# What is a redemption approval?

A redemption approval is a confirmation step in which the customer, not the staff member, has to say yes before the redemption completes. It applies to spend-like redemptions, and it keeps the decision with the person whose value it is.

Source: https://fidella.app/glossary/redemption-approval
Last reviewed: 2026-09-02

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Adding a stamp is low stakes. Spending something a customer holds is not, so it
asks them first.

## The customer holds the decision

The prompt goes to the customer's device. Staff initiate; the customer confirms.
A customer is responsible for approvals made from their account.

A customer who starts the redemption themselves, by opening a voucher and showing
its own code, has already made that decision. Presenting the voucher is the
approval, so no prompt follows. The prompt exists because a scan of the usual
customer code says who somebody is without saying what they meant.

## The clock is its own

An approval request has its own expiry, separate from the staff scan session.
If the scan window closes while a customer is still deciding, they can still
answer. The question was asked and they get to answer it.