What are cash rewards?
Cash rewards are monetary rewards sent to advocates or affiliates after a successful referral.
Cash rewards can be useful when:
Customers are less likely to make repeat purchases
You want a reward that is not tied to a discount code or store credit
You want to offer a fixed cash amount or a percentage-based cash reward
When you set Cash as the advocate or affiliate reward, you can choose one of these reward types per campaign:
Fixed cash amount
Percentage of the referred friend’s purchase
To avoid being out of pocket, make sure your minimum purchase amount is higher than the cash reward value.
How cash payout methods work
Each campaign can only use one cash payout method.
This means:
The merchant selects one cash payout method for the campaign
Advocates and affiliates do not choose the payout method themselves
Payout timing, claim steps, and delivery emails can differ depending on the payout method used
Cash payout method availability depends on your platform and campaign type.
Cash payout methods by platform and campaign type
Shopify referral campaigns
Available cash payout methods:
PayPal
Tremendous
Shopify affiliate campaigns
Available cash payout methods:
Self-managed payouts
PayPal
Tremendous
Other platform campaigns
Available cash payout methods:
PayPal only
Note:
Tremendous is currently only available for Shopify merchants
Self-managed payouts are only available for Shopify affiliate campaigns
Other platform merchants do not have Tremendous or self-managed cash payout options
Payout currency
Cash payout currency depends on the payout method used for the campaign.
PayPal payouts are sent in USD equivalent only.
Tremendous payouts can be set to one payout currency for the campaign, based on the currencies available in the dropdown.
Note:
The payout currency is separate from your selected store currency. For example, a store can operate in one currency while cash rewards are paid out in a different currency, depending and limited to the payout method used for the campaign.
Important:
The merchant selects the payout method for the campaign.
If Tremendous is used, the merchant also selects one payout currency for that campaign.
Advocates and affiliates do not choose the payout currency themselves.
Example:
If a campaign uses PayPal and the reward is set to €10 or £10, the recipient will receive the USD equivalent instead of that exact currency amount.
If a campaign uses Tremendous, the merchant can select one payout currency for that campaign’s cash rewards from the available dropdown options.
How advocates and affiliates receive cash rewards
ReferralCandy handles cash reward delivery differently depending on the payout method.
What recipients typically experience:
They receive an email prompting them to claim or receive their cash reward
Depending on the payout method, they may need to confirm payout details before receiving the reward
If Tremendous is used, they claim the reward through Tremendous
If self-managed payouts are used, the merchant fulfills the payout outside ReferralCandy
When cash rewards are sent
Cash rewards are sent only after all of these happen:
A referred purchase qualifies as rewardable
Your review period ends
This can happen automatically after the review period finishes
Or immediately if you manually approve the referral (Shopify only)
The cash reward is funded and queued for payout
Once funding is confirmed, the cash reward is processed and sent
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).
Important:
Payout timing depends on your payout method:
If your payout method uses ReferralCandy billing, such as PayPal or Tremendous with Invoice funding, payouts are only processed after billing is successful (once you pay your invoice and fund the pending payouts)
If your payout method is funded outside ReferralCandy billing, such as Tremendous with Balance funding, payout processing depends on your Tremendous funding status (If funds are readily available in you Tremendous account)
If your payout method is self-managed payouts, you (the merchant) are responsible for paying your affiliates outside ReferralCandy after exporting the payout CSV
Billing for cash rewards on Shopify
If you are a Shopify merchant, you will 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 that are billed through your consolidated Shopify billing.
Why cash rewards are billed separately on Shopify
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 Credit Card.
Where to check cash reward status
There are two things to confirm when someone says they have not received a cash reward:
Is the referral eligible for a reward?
Has the cash reward been funded and queued for payout?
The second check depends on the cash payout method used.
Step 1: Confirm the referral is eligible for a reward
First, open the Purchases & Referrals page:
Shopify: Shopify admin > ReferralCandy > Purchases & Referrals
Other platforms: ReferralCandy dashboard > My Store > Purchases & Referrals
Then locate the purchase and check:
Review period
If the purchase is still within the review period, the reward will not be sent yet
Shopify merchants can manually approve the referral if they need the reward to become eligible sooner
Rewardable status
If the purchase is not marked Rewardable, it is not eligible for a cash reward yet
Tip:
Rewardable simply means the referral is eligible for a reward. It does not necessarily mean the cash payout has already been sent.
Step 2: Confirm the cash reward has been funded and queued for payout
PayPal or Tremendous with Invoice funding (funded from ReferralCandy via Credit Card)
If your payout method uses ReferralCandy billing:
Go to Account > Billing
Check whether the cash reward appears on your current Billing page
If it appears there, the reward is queued to be paid out after billing and has not been sent yet
Check Billing History
If it appears on an invoice marked Paid, billing has succeeded and the payout would be processed after that
After an invoice is successfully billed, allow up to 2–3 business days for payouts to be processed and sent
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.
Tremendous with Balance funding
If your payout method is Tremendous with Balance funding: (Funded directly from the Tremendous app)
Go to Shopify admin > ReferralCandy > Integrations > Tremendous
Confirm all of the following:
Tremendous shows as Connected
Your funding source is set to Balance
Your Tremendous balance has available funds
Confirm the campaign or tier that earned the reward is set to Cash payout method = Tremendous
Confirm a Tremendous campaign template is selected
Verify reward issuance directly in Tremendous:
Tremendous dashboard > Orders & rewards > Reward history
Search by recipient email or filter by date or status
If you cannot find it in Reward history, check Order history for the related sending transaction
Self-managed payouts
If your payout method is Self-managed payouts:
Go to the affiliate campaign that earned the reward
Export the CSV of pending cash payouts
Confirm the affiliate’s payout appears in the export
Pay the affiliate outside ReferralCandy
Upload the updated CSV to mark the payout as paid
Important:
With self-managed payouts, ReferralCandy does not send the cash payout for you. You as the merchant will fulfil the payout manually.
Step 3: If the reward should have been sent, but the advocate or affiliate still says they did not receive it
First, confirm which payout method your store uses.
If your payout method is Tremendous:
Ask the advocate or affiliate to check spam and promotions folders and search their inbox for Tremendous
In Tremendous, go to Orders & rewards > Reward history and search the recipient email
If Tremendous shows the reward was issued, use the Tremendous status details to determine the next step
If your payout method is PayPal:
If the cash reward is included on a paid invoice and it has been at least 2–3 business days, contact support for payout verification
When reaching out, include:
The advocate or affiliate email address
The referred friend email address
The referral purchase date
Any screenshots of the advocate or affiliate message
If your payout method is Self-managed payouts:
Confirm the affiliate was included in the payout CSV
Confirm the payout was actually sent outside ReferralCandy
Confirm the CSV was uploaded afterward to mark the payout as paid
Cash reward FAQ / Troubleshooting (PayPal-only)
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.
Why did my advocate or affiliate receive an email from “Anafore LLC”? (PayPal)
This is expected for PayPal payouts. When cash rewards are delivered through PayPal, payout emails may be sent under Anafore LLC, which is the company name associated with our PayPal payout processing.
If your advocate or affiliate is unsure, you can confirm:
The reward was earned through your referral or affiliate program
The email is related to claiming or receiving their cash reward
My advocate or affiliate says they did not receive the cash reward email. What should I check first? (PayPal)
Work through this order:
Has the reward been earned yet?
The referred purchase must qualify as rewardable
Is there a review period still running?
If the referral is still in review, the payout will not be sent yet
Was billing successful?
If billing failed, cash rewards will not be sent until payment succeeds
Check the delivery status in Contacts
Go to Contacts in ReferralCandy and search the advocate or affiliate
Check their Last Email Status to confirm whether the most recent email was Delivered, Bounced, Blocked, or something else
Check spam and promotions folders
Confirm the advocate or affiliate email address
If all of the above checks out and there is still no email, contact support with the advocate or affiliate email and the approximate referral purchase date.
The reward shows as Unclaimed. What does that mean? (PayPal)
Unclaimed usually means the PayPal payout email was sent, but the advocate or affiliate has not completed the claim or receiving step yet.
Ask them to search their inbox for the reward email and complete the steps in the message.
What if my advocate or affiliate cannot receive the payout? (PayPal)
If the PayPal payout cannot be delivered, for example because of PayPal account or location restrictions, the reward may fail or remain unclaimed. Contact support so we can help resolve it or resend it if possible.
How can I check if my advocate or affiliate received the cash reward success email?
You cannot see a read receipt, but you can check whether ReferralCandy successfully delivered an email to that contact by reviewing Last Email Status in Contacts.
Important notes for cash rewards:
Last Email Status is for the most recent email to that contact
If another ReferralCandy email was sent after the cash reward email, Last Email Status will show the latest one instead
Delivered only confirms the email provider accepted it
The email may still be in Spam, Junk, Promotions, or moved by inbox rules
PayPal-specific payout emails may appear under Anafore LLC or PayPal
Ask the advocate or affiliate to search for Anafore, PayPal, ReferralCandy, and your brand name
Where can I see if a PayPal payout is Completed, Unclaimed, or Failed?
You cannot see PayPal payout delivery statuses inside the ReferralCandy merchant dashboard.
What you can check in your dashboard is whether the reward is included in your current invoice under Billing or in a paid invoice under Billing History.
If the invoice is already paid and the advocate or affiliate still has not received the payout, contact support and we can help check the PayPal payout status.
Why did the advocate receive the payout in USD instead of the campaign currency?
When cash rewards are sent through PayPal, ReferralCandy sends the payout in USD equivalent, regardless of the campaign currency set for the referral or affiliate campaign.
For example, if a campaign reward is set to €10 or £10, the advocate may receive the USD equivalent in PayPal instead. The exact USD amount can vary based on the exchange rate used when the payout is processed.