Examined Sep 25, 2026 Purchase credit, not cash No link we may carry Afterpay's referral gives you $15 off an online purchase of $50 or more, as a credit that expires 90 days after it is issued and is not offered in six states.
The refer-a-friend page says: “When your friend signs up with your code they'll get $15 off their first Afterpay purchase of $50 or more.” The Invite a Friend terms explain what the $15 actually is: a Referral Credit, applied to the retailer's total to reduce the four payments equally. It is not transferable, not redeemable for cash, cannot be applied to an order already placed, and cannot be used with any other Afterpay promotion. The $50 minimum includes tax and shipping.
What pays what
| You, signing up with a friend's code and making an online Afterpay purchase of $50 or more | $15 credit |
|---|---|
| Anyone with an active Afterpay account, or who has ever completed an Afterpay purchase | $0 |
| Residents of Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, Rhode Island, North Dakota, Texas or the U.S. territories | Not available |
| An in-store or cross-border purchase | Credit does not apply |
| A purchase made with the credit, then returned or refunded | Afterpay may recover the $15 |
For clarity, the Program is not available to residents of Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Texas and North Dakota or the United States territories.
The same document says availability is not guaranteed in all fifty states and is in Afterpay's sole discretion. You must be 18 or older and a resident of the United States or the District of Columbia; people in the same household may refer each other, but nobody may refer themselves with a second email address, which the terms call a violation of Section 5 of the Afterpay U.S. Terms of Service.
Do this, in this order
- Check your state and your history. The six excluded states and the territories are above. A New Customer is someone who does not have an active Afterpay account and has never completed a purchase using Afterpay, and Afterpay reserves the right to exclude anyone who once had an account that was not in good standing, at its sole discretion. Its page adds: “We perform credit checks when assessing applications.”
- Get the code from a friend's app, not from a website. The terms define a Referral Code as one you can only generate from the Afterpay app, to share only with friends, acquaintances or family. They also say: “any unique Referral Code may not be published by you in any public place, whether online or otherwise, which could reasonably be seen by any person who is not an eligible New Customer in Afterpay's sole discretion.” A code on a coupon page is outside the rules, and Afterpay may judge any Referred Customer ineligible.
- Make the first online purchase of $50 or more, tax and shipping included. The credit is for online purchases only and will not apply to in-store or cross-border transactions. The Installment Agreement says that if a payment is missed, “the Late Fee indicated in the Payment Schedule (if any) will be imposed, up to a maximum of $8.00”, with all late fees on one order capped at 25% of its value. The page footnote says loans with a finance fee can carry an annual percentage rate of 36%.
- Spend the credit inside 90 days, on one order, and keep what you buy. One credit per purchase; two credits cannot be combined on a single order; no other Afterpay promotion can be stacked with it; and a return lets Afterpay recover the value used. After your credit is spent, the terms say there are no more rewards related to the referral.
Where Afterpay's own pages disagree, and what it does not publish
Off the first purchase, or the one after it. The landing page promises $15 off your first purchase of $50 or more. The terms describe it differently: “Any Referred Customer who signs up to use the Afterpay service directly from your Referral Code will also receive a Referral Credit for $15 to be used towards any eligible future Afterpay purchase of $50 or more (including tax and shipping costs).” Read that way, the first $50 purchase earns the credit and a later $50 purchase spends it. Two orders of at least $50, not one. The terms are the document you agree to.
A $14.99 a month plan on the same page. Under the referral offer, the page reads: “One monthly plan, no hidden costs. $14.99 per month with the first month free. No transaction fees. No interest.” Twelve months at $14.99 is $179.88 by our arithmetic, against a $15 referral credit. The Invite a Friend terms never mention a plan, and the page does not say whether the $15 depends on one. Read the sign-up screens for the word membership before you commit.
No date, no end, and a sentence stuck in the future. The terms carry no last-updated or effective date. They open with: “The Afterpay “Invite a Friend” program (“Program”) will be available at 12:00 p.m. PT on Monday, October 27, 2025.” That day is almost a year gone, and the page's footer still reads 2025. No end date is given; instead, “Afterpay reserves the right to modify or cancel the Program at any time without prior notice to you or the Referred Customers.” Any tax on the credit is yours: the terms say you and the Referred Customer are solely responsible for any tax consequences.
Is it worth your time?
If you live in an eligible state, were going to use Afterpay for an online order of $50 or more anyway, and can get a code from someone you know, yes: $15 spread across four payments is real money, and it costs you nothing but the ask. Then set a reminder, because the credit is gone 90 days after it is issued, and make the purchase one you will keep.
Do not open an Afterpay account for the $15 alone. Signing up means a credit check, a fresh installment plan with late fees of up to $8.00 a payment, and a page that would also like you to take a $14.99 a month membership. A $15 credit does not pay for any of that.
