> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/members-and-payouts/payout-methods.md).

# Payout methods and the minimum

A **payout method** is a way you are willing to pay a member — PayPal, a bank transfer, a gift card — together with the details you need from them in order to do it.

Members cannot request anything until at least one exists.

{% hint style="info" %}
Cashback Tracker never moves money. A payout request is a record: you send the money yourself and mark the request paid. See [What the plugin never does](/how-cashback-works/what-the-plugin-never-does.md).
{% endhint %}

### Adding one

`Cashback Tracker` → `Settings` → `Member area` → **Payout methods** → **Add method…**

Choosing from that list starts you off with a method that already has its fields filled in:

| Preset                    | What it asks the member for                                  |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **PayPal**                | Their PayPal email                                           |
| **Bank transfer (IBAN)**  | Account holder, IBAN, BIC/SWIFT, bank name                   |
| **Bank transfer (local)** | Account holder, bank name, sort/routing code, account number |
| **Wise**                  | Their Wise email                                             |
| **Crypto**                | Network (a choice list) and wallet address                   |
| **Gift card**             | The email to send the card to                                |
| **Custom**                | One empty field to write yourself                            |

These are **starting points, not fixed types**. Rename the method, add fields, delete the ones you do not want. Nothing is recorded about which preset you picked, so a method built from the bank preset and one built by hand behave identically.

That matters because payout methods are local. If you pay through PIX, UPI, Interac e-Transfer, Bkash or anything else, start from **Custom** and describe it yourself.

![A payout method and the details it asks a member for](https://3545740495-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M69sU0hfZj3QsteYxmI%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-84519abbaa6afc7be1aff13a285ef70627a4224b%2Fpayout-methods-settings.webp?alt=media)

### Fields

Each field is three things: what the member sees, what kind of value it is, and whether they can leave it out.

|              |                                                                                                          |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Label**    | The words above the box on the member's form. Write it as an instruction — *Account holder*, not *name*. |
| **Type**     | Text, Email, Number, IBAN, Choice list, or Country. See below.                                           |
| **Required** | Whether the request can be sent without it.                                                              |

A **Choice list** field takes its options as a comma-separated list — `BTC, ETH, USDT` — and the member gets a dropdown rather than a box. Use it wherever a typo would cost you: paying the right amount to the wrong network is not recoverable.

A method with no fields cannot be saved. It would appear on the member's form as something they can pick and then cannot fill in.

#### What gets checked, and what merely gets flagged

This split is worth understanding, because it decides who gets stopped and who gets warned.

**The request is refused** when a required field is empty, when an Email field does not hold an email address, or when a Choice list or Country field holds something that was not on the list. All three are certain to be wrong.

**The request goes through, and you see a warning** when an IBAN fails its checksum, or a Number field does not hold a number. The warning appears beside that detail on the payout row, so you see it before you pay.

The reason for the second group is worth saying plainly: an IBAN check we got wrong for one country would lock every member there out of being paid at all. Operators also label a field *IBAN* and then find members pasting a domestic account number into it, which is not wrong of them. A warning you can act on beats a refusal they cannot argue with.

### Renaming and deleting a method

Both are safe.

A method keeps an internal id from the moment you create it, and that id never changes — so renaming *PayPal* to *PayPal (personal)* leaves every payout already requested under it working normally.

Every payout also stores its own copy of what the member filled in, labels included. So a payout requested last March still displays correctly after you relabel a field, and still displays correctly after you delete the method outright.

### The minimum

Two settings, and the smaller one is not always the one that applies.

* **Minimum payout amount** — `Settings` → `Member area`. Applies to every method. `0` means no minimum.
* **Minimum**, on a method — applies to that method only. Leave it empty and the method uses the site-wide figure.

A per-method minimum is how you deal with a method that costs you something to use. If a bank transfer costs you a fixed fee, a £3 payout through it is not worth making; a PayPal one might be fine.

Members below the minimum are told how much further they have to go, rather than being shown a form that will refuse them.

![The payout minimum](https://3545740495-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M69sU0hfZj3QsteYxmI%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4da47bfde290e15819770a1e8ab0ba088dd86f4c%2Fsettings-member-area.webp?alt=media)

### What the member sees

`Your account` → `Payouts`.

They pick a method, and the fields for that method appear. Their available balance is filled in as the amount, which they can lower.

The **Note** you set on a method is shown with it, and it is the right place for anything they should know before choosing — *Paid within 5 business days*, *Minimum £50*, *We cannot pay outside the EU*.

![The member requesting a payout](https://3545740495-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M69sU0hfZj3QsteYxmI%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4558c1003e75566e640365f113a116138e34ca8a%2Fpayout-request-form.webp?alt=media)

### What you see

`Cashback Tracker` → `Payouts`.

Each request shows its details as labelled lines — *Account holder: A. Member*, *IBAN: GB82…* — so you can read them straight into your bank's interface. Any warning from the checks above sits beside the detail it applies to.

Warnings are shown while a request can still be stopped, and stop being shown once it is paid or rejected.

### Related

* [Handling a payout request](/members-and-payouts/handling-a-payout-request.md)
* [The member account page](/members-and-payouts/the-account-page.md)
* [What the plugin never does](/how-cashback-works/what-the-plugin-never-does.md)