Redeeming a reward

A redemption has two halves. The customer claims the reward, and you confirm it. The points only leave their balance on the second half.

Start to finish

1. The customer opens their card at /me and taps the reward they want.
2. That creates a pending redemption. Their balance has not changed yet.
3. It appears on your Customers page with a confirm action next to them.
4. One of your staff confirms it — after handing over the coffee, not before.
5. The points come off. The claim counts towards Redemptions on your Overview, and your Outstanding liability drops by the same amount.

With real numbers: a free coffee costs 100 points and the customer is holding 120. They tap it and their balance still reads 120, because nothing has happened yet. You hand over the coffee, confirm, and they are on 20.

Hand it over first, confirm second

This is the one habit worth drilling into everyone who works the counter, and it is the opposite of what feels natural. Tidy people confirm first, then make the coffee. Then the machine breaks, or the customer changes their mind, and you have taken 100 points for nothing.

Confirming is the receipt, not the order. Do it last, when the thing is already in their hand.

Why the confirm step exists

Because otherwise someone could claim a free coffee from the bus stop.

The tap is a request, not a collection. Points move when a person behind the counter says the reward was genuinely handed over, which protects both sides: you cannot be drained remotely, and a customer cannot lose 100 points for a coffee they never received.

It also means the claim can be queued up in advance. A customer can tap while they are walking in, and it is already sitting on your screen when they reach the front.

If a customer taps by accident

Nothing is lost. Their balance is untouched until someone confirms, so a mis-tap costs them exactly nothing. You simply do not confirm it.

What "pending" looks like from each side

On your side it is a line on the Customers page with a confirm action. That page is the only place you need to look.

On the customer's side the reward shows as claimed and waiting, but their balance still reads the full amount. That last part is what confuses people: they claimed a reward twenty minutes ago, their points have not gone down, and they assume it did not work. It did. It is waiting for you. This is one of the most common things customers ask about — see customer can't find their points.

When the reward is out of reach

A customer cannot claim something they cannot afford. Their card shows the rewards within reach and how far they are from the next one, so a 100-point coffee at a balance of 60 shows up as progress rather than as something to tap.

At the counter that turns into a better conversation than it sounds: "You're 40 off the free one" is a genuinely useful thing to be able to say while you take the order.

Who can confirm

You can, and so can a team member set up with the scanner preset, who can confirm redemptions without getting your full access. That is the right setup for counter staff at a busy site.

There is no self-serve invite screen yet, so adding that person is something you ask us to do. Team members and roles explains what each preset covers.

Next

If you are still deciding what your rewards should cost, or how long points should last, read rewards, redemption and expiry.