One10 has set out the case for giving incentive recipients a choice of payout method, including when a business uses cash-like rewards rather than a points catalogue. Its April 2024 guidance discusses digital gift cards, prepaid cards, payment wallets and transfers as ways to accommodate different participant preferences.

The company distinguishes a programme's overall reward structure from how a recipient receives the funds. A business can choose a straightforward monetary incentive while still offering more than one delivery or redemption route. One10 presents that flexibility as relevant to both employee incentives and programmes for direct or indirect sellers.

The options discussed include virtual cards used with digital wallets such as Google, Samsung and Apple wallets, Venmo or PayPal payouts, physical prepaid cards, and debit or bank transfers. These are presented as choices within modern disbursement arrangements; availability depends on the selected solution rather than every method necessarily being offered in every programme.

One10 cites Clover Network findings that 63% of participating respondents preferred virtual or digital gift cards to physical cards. It also cites Forbes Advisor research in which 64% of Americans said they used digital wallets as often as traditional payment methods. The article does not give the fieldwork dates for those figures.

The guidance identifies three reasons a business might review its approach: retaining a simple cash-incentive model while adding payout choice, modernising an existing disbursement process, or accommodating varied preferences across a sales channel. It also notes the movement of merchant-specific gift cards into digital formats.

One10 connects these considerations to its Choice Reward Offerings. The operational focus is on how the reward reaches the participant and how much control that participant has over the payment method, alongside the business's choice of incentive amount and programme rules.