It’s safe to say that over the 25 years of Loquax’s lifespan that comping online has evolved considerably. The initial excitement of just firing off emails to enter prize draws was soon replaced by forms to fill in. Then along came social media and a raft of like, tag, share to enter giveaways. Today pay to enter prize draw sites and everywhere and there are even apps that give you the chance to win prizes. One such app is called Everup and we thought we’d take a closer look. Everup describes themselves as “a B2C prize-linked platform incentivising and boosting saving, spending and investing with games”. Importantly it is not a savings account provided by a bank nor do you earn interest or dividends. If we’ve understood this correctly in many respects it’s like Premium Bonds in that you deposit money for the chance to win prizes.
Joining Everup
To join Everup you need to download their app either via The App Store or GooglePlay (or wherever else you get your apps). Once downloaded there’s a whole introduction explaining what you can expect from the app. For example it describes itself as a “new type of money account which rewards you” and you can also win up to 100% cashback with giftcards. If you’re concerned about your money then Everup explain – before you signup – that your money is held at The Bank Of England and that they’re registered with The FCA. They also state that “you can’t lose” as you can withdraw your money at any time. To create a new account you just need your name, surname and email address – these details need to be verified to activate thing. The app does ask for a referral code but this can be left blank. Users can earn coins by referring other users. Coins are the Everup currency and there’s a whole host of ways that you can earn them. You actually get a bunch just for signing up plus extra for verifying your mobile number.
Opening A Cash Account
From what we can see you can login and play on Everup without creating a cash account or making a deposit. However if you want to move up from the base level then you need to open a cash account. This is a three step process that requires you to confirm your address and identification. The latter requires you to upload a selfie and a photo id such as a driving licence. A driving licence also helps verify your address. Once your account has been set up then you can deposit cash. When you deposit you’re awarded coins and these can then be used to play various games plus you can purchase gift cards from various retailers such as Airbnb, Amazon, Deliveroo, Ikea, M&S and Primark. Note that some gift vouchers are only available to Plus and Premium Members. Each purchase comes with a minimum of 1% cashback but you do have the chance to win up to 100% cashback. Voucher numbers are also limited on a daily basis. This all seems like a similar process to the JamDoughnut app where you buy giftcards and earn cashback when you do so.
Everup Prizes
As well as having the chance to win cashback, Everup also has other games and raffles available to players. This includes a weekly Million Lotto draw that gives you the chance to win a million. Your chances of winning are somewhere between remote and non-existent as to win the top prize you need to match 8 sequential numbers and a fruit symbol. The odds of this occurring are 600million to 1. The odds of getting the second prize of £10,000 are 120million to 1. In comparison the chances of winning The National Lottery is 1 in 45million. You get one free entry into the Million Lotto draw but if you want more then it’ll cost you 25,000 coins. More interesting is the Daily Raffle. For this you get one free entry for just being a customer and additional entries for every £1 you save via the app (up to a maximum of 35,000 entries). At time of writing the pot for the Daily Raffle was £37 in cash and 575,000 in coins. Look out for tangible prizes being offered every few days. For example during January 2023 Everup have given away a DeLongi Coffee Maker, Echo Dot with Nutribullet, Sonos ONE SL and a Breville Set.
Everup Games & Coins
To boost your coins total you’re also able to play a series of minigames. These include two spin the wheel games (London and Montecarlo) where you can win up to 1million coins and 10million coins respectively. There’s also a Jakarta Scratchcard game where you can win up to £5 in cash. Each day there’s a chance to play the minigames for free but if you want additional plays then you use your coins to purchase turns. As mentioned you can get more coins by referring friends. On top of that you can also get more by saving more and hitting saving goals. After registration, verifying our mobile number and spinning a wheel or two we ended up with 181.8K coins and to be honest we don’t know what to do with them or wish to spend them on the options. The coins can’t be used for anything other than purchasing game entries and lotto entries to possibly win more coins. That kind of feels like a bit of an uninspiring endeavour!
An Interesting Idea
Everup, at least in theory, sounds an exciting idea and one that makes saving a little more interesting. However the Million Lotto game with odds of 600million to 1 is a nothing more than a novelty. It’s not something we’d rush back to play on a regular basis even if the first entry is free. The daily raffle however is more interesting especially with the exciting prizes on offer, but we’d love to know the odds of winning? We quite enjoyed the fun games but accumulating coins that can only be used for the chance to win more virtual coins isn’t something that’ll keep us interested long term. The gift card purchases and chances to win cashback are OK if you’re organised although it’s very similar to the deal that you get over at JamDoughnut. One thing that is worth keeping an eye on though is a future debit card. According to Everup this “soon-to-be-released prize-linked debit card” will offer the chance to win exciting prizes on every purchase. Let’s just hope the prizes are a bit more exciting than virtual coins. Overall Everup doesn’t appeal to us and it’s not somewhere we’d consider depositing money, but that’s not to say it won’t appeal to you. Take a look and decide for yourself. Why not leave a comment below about the app, especially if there’s something we’ve missed.