If you have referred a dealer or two and the money has come off hold, you now have a decision to make that most referral schemes never give you: how you want it.
The Vehiso Referral Programme offers three routes. Off your next invoice, into your wallet, or out to your bank as cash. You can mix and match across different referrals, so this is not a once-and-for-all choice.
Here is how to pick, starting with the summary and then the detail.
The short answer
| Invoice credit | Wallet | Bank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How fast | Next invoice | Instant | A day or two |
| Minimum | None | None | £25 |
| Fee | None | None | Small sending fee, taken from the amount |
| Reversible | n/a | No, cannot become cash | n/a |
| Best for | Anyone with a monthly bill | Heavy users of the AI tools | Building up a balance you want out |
If you do not want to read any further: invoice credit. It is the default, it needs no decision, and it is the right answer for most dealers most of the time.
Invoice credit
Your earnings come off your next Vehiso bill automatically.
Pick this if you pay Vehiso a monthly bill, which is nearly everyone reading this. It is the only route that requires literally no action. You do not set anything up, you do not click anything, and there is no minimum to reach. If your invoice is £79 and you have £29 available, you are charged £50.
The case against it is thin, but it exists. If you are on the free plan you have no invoice for it to come off, so it will sit there doing nothing until you either upgrade or pick a different route. And if you are specifically trying to build up a lump of cash, credit that quietly disappears into a lower bill is not really building anything.
Worth knowing: there is no minimum, so small amounts work fine here. A single £4.90 earning is useful against an invoice in a way it can never be against a bank transfer.
Wallet credit
Your earnings go into your Vehiso wallet, which is what pays for the pay-as-you-go tools.
Pick this if you run out of your bundled allowances. The wallet covers AI vehicle descriptions and image tools, Photo Studio, valuations and SMS sends. If you regularly go past what your plan includes and top up the wallet anyway, routing referral money there is a straight swap: you were going to put money in, and now you do not have to.
On the free plan there is no invoice to credit, though the AI tools and Photo Studio need a paid plan before you can spend it on them.
The case against it, and this is the one thing to be genuinely clear about before choosing it: wallet balance cannot later be turned back into cash. Once it is in there, it spends inside Vehiso or it stays there. It is not a trap, it is just one-way, and it is the reason to pick this route because you actively want the tools rather than as somewhere to park money while you decide.
Cash to your bank
Your earnings are paid out to your bank account through Stripe.
Pick this if you have built up a real balance and want it out of the system. The obvious case is a dealer referring steadily, where earnings comfortably exceed the monthly bill and the surplus would otherwise just sit as credit.
How it works: Stripe collects your bank details directly, so we never hold them. The minimum withdrawal is £25. A small sending fee comes out of the amount rather than being billed separately, and it is larger if the payout crosses a border or changes currency. The account page shows you the fee before you commit.
Every withdrawal is reviewed by a person before it goes, which is what turns "instant" into "a day or two". That review is deliberate and it applies to everyone, so it is not a sign that anything is wrong with your account.
The case against it: the fee. On a withdrawal of exactly £25 the sending fee is a noticeable share of the money. If you are not in a hurry, letting the balance build and withdrawing less often leaves you with more.
One more thing. How a cash referral payout is treated for tax depends on how your business is set up and where you are. It is not something we can advise on, and it is worth a quick word with your accountant before you treat it as straightforward income. Invoice credit, which reduces a cost rather than paying you money, is a simpler thing to account for, and that is a genuine point in its favour.
Where cash works: Stripe can pay into local bank accounts in 53 countries. If yours is not one of them, your account page shows the other two routes with an explanation. There is more on that in getting paid in your own currency.
A decision in three questions
Do you pay Vehiso a monthly bill? If no, skip to the next question. If yes, invoice credit unless you have a specific reason to want the money elsewhere. It is free, instant and needs no thought.
Do you regularly top up your wallet for AI tools, valuations or SMS? If yes, the wallet turns your referral earnings into the exact thing you were going to buy anyway. Remember it only goes one way.
Do you have more than £25 available and actually want the cash? Then withdraw it, ideally once it is comfortably more than £25 so the fee is a small share of it, and have the tax conversation with your accountant first.
Most dealers end up somewhere sensible: invoice credit as the default, an occasional withdrawal when the balance builds up past what the bill absorbs.
Before any of this: the thirty day wait
None of these routes are available the moment you earn. Every amount sits on hold for thirty days first, then becomes available.
That is not a delay tactic. A referred dealer can pay and then be refunded, and the hold means nobody is ever asked to hand back money they have already spent. Your account page shows what is on hold and what is available separately, so you always know which is which. The reasoning behind that and the other rules is in what we do to keep a referral scheme honest.
Your balance and all three routes are in your account under Billing, then Referral Programme. The full rules are in the Referral Programme Terms.
