Points are virtual until someone spends them on a paid reward. You never pay for unused or unredeemed points, and earned points never expire.
That means your budgeted points and your actual spend are different numbers. Most organizations see roughly 70% of issued points get redeemed, so budgeting for full redemption overstates what you'll pay.
💡 If you only offer a custom catalog with non-monetary rewards, such as lunch with an executive or an extra day off, you never need to fund a rewards account at all.
Two ways to fund
Method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Prepaid | Fund an account in advance, redemptions draw down the balance | Teams that want budget locked in upfront or need to spend within a fiscal period |
Postpaid | Keep a card on file, get charged as redemptions happen | Teams that prefer to pay for actual usage without managing a balance |
Both are managed at app.hithrive.com/admin/rewards/billing.
Prepaid
Pre-fund a rewards account that covers redemptions as your team makes them.
You can fund it two ways:
Instant top-up with a credit or debit card
Invoice request in an amount of your choosing
There's no minimum and no required frequency. Some teams fund a year at a time, others top up monthly. Both work.
HiThrive notifies an administrator automatically when your balance runs low. If someone attempts a redemption your balance can't cover, we notify an administrator before declining it, so you have a chance to top up rather than having the employee hit a wall.
Postpaid
Keep a credit card on file and get charged as redemptions occur, with no balance to manage.
Adding a card
Go to app.hithrive.com/admin/rewards/billing and select Add new payment method. Card details are stored securely and are never visible to HiThrive staff or to your team.
How charges work
Charges are grouped rather than run per redemption, which keeps your statement readable and reduces transaction volume.
When redemptions reach $500, we run the card for the accumulated amount.
Regardless of whether you hit $500, we process on a bi-weekly cycle. You'll see a charge mid-month and again at month end covering any redemptions in that period.
So a team with steady redemption volume may see several charges a month as they cross the $500 threshold repeatedly. A team with light volume will see two, one per cycle, and nothing if there were no redemptions.
Your receipt
Every charge comes with an itemized receipt showing which redemptions it covered:
Who redeemed
What they selected
The amount
This is what your finance team needs for reconciliation, and it's worth forwarding to whoever owns the expense line. Additional detail is always included in the Reward Redemptions report.
Which should you choose?
Prepaid if your finance team prefers a known amount committed upfront, if you need to spend budget within a fiscal year, or if approval for a single larger transaction is easier than recurring charges.
Postpaid if you'd rather pay for actual usage, don't want to monitor a balance, or are still learning what your redemption volume looks like.
You can switch between them, so starting with one doesn't lock you in.
Common questions
Do I have to pay for all my budgeted points?
No. Points are virtual until redeemed. Budget what you plan to issue, fund what actually gets spent.
How much should I pre-fund?
Whatever suits your finance process. Monthly, quarterly, and annual funding all work, and we notify you before the balance runs out.
What happens if a redemption exceeds my prepaid balance?
We notify an administrator before declining, giving you a chance to top up first.
Is there a processing fee?
A 10% fee applies to redemptions. Factor that into your budgeting.