, Waitrose, Iceland and Morrisons. The 2% rate applies to grocery purchases, while non-grocery supermarket purchases earn 0.5%.

Does SumUp cashback work everywhere?

Eligible spending outside the 5% and 2% categories earns 0.5%. Exclusions include gambling transactions, crypto purchases and topping up a wallet with another provider.

Is there a minimum spend?

SumUp’s cashback page says there is no minimum spend and no hidden fees.

Do you need to activate SumUp cashback offers?

No. This is card cashback rather than manually activated cashback offers. SumUp says purchases put cashback into a dedicated cashback balance automatically.

Can you stack SumUp cashback?

Yes, but the safest stacks are SumUp plus loyalty points, local rewards and receipt scanning apps. Online cashback site stacking may work where terms allow, but gift card and wallet-style transactions should be tested carefully.

Is SumUp better than Chase, Zilch or Curve?

It depends where you spend. SumUp is strongest at eligible small businesses and supermarkets. Other cards or apps may be better for general spending, online offers or specific retailer rewards.