PLU Rewards are granted as cashback on eligible transactions. Not all transactions are eligible in order to prevent abuse. This article covers what transactions are eligible for receiving PLU Rewards.

 

Understanding PLU Rewards

All Plutus accounts are eligible to receive PLU rewards as a cashback percentage on eligible transactions. The specific % earned and how much you can earn in PLU Rewards change based on the account plans and staking levels, but the mechanics of how it works is the same for all accounts.

 

Calculating the PLU Reward amount

This is the formula for the calculation:

 

Amount x % Cashback / PLU value

• Amount: Transaction value, how much you paid in the transaction.
• % Cashback: Your account's cashback rate at the time of the transaction.
• PLU value: The value of the PLU token at the time of the transaction.

In a practical example, let's assume John made a purchase for the value of 25.00 GBP, has a cashback rate of 4% and the PLU price on the date of the transaction is 1 PLU = 8.50 GBP. John will earn 25.00 x 4% / 8.50 = 0.1176 PLU for this transaction.

 

Reward flow

The timing on rewards is as follows:

1. You start a payment and the amount is locked on your card balance.
   • The transaction shows as "Pending" in your transaction history.
2. The merchant collects the payment some time later.
   • This is known as "transaction settlement" and the transaction is finalized here.
   • It may take from some minutes up to a week, depending on the merchant.
3. The reward is generated the morning after the transaction is settled.
   • You will see it in your Rewards tab as "Pending".
   • The reward is generated only for eligible transactions.
4. The reward moves to "available" status after 45 days.
   • Available rewards can be withdrawn to your wallet or swapped for top up.
   • Rewards for transactions over 500 EUR/GBP need manual approval by the Support team in order to become available for use. This is done proactively but if you think the team missed yours, you can contact our Support team and we will take a look for you.

 

Transaction eligibility

The general idea is that we want everything that we can, while being mindful that bad actors can potentially exploit certain types of transactions to farm rewards without actually doing transactions with merchants. Particularly, we want to prevent the ability to circulate money in a loop and farm rewards without actual spending.

To determine what transactions receive PLU Rewards, we have an algorithm in place checking them before generating the reward. While the specifics can't be shared, this is the general outline:

1. Type of transaction: Only card payments to merchants are eligible.
   • Refunds, top ups, deposits and other card actions are not eligible for rewards.
2. Transaction MCC and Description: Some merchants/services are not eligible. 
   
   • MCC stands for Merchant Category Code, it serves the purpose of identifying the nature of the merchant's business. Check this Visa guide for further information.
   • Description is a line in the transaction that includes information about it. We use this to identify the specific merchant, good or service.

Our algorithm uses this information to determine if this is a transaction that should be rewarded or not.

 

Transactions that do not earn PLU Rewards

This is the list of transactions that we do not reward:

• Payments into a bank account or card (including your own).
• Financial services such as investments, mortgages or loans.
• Currency exchange and money transfer services.
• Deposits or transfers into crypto exchanges or any crypto product.
• Services that allow you to deposit and withdraw funds.
• Gift cards or any card that can be loaded/topped up.
• Cash transfers or payments to individuals.
• Paying for money orders or traveller's cheques. 
• Betting or lottery services.

Many of those transactions can be easily identified just by the MCC. Here is a list of the MCCs that will indicate a non eligible transactions:

• 4829 - Money transfers
• 6010 - Manual cash
• 6011 - Automated cash
• 6012 - Financial Institutions
• 6211 - Brokers, stocks, bonds
• 6540 - Cards/Wallets top ups
• 7012 - Timeshares
• 7995 - Gambling

Certain MCCs cover types of transactions that are usually fine, but also have some use cases where the transaction is not eligible, so they can't be used by themselves to determine the transaction eligibility and the Description will be factored in:

• 5734 - Computer software. While is designed for computer software purchases (which is rewarded), it's also used for some investment and crypto services.
• 5999 - Miscellaneous outlets. A catch all that includes things like gift cards.
• 6051 - Non Financial Institutions. Most transactions here are not rewarded, but some very specific use cases like utility bill payments are rewarded.

• 8999 - Other professional services. A catch all for professional services. Most are rewarded but some entities use this for investments, which are not rewarded.

• 9399 - Other government services. A catch all for government services. Most are rewarded but some specific ones related to account deposits and investments are not rewarded.

The remaining MCCs will be rewarded in most of cases, with some minor and very rare exceptions based on some merchants categorizing their services incorrectly.

 

Important note: We reserve the right to update these lists without prior notice as we refine our algorithms and identify new use cases or holes to patch. Also, some merchants do not categorize their services correctly and may not be rewarded even if the MCC is not in the lists above. Consider the MCC lists as a general guidance, and consult with our Support team if you want to know if a specific transaction is eligible for rewards or not.

 

Reporting issues with PLU Rewards

Missing rewards

If you are missing rewards for a transaction, check the following:

• Has the transaction settled with the merchant? 
  • This may take up to a week, and weekends typically don't count. Transactions made on Saturday are likely to be settled on Monday end of day.
• Is the transaction eligible for rewards?
  • Check our guide above to understand transaction eligibility.
• Has enough time passed?
  • Rewards are generated once per day, early in the morning. Wait until the next day after the transaction settled to see the reward line.

If after this you are still think that you are missing a reward, reach out to our Support team and we will manually reward it for you. We will also investigate and fix any potential root cause why it wasn't rewarded automatically.

 

Incorrect reward amount

You may have gotten the reward for the transaction but you may doubt if the amount of the reward is correct. The way the reward is calculated is the following:

 

Amount x % Cashback / PLU value

• Amount: Transaction value, how much you paid in the transaction.
• % Cashback: Your account's cashback rate at the time of the transaction.
• PLU value: The value of the PLU token at the time of the transaction.

If you think something is off, let our Support team know and we will check it out.

 

FAQ

Can I get PLU Rewards for paying my rent or mortgage?

Mortgages are payments to financial institutions and are not rewarded. Rent will be rewarded when paid as a point-of-sale transaction. This typically is not an option when paying directly to a landlord (payment into a bank account) unless the landlord has a point-of-sale system set up for payments, something that is only common for landlords with many properties or when a real state agency is mediating and your payment is processed as a point-of-sale transaction (POS). This is typically done through a POS terminal (the machine where you hover or input your card physically for a payment), but can also be done online.

 

Can I get PLU Rewards for paying taxes or utilities?

Yes, as long as the payment is made as a card payment into a point-of-sale (POS) system. For example, UK's HMRC taxes can be paid like this and you can receive cashback for those payments.

 

I used to receive cashback for certain transactions but not anymore. What happened?

We regularly update our rewards algorithm to increase it's accuracy and make sure we always reward what we intend to, and don't reward what is not eligible. If the transactions you got rewarded for in the past are classified as not eligible, then you won't receive rewards anymore for them. If they are eligible and you think it is a mistake, contact our Support team and we will be happy to look into it and fix it.