How SMS credit works

Why credit and not a number of messages

Sending an SMS does not cost the same everywhere. Delivering one message to a phone number in the United States costs a fraction of a cent, in most of Europe it costs a few cents, and to some countries in Latin America it can cost more than thirty cents. The difference between the cheapest and the most expensive destination is roughly forty-fold.

Because of that, we do not promise you "100 SMS per month". Such a promise would either be impossible for us to honour for customers with international reviewers, or it would force us to price every plan as if every message were the most expensive one — and you would pay for that. Instead, your plan includes an amount of SMS credit, and every verification message deducts its real price from that credit.

What is included in your plan

Every paid plan includes a monthly amount of SMS credit. You can see the exact amount, how much you have spent this month and how much you have left on the SMS credit page in your account.

Your monthly credit renews at the beginning of every calendar month. Unused monthly credit does not carry over into the next month.

How much one verification costs

The price is determined by the country of the phone number being verified — not by your own country. Your account shows the approximate price for your own country so you have a realistic reference point, together with an estimate of how many messages your remaining credit buys.

Please treat that number as an estimate only. If your reviewers have phone numbers from a more expensive country, the same credit will pay for fewer messages; if they are from a cheaper country, it will pay for more.

When your credit runs out

Verification stops when your credit no longer covers the price of the next message. Nothing else about your account changes: your review pages, widgets and existing reviews keep working normally, and reviews can still be submitted — they simply will not be phone-verified.

The phone verification step is hidden from your review pages while there is no credit, so visitors are never asked to verify and then shown an error.

Topping up

You can buy additional credit at any time on the SMS credit page. Larger packages include bonus credit. Purchased credit:

• never expires,
• carries over between months,
• and is used only after your monthly plan credit has been spent.

That order matters in your favour: your included credit is always consumed first, so you only dip into credit you paid for separately once the included amount is gone.

Refunds and changes

Purchased credit is a prepaid balance for a service we deliver immediately upon use, so spent credit cannot be refunded. Unspent purchased credit remains on your account for as long as your account exists. If we change our rates, we will publish the change here before it applies.

Questions

If anything about your credit or a specific charge is unclear, contact us at info@referino.com and we will explain the exact calculation for your account.