How rewards work

Who qualifies

Verified customers can refer: Verified customers in your connected Stripe account can get a referral link, including free and trial customers. Deactivated customers must be explicitly reactivated.
The first referral wins: The first referrer we match to a new customer keeps the referral, even if they use another code or link later.
A promotion code beats a link reference: A referrer's promotion code takes priority over a referral link or metadata.
New customers only: Referral codes are for first-time Stripe customers. For links and metadata, the customer must never have paid you before.
No referring yourself: A matching Stripe customer ID or email address blocks a self-referral.

Discounts apply at checkout: Stripe applies the new customer's percentage discount when they subscribe using the referrer's promotion code.
Credit follows the first payment and the hold: The new customer earns credit on their first qualifying payment. It goes on their account after the hold, ready for a future invoice.
Your customer waits for the milestone and hold: Your customer earns their reward after their friend makes your chosen number of qualifying payments. It goes out after the hold.
Match the hold to your refund window: Credit for the friend and the referrer's reward both wait until the hold ends. Set it to at least your refund window so refunds or disputes can cancel pending rewards.
Checked every hour: Due rewards are checked every hour. If Stripe rejects one, we retry on the next check.

What counts as a payment: A paid subscription invoice above zero. Trials, 100%-off invoices, invoices paid entirely with credit and one-off invoices do not count.

Full refunds and disputes: A full refund or dispute stops a payment counting. Pending rewards are cancelled if the remaining payments no longer qualify.
Partial refunds: Partial refunds do not stop a payment counting.
Issued rewards are never taken back: Issued rewards stay on the customer's Stripe account, even after a refund or dispute.

Account credit and VAT: Stripe treats balance credit as a prepayment and applies it after tax. VAT is still due on the full invoice. Check the treatment with your accountant.

Test mode is free: You can try referrals and rewards in test mode without a ReferSprout subscription. Your first live programme starts with a 30-day trial.
If your live plan ends: Your live programme runs during your trial, an active plan or Stripe's payment retries. Without a plan, or when it ends or becomes unpaid, no new referrers can join and no rewards go out.
While a live programme is paused: Existing Stripe promotion codes still work and new referrals are tracked. Pending rewards wait until you resubscribe. Issued rewards stay as they are.