How to Manage Custom Reward Redemptions
Approve, fulfill, refund, and export custom reward redemptions from the admin redemptions list, including bulk actions and the activity timeline.
Who can use this feature
Available on all plans (including Free).
Requires one of these admin permissions: Super Admin, View Reward Redemptions, or Update Reward Redemptions.
Who this is for
Admins who review and process custom reward redemption requests from employees.
What you'll achieve
You'll be able to find redemptions, approve and fulfill them individually or in bulk, handle refunds, and export redemption data — all from the admin redemptions list.
Before you begin
You have Update Reward Redemptions (
reward_redemption.update) or Global Admin (admin.global) permission to take action on redemptions. With only View Reward Redemptions (reward_redemption.read), you can see the list but cannot change statuses.You're familiar with the status lifecycle. If not, read How Custom Reward Redemptions Work first — it explains what each status means and when points are deducted.
Steps
1. Open the redemptions list
Go to Admin settings → Rewards & redemptions → Redemptions and select the Custom Rewards tab. The list shows each redemption's reward name, points spent, user details, location, redeemed date, and current status.
2. Filter and sort
Use the toolbar to narrow down what you're looking at:
Status — filters by Pending, Approved, Fulfilled, or Refunded. Defaults to Pending so new requests surface first.
Location — filters by the employee's country.
Sort — reorder by redeemed date, status, or points spent.
3. View a redemption
Click View on any row to open the detail dialog. Inside you'll find:
Redemption details — status, who redeemed, and points spent.
Activity timeline — a chronological record of every status change, including who made it and when. This is how your team stays coordinated when multiple admins handle redemptions.
The actions available in this dialog depend on the redemption's current status.
4. Approve a redemption
From the detail dialog of a Pending redemption, click Approve. The status moves to Approved and the employee receives an email confirming their request is being worked on. A redemption must be approved before it can be fulfilled — you cannot skip straight from Pending to Fulfilled.
5. Fulfill a redemption
Once you've delivered the reward, open the Approved redemption and click Fulfill. The status moves to Fulfilled, the employee is emailed, and the process is complete.
Fulfilled is a final status. You cannot refund or roll back a redemption after marking it Fulfilled. If something goes wrong post-fulfillment, contact support via the help widget or support@praisepal.com.
6. Refund a redemption
Open a Pending or Approved redemption and click Refund. You can optionally enter a reason — if you do, it's included in the employee's refund email, which helps set expectations and reduces follow-up questions.
When a refund is processed:
The employee's points are restored to their earnings balance immediately.
If the reward has limited stock, the quantity is restored by one.
The employee receives an email confirming the refund and the number of points returned.
Refunds are handled one at a time. There is no bulk refund — you need to open each redemption individually.
7. Use bulk actions
When working through a batch of redemptions, you can approve or fulfill multiple items at once. Select individual rows using the checkboxes, or use Select all to select every item matching your current filters. Then open Bulk actions and choose Bulk Approve or Bulk Fulfill.
A few things to know about bulk operations:
You can process up to 500 redemptions in a single bulk action.
If some of the selected redemptions aren't eligible for the action — for example, you run Bulk Approve but a few are already Approved — those are skipped. The rest are processed normally.
Bulk actions are available when you're viewing Pending or Approved redemptions. You won't see the option when viewing Fulfilled or Refunded redemptions, since those have reached the end of the process.
8. Export redemptions
To download a record of redemptions, use the Export button above the list. You'll choose a date range, and the export includes whatever status and location filters you currently have applied. The CSV is delivered to your email.
The export includes redemption details, user information, status, timestamps for each status change, which admin performed each action, and any refund reason.
What to expect after
Each time you change a status, the employee receives an email:
The employee can also track their redemption status at Account → Activity → Reward Redemptions under the Custom Rewards tab.
On your side, every action is recorded in the redemption's activity timeline — visible in the detail dialog — so your team has a clear record of who did what.