Rebate processing for consumer brands
Rebate processing is the work that happens between a shopper submitting proof of purchase and that shopper being paid. Validating the receipt, checking it against the campaign rules, catching the claims that should not be paid, and issuing the reward. Most brands outsource all of it to a processor and never see the detail.
What a rebate processor actually does
A processor receives claims, reads the proof of purchase, decides whether each claim qualifies, and pays the ones that do. Traditionally that meant a mail in form, a stapled receipt, a data entry clerk, and a cheque printed in a batch run.
The decision is the hard part. A claim can fail because the wrong product was bought, because the purchase date falls outside the promotion window, because the retailer was not on the list, because the same receipt has already been claimed, or because the image is unreadable. Each of those needs a different answer, and only one of them is fraud.
Why the legacy model takes six to eight weeks
The wait is not caused by the validation. It is caused by batching. Claims are accumulated, keyed in, reviewed, approved in a run, and then a cheque is printed, stuffed, and mailed. Every step waits for the step before it to reach a worthwhile volume.
The consumer experiences that as silence. They submitted a receipt, heard nothing, and by the time the cheque arrives they have forgotten which promotion it was for. That is a bad outcome for a programme whose entire purpose was to make somebody feel good about buying the product.
What same day processing changes
SondarLogic validates a claim from a photographed receipt in under ten seconds and returns one of four outcomes. Approved, rejected, held for manual review, or a request to resubmit a clearer photo. An approved claim releases a digital Visa gift card the same day.
Removing the batch removes the wait, and removing the wait removes most of the support volume. Nobody emails to ask where their cheque is when the reward arrived the afternoon they claimed.
- Under ten seconds from submitted receipt to a decision with a reason attached
- Same day digital Visa gift card instead of a cheque printed in a batch
- Blurry or cropped photos get an automated resubmission request rather than a denial
- Exceptions go to a person on our team, not to the brand
The claim data most brands never get back
A processor is paid to decide claims, so a processor hands back decisions. A spreadsheet of approvals and rejections, and little else. The receipt itself is discarded once it has done its job.
That receipt is the most honest piece of first party data a brand will ever be handed. It shows the full basket, the retailer, the location, the date, the total spend, and every competing and complementary product the shopper bought in the same trip. SondarLogic returns all of it, sorted into audiences a marketing team can act on.
Common questions
How long does rebate processing take?
With a legacy processor, six to eight weeks is the standard, because claims are batched before a cheque run. SondarLogic returns a decision in under ten seconds and pays an approved claim the same day.
What is the difference between a rebate processor and a fulfillment house?
A processor decides whether a claim qualifies. A fulfillment house issues the reward. Many companies do both, and the terms are used loosely. SondarLogic validates claims and can either hand the decision to an existing fulfillment partner or release the reward itself, depending on how the programme is set up at onboarding.
Do you replace our existing fulfillment partner?
Not necessarily. The engine runs behind whoever already owns the programme. It can sit underneath a fulfillment house or an agency, validate the claims, and hand back the decisions, leaving the client relationship exactly where it is.
What does rebate processing cost?
Pricing is per validated claim and scales with volume. Manual review, resubmission handling and the claim data are included in that rate rather than charged as add ons. Ask for a quote at partnership@sondarlogic.com.
Where is SondarLogic based?
Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Claim records are stored in Canada and the platform runs in Canada, under PIPEDA. Reading the receipt itself is done by a processing provider outside Canada, in the moment, and the image is never stored by them or by us.