Read this page as a quick path: scan the headings, use the step blocks, and escalate if the expected result does not happen.
Rewards are configured from the Rewards page in the left sidebar. Click Manage Rewards to open the reward configuration panel, then click Add New Reward (or click the edit icon on an existing draft reward).
Reward setup is a three-step flow.
Step 1: Who is this reward for?
Choose the recipient:
Then select the reward type: Fixed Amount, Commission Amount, or Custom Reward.
- Referrer — the person who made the referral
- Lead — the new customer who was referred
Step 2: Configure reward settings
Fraud Protection
At the top of Step 2, you'll see a Fraud Protection toggle. This controls who is eligible for the reward:
- Fraud Protection ON (recommended) — "Reward Only For Qualified Referrals". The reward will only be given for referrals that have been qualified. This is your primary protection against fraudulent or low-quality referrals.
- Fraud Protection OFF — "Reward Only For New Referrals". The reward will be given for all new referrals, regardless of qualification status. This is not recommended for most use cases.
Fixed Amount
- Reward On Every — how many qualified referrals trigger a reward (e.g. every 1 qualified referral)
- Currency — select your currency (e.g. USD)
- Amount — the fixed reward amount (e.g. $100)
Commission Amount
- Commission Percentage — the percentage of the referred customer's spend (e.g. 10%)
- Set Commission Cap — optionally toggle on to set a maximum payout per referral. When enabled, set the currency and commission cap (max price).
Custom Reward
- Metric Name — name your custom unit (e.g. "Points", "Credits", "Tokens")
- Metric Amount — the amount per referral (e.g. 1)
One-time, Ongoing, and Milestone rewards
All three reward types offer a choice of reward scheduling:
When you select Ongoing, additional settings appear:
- One-time reward per qualified referral — the recipient receives the reward once for each qualified referral. Best for one-off purchases, fixed payouts, and sign-ups.
- Ongoing rewards per qualified referral — the recipient is rewarded every time the referral pays. Rewards stop if the customer stops paying. Best for subscriptions, memberships, and recurring revenue. This option is only available when Fraud Protection is ON (Reward Only For Qualified Referrals).
- Milestone rewards — the recipient earns rewards at specific referral count thresholds (e.g. first reward at 1 referral, next at 3, then at 5). This creates tiered incentive levels that motivate referrers to keep going. Milestone rewards are only available for the Referrer recipient and only trigger on qualified referrals.
- Reward should repeat every — set the interval: Day, Week, Month, or Year
- How many times to issue the reward — choose from 1 to 10, or "Always issue while referral is qualified"
- How should we handle users that unqualify? — what happens if a referred user unqualifies and then re-qualifies:
- Cancel reward — if the referred user becomes qualified again, the rewards would NOT resume
- Pause reward — if the referred user becomes qualified again, the rewards would resume
Step 3: Configure issuing
Choose how the reward will be sent:
Then configure the remaining settings:
Click Activate to make a new reward live, or Update to save changes to an existing reward.
- Issue Yourself — you handle payout manually outside Referral Factory
- Tremendous — gift cards and digital rewards sent via Tremendous. You'll select which Tremendous campaign to use. See FAQ: How do I connect Tremendous to Referral Factory? for a detailed walkthrough.
- Stripe Credits — billing credits issued via your connected Stripe account (requires Stripe connection). The reward recipient must already be a customer in your Stripe account. See FAQ: How do I connect Stripe to issue cash rewards? for a detailed walkthrough.
- PayPal — cash payouts via PayPal. The first time you select this option, you'll be redirected to PayPal to authorise the connection. The reward recipient must have a PayPal account (matched by email address). See FAQ: How do I connect PayPal to issue cash rewards? for a detailed walkthrough.
- Webhooks — send reward data to your own endpoint. Configure the endpoint URL, optional headers and credentials, and choose POST or GET as the HTTP method. A full payload of recipient, campaign, and reward data fields is sent automatically.
- Zapier, Make.com, N8n — trigger your own reward workflow via automation
- Reward Name — give the reward a descriptive name (default: "Referrer Reward" or "Lead Reward")
- Auto Issue Rewards — toggle on if you want rewards to go out automatically on qualification (off by default; not recommended). When enabling Auto Issue, you'll see a confirmation dialog asking you to accept responsibility for automatic issuance.
- Reward Limit — toggle on to cap how many rewards a single participant can earn (off by default). When enabled, set the maximum number (e.g. 10).
Step 4: Configure notification (optional)
Each reward can have its own email notification. On the reward card in the Manage Rewards panel, click Configure notification to set up an email that is sent to the recipient when the reward is issued.
- Enable notification — toggle on to send an email when this reward is issued
- Subject — the email subject line (supports variables like [First Name])
- Message — the email body content (supports variables)
Important notes
Editing active rewards
Once a reward has already issued payments, it cannot be edited. If you need to change how a reward works, you must:
- Deactivate the current reward (data is retained but no new rewards will be issued)
- Create a new reward with your desired settings
Who pays for rewards?
Referral Factory orchestrates when rewards are sent, but the funds come from your own accounts. If you use Tremendous, you fund your Tremendous account directly. If you use Stripe Credits, credits are deducted from your Stripe balance. If you use PayPal, funds are debited from your connected PayPal account. Referral Factory does not hold or disburse funds on your behalf.
Tremendous disconnections
The Tremendous integration can disconnect from Referral Factory without warning. If you notice rewards failing to send, check your reward integration connection status first before investigating other causes. Go to Campaign Settings → Integrations and API → Rewards tab to verify it shows as Connected.
Insufficient funds
If your Tremendous account runs out of balance, reward issuance will silently fail. Ensure your account is funded — either with a preloaded balance or an active credit card attached inside Tremendous.