Credit Expiration Rules That Do Not Surprise Customers

Credit expiration and rollover: what to decide

A customer sees 5,000 credits on Friday and 500 on Monday. Even if expiry was legally disclosed, the experience feels broken when the balance view never showed the approaching date. Expiration should be a visible lifecycle event.

Keep purchased credits, recurring allowances and promotional grants distinguishable. Their expiry and refund rules may differ. When balances overlap, a deterministic consumption order avoids disputes about which credits should have been used.

How this works in practice

A customer has 1,000 promotional credits expiring this month and 2,000 purchased credits expiring next year. Consuming the soonest-expiring eligible balance first may be sensible, but the policy must be explicit and consistent across products.

What can go wrong

Changing an existing expiry policy can affect contractual rights. Do not retroactively shorten purchased-credit terms without appropriate review and communication. Accounting for breakage also needs qualified judgement.

Questions for your team

• Display expiry dates by balance type.
• Document consumption order and product eligibility.
• Warn customers before material expirations.
• Test renewals when old and new grants overlap.