What the business is
A cashback website paying members a percentage of the purchase price when they shop at partnered retailers.
The bet
Referring shoppers to partner retailers for a commission and sharing it as cashback would hold 2.5M Australian members
How it started
An Aussie-owned cashback pioneer, per Canstar's Sally Tindall, that grew a database of 2.5 million Australians and ranked as the top of five cashback apps and sites in Canstar's comparison.
What happened
Per the Australian Financial Review, Cashrewards was failing to meet ANZ's expectations amid a wider review of the bank's performance and profitability by new chief executive Nuno Matos; neither Cashrewards nor 1835i made any public statement.
How it ended up
Abrupt shutdown in September 2025. Members told to withdraw funds by October 24 and submit transaction queries by October 10; all withdrawal claims close December 12.
What has to be true
Cashback economics need scale: commissions from partner retailers must cover both member payouts and the cost of running the platform.
The site fell short of ANZ's expectations just as new CEO Nuno Matos reviewed the bank's performance and profitability, making a non-core venture expendable.
Neither the company nor 1835i gave a public reason, leaving millions of members to find alternatives such as ShopBack and TopCashback on their own.
What can be applied
Cashback is a discount paid out of referral commissions: it only works at scale, and a corporate owner reviewing profitability will cut a sub-scale loyalty bet first.
Aftermath
Closure deadlines ran through late 2025: transaction queries by October 10, fund withdrawals by October 24, and final withdrawal claims by December 12, with unclaimed balances auto-transferred to linked accounts. Canstar's data insights director Sally Tindall called it the loss of "an Aussie-owned cashback pioneer" and pointed members to ShopBack and TopCashback.
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