Cash rewards are monetary rewards sent to advocates or affiliates after a successful referral. You can configure cash rewards as either:

Cash rewards are useful when:

To avoid being out of pocket, make sure your minimum purchase amount is higher than the cash reward value.

Each campaign uses one cash payout method, selected by the merchant. Advocates and affiliates don't choose the payout method themselves. Payout timing, claim steps, and delivery emails differ depending on the method used.

Availability by platform and campaign type:

By platform and campaign type:

Method availability notes:

Cash rewards are sent only after all of these happen:

Watch out: Seeing a purchase marked Rewardable does not mean the cash payout has already been sent. Rewardable only means the referral is eligible for a reward (met the criteria set to be rewardable).

Payout timing depends on your payout method:

Cash payout currency depends on the payout method used for the campaign:

Note: Payout currency is separate from your store currency — your store can operate in one currency while cash rewards are paid out in another, depending on the payout method used. Advocates and affiliates do not choose the payout currency themselves; the merchant selects it at the campaign level.

Cash reward delivery depends on the payout method:

If you are a Shopify merchant, you'll be asked to add a credit card before you can enable cash rewards. This payment method is used to bill cash rewards separately from your ReferralCandy plan and success fees (those are billed through your consolidated Shopify billing).

Cash rewards are payouts that go directly to your advocates or affiliates. Charges processed through Shopify billing would be subject to Shopify platform fees. To avoid platform fees being applied to reward payouts, cash rewards are billed separately via the credit card on file.

Note (PayPal payouts): PayPal sending fees are charged at 5.4% of the reward amount sent to your advocates. This appears on your invoice under the "Cash reward transaction fees" section.

If you were already billed for a cash reward that later needs to be recalled — for example, the referred purchase was disqualified or the advocate was banned — ReferralCandy returns the cash reward amount to you as credits applied to future cash reward payouts.

Scope: Cash reward credits apply only to invoice-funded cash payouts (PayPal and Tremendous with Invoice funding) where the reward was paid via your ReferralCandy invoice. They don't apply to Tremendous Balance funding or self-managed payouts (those don't go through ReferralCandy billing).

When someone says they have not received a cash reward, two things to confirm:

The second check depends on the cash payout method used.

Open the Purchases & Referrals page:

Locate the purchase and check:

Tip: Rewardable means the referral is eligible for a reward — it does not necessarily mean the cash payout has already been sent.

If your payout method uses ReferralCandy billing:

Tip: Use Export cash reward details on the Billing page or on a Billing History invoice to locate the specific reward and confirm which billing period it belongs to.

If your payout method is Tremendous with Balance funding (funded directly from the Tremendous app):

If your payout method is self-managed payouts:

Important: With self-managed payouts, ReferralCandy does not send the cash payout for you — the merchant fulfils it manually.

First, confirm which payout method your campaign uses.

If your payout method is PayPal:

If your payout method is Tremendous:

If your payout method is self-managed payouts:

The FAQs below apply only if your cash payouts are delivered through PayPal. If you use Tremendous or self-managed payouts, these details may not apply.