If you chose cash and your Starlink referral rewards keep arriving as service credit, the most likely cause is the payment processor’s identity check. The terms say that if you don’t keep good standing with SpaceX’s payment processor, including by not submitting all the identification it asks for, every reward is paid as credit. Finish the processor’s steps from your Referrals area, keep cash selected, and the next reward that pays out can go to your bank.
That’s the fix in one paragraph. The rest of this guide explains the four checks a reward passes before it can be cash, what the terms do and don’t say about the processor, and how to avoid the two traps people fall into after fixing it.
The rule, in Starlink’s words
Two sentences in the Referral Program Terms (republished Oct 3, 2026) set this up. The first makes cash conditional on a third party:
“If available, and if the Referrer elects to receive cash payments instead of service credits, the Referrer must successfully register and maintain good standing with SpaceX’s selected third-party payment processor (“Payment Processor”), which may vary by jurisdiction and may be changed by SpaceX from time to time.”
The second says what happens if that registration isn’t complete:
“Referrer acknowledges that failure to maintain good standing with Payment Processor, including by failing to submit all requested identification or other information, shall result in all Rewards being paid as service credits.”
Notice the word “all”. It isn’t one reward that falls back to credit; it’s every reward for as long as the problem lasts.
The four checks between “reward due” and “cash in the bank”
Check 1: is cash offered to you at all?
Not every account sees a cash option. The help center says your account's Referral Reward Types setting shows whether cash is offered to you. Cash for US referrers was reported in late August 2026: US referrers can choose $100 cash to a linked bank account (rolled out around the week of Aug 21, 2026)press report. If your account shows no cash option, nothing on your side will fix that. The history is in the $100 cash option: reported vs confirmed.
Check 2: is cash selected when the reward pays out?
Rewards arrive as service credit unless you choose cash. You switch in your account: switch to cash to a linked bank account under the Referrals tab; it applies to future referrals. And timing matters: the reward type selected when a reward pays out is the one used. If you switch back to credit for a month, or the setting resets during processor registration, a reward that pays out in that window is credit.
Check 3: registered with the processor, ID complete, good standing kept
This is the one this guide is about. Choosing cash in the Starlink account is half the job; the processor registration is the other half, and the terms require you to “maintain” good standing, not just reach it once. If the processor later asks for more information and you don’t supply it, you’re back to credit.
Check 4: bank details and your bank
Even with everything else in order, a payment can fail on the bank’s side. Cash that bounces because of wrong details or bank problems can be re-issued as credit instead. And any fee your bank charges to receive the payment is yours to pay.
What the terms don’t tell you about the processor
Quite a lot is missing, and it’s worth being precise about it:
- The processor’s name. The terms don't name the payment processorunverified. The terms add that it “may vary by jurisdiction and may be changed by SpaceX from time to time.” If a website tells you the processor is a specific company, treat it as unconfirmed, and don’t hand your details to anything you didn’t reach from your own Starlink account.
- What it asks for. The terms say “all requested identification or other information” and stop there. We won’t guess at a document list.
- How long checks take. Not stated.
- Tax forms. Open question: whether SpaceX or its payment processor issues a Form 1099 for referral cashunverified. For context only: the IRS describes Form W-9 as the form used “to provide your correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to the person who is required to file an information return with the IRS.” A payer that has to file information returns may ask for a TIN for that reason. Whether this processor does is not stated. Tax questions belong with a professional; our taxes page has the cited basics.
Quick diagnosis: what you see, what it likely means
| What you see | Most likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No cash option in Referral Reward Types | Cash not offered to your account | Nothing to fix; credit it is |
| Cash selected, every reward still credit | Processor registration or ID unfinished | Complete every requested step |
| One reward credit, the next cash | Setting was on credit when the first paid out | Leave cash selected |
| Cash expected, credit appeared weeks later | Payment failed at the bank, re-issued as credit | Correct bank details with the processor |
These are the causes the terms describe. If none fits, Starlink support is the only place that can see your account; the problems page lists other situations.
Fixing it, step by step
- Open Referrals in your Starlink account (starlink.com/account/referrals, or Referrals in the app) and find Referral Reward Types. If cash isn’t offered, stop here: credit is what your account gets.
- Select cash and note the date you did it. Screenshots help later.
- Complete every step the processor asks for, starting from the link in your own account. Use the same legal name as your bank account; Starlink doesn’t publish a matching rule, but a mismatch is a common reason any bank transfer fails.
- Check the processor account shows as complete or verified, in whatever words it uses. A half-finished registration is the classic cause of “I picked cash and got credit”.
- Leave the setting on cash. The reward type used is the one selected when the reward pays out, so a referral maturing next month will follow whatever is selected next month.
- Answer any later request from the processor promptly. Good standing has to be kept. Separately, SpaceX itself can ask you questions about your referrals, and you must answer any SpaceX information request within 24 hours (or the deadline it gives).
- When cash is due, allow the window. Cash can be paid up to 30 days after the referral matures. A referral matures about 60 days after your friend activates; see what a pending referral means.
A worked example
Your friend activates on October 10. You select cash on October 15 but don’t finish the processor’s ID step. Two full cycles end December 9; the referral matures. On payout, the terms apply: registration incomplete, so the reward is paid as service credit. You’ll see $100 of credit come off a future Starlink invoice instead of a deposit.
Same friend, but you finish the ID step on November 1 and leave cash selected. When the referral matures, cash is sent to your linked bank account, and the terms allow up to 30 days for it to arrive, so as late as early January. Same value either way: credit and cash are the same value.
The two traps after fixing it
Trap 1: expecting the old credit to turn into cash. Nothing Starlink publishes describes converting credit already issued. The switch works going forward. The existing page on rewards paid as credit covers this from the “it already happened” side.
Trap 2: switching back and forth. Because the setting at payout time wins, toggling to credit “just for this month” catches whichever referral happens to mature that month. Pick one and leave it.
When credit is the better choice anyway
Credit is the default for a reason, and for many owners it’s simply easier:
- No sign-up with a third party, no identity documents, no bank details shared.
- It’s automatic. The help center says credit is applied to your account and deducted from your next invoice.
- Same value, as above.
Cash makes sense if you’d rather have money than a lower Starlink bill, or if you’re leaving Starlink soon. Note the catch for leavers: your own pending referrals are cancelled if you cancel your plan, so cash only helps for referrals that mature while you’re still a customer.
Common mistakes
- Stopping after the toggle. Selecting cash without finishing the processor’s registration means credit.
- Using a name that doesn’t match your bank. Not a published rule, but a frequent cause of failed transfers, which can then come back as credit.
- Trusting a third-party page that names the processor. The terms don’t, and it can change.
- Ignoring follow-up requests. Good standing has to be maintained.
- Expecting money the day the referral matures. The terms allow up to 30 days.
What we don’t know
As of our Oct 5, 2026 check, Starlink doesn’t publish the processor’s name, its required documents, how long verification takes, whether credit already issued can become cash, or whether a 1099 is issued for referral cash. If you go through registration and want to help others, a dated description of the steps (with personal details removed) through our contact page would let us document it properly.
What to do next
- Want the full credit-or-cash comparison and timeline? See credit or cash.
- Thinking about tax on cash vs credit? Read credit vs cash for tax: what’s known.
- Already got credit and want to understand why? The paid as credit fix covers the three causes.
- New to referring? Start with the owner’s guide.
