For finance teams
Loyalty and incentive spend your finance team can sign off
For a finance team, IMAST 360 makes loyalty and incentive spend controllable and auditable: claims are verified before points are credited, fraud is checked before payout, TDS on rewards is calculated and deducted automatically, and every payout is recorded for reconciliation and audit.
- TDS on rewards handled automatically
- Claims verified, with an audit trail
- Fraud checks before money moves
The concern
Why finance worries about loyalty programs
Loyalty and incentive programs create spend that is spread across thousands of small transactions, many of them triggered by partners rather than by your own team. Finance needs to know that each reward was earned, that it went to the right person, and that tax was handled.
Points also create a liability. Until a member redeems, the points they hold represent a future cost. Programs run on spreadsheets make it hard to know the size of that liability, or how it changes as schemes run.
And there is compliance. Business rewards to dealers, retailers and tradespeople can attract tax deducted at source. Tracking it per recipient across several schemes is difficult without a system designed for it.
Controls
How each finance concern is handled
Controls built into LoyaltyBoard and Reward Max.
| Concern | How it's handled | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Was the reward earned? | Claims verified with AI-powered OCR and multi-level approval workflows | LoyaltyBoard |
| Is the recipient real? | Digital KYC with Aadhaar eKYC, PAN verification and bank account validation | Reward Max, LoyaltyBoard |
| Is this fraud? | AI checks for duplicate claims, velocity abuse and anomalies | LoyaltyBoard, Reward Max |
| Was TDS deducted? | Tracks value per recipient per financial year and deducts TDS automatically | Reward Max |
| What did we pay, to whom? | Analytics, audit support and compliance reporting | Reward Max |
Tax
TDS on rewards: what finance needs to know
Section 194R of the Income-tax Act, 1961 required tax to be deducted on benefits or perquisites given in the course of business. From 1 April 2026 the same requirement sits in Section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
The threshold is ₹20,000 per recipient per financial year. Once a recipient's total crosses it, TDS at 10% applies to the full value of the benefits, not just the excess. A higher rate can apply where the recipient hasn't furnished PAN. Confirm how the rules apply to your schemes with your tax adviser.
Reward Max verifies PAN during Digital KYC, tracks reward value per recipient across all schemes, calculates and deducts TDS once the threshold is crossed, and issues TDS certificates and compliance reports. The free TDS on rewards calculator on this site is a quick way to check individual cases.
Cost
Pricing finance can model
Reward Max pricing is simple to forecast.
Pay-as-you-go
A 0.75% platform fee on transaction value — no subscriptions or per-user fees.
Compliance included
The platform fee covers fraud detection, KYC, TDS compliance, analytics and AI.
Fulfilment by volume
Execution fees for physical rewards depend on your volume.
Practical advice
Setting up a program finance is comfortable with
Agree the controls before launch. Decide which claims need approval and at what level, which partners must complete KYC before redeeming, and how budget caps work per scheme. These are easier to set at the start than to add once partners are used to a looser process.
Ask for regular liability and payout reports. Outstanding points, redemptions and TDS deducted should be reviewed on the same cycle as other channel spend, so there are no surprises at year end.
Keep one system of record. When claims, approvals, KYC, payouts and tax all sit in the same platform, audit questions can be answered from one place instead of reconstructed from email and spreadsheets.
- Set approval levels and KYC rules before launch
- Cap budgets per scheme
- Review outstanding points and payouts regularly
- Keep claims, KYC, payouts and TDS in one system
Knoxy · AI Chief of Staff
Knoxy watches the money
Knoxy, the AI Chief of Staff in IMAST 360, flags fraud and anomalies across claims, redemptions and payouts.
Meet Knoxy- Flags duplicate and unusual claims
- Alerts on anomalies in redemptions and payouts
- Analytics and reports on demand through the copilot
FAQs
Finance team FAQs
How does IMAST 360 help finance control loyalty spend?
Claims are verified before points are credited, recipients are verified with Digital KYC, fraud is checked before payout, TDS is deducted automatically and every payout is reported.
Is TDS on rewards still under Section 194R?
From 1 April 2026 the provision sits in Section 393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 194R), with the same 10% rate and ₹20,000 yearly threshold. Confirm specifics with your tax adviser.
Is TDS deducted on the full value or only the excess?
Once a recipient's total for the financial year exceeds ₹20,000, TDS applies to the full value of the benefits.
Does Reward Max issue TDS certificates?
Yes. It generates TDS certificates and compliance reports.
What does Reward Max cost?
Pay-as-you-go with a 0.75% platform fee on transaction value, covering fraud detection, KYC, TDS compliance, analytics and AI. Fulfilment fees depend on volume.
Is there an audit trail for claims?
Yes. Claims go through documented verification and approval workflows, and Reward Max includes audit support and compliance reporting.
How is fraud prevented?
Digital KYC before redemption, OCR checks on invoices and AI that flags duplicate claims, velocity abuse and anomalies.
Can we see how much we've paid each partner?
Yes. Reward Max reports show payouts by recipient, scheme and period.
Bring your finance questions
We'll walk through claims, KYC, TDS and payout reporting on a live program.