Draft — not in force.
CIRL Referral, Ambassador and Partner Program Terms Terms package 2026-09-12 **DRAFT — NOT IN FORCE.** CIRL does not operate this program yet. `REFERRAL_ENABLED` stays off. Do not present this module as live policy. It is not part of the Terms a person accepts at signup.
These Referral, Ambassador and Partner Program Terms are a separate document from the CIRL Terms of Service. If they are later approved, they supplement those Terms, the Privacy Notice, and the subscription terms that apply on the store. They do not replace them.
The operator and the dispute framework are the ones already in the CIRL Terms of Service. Today that is Michael Christen, a sole operator established in Switzerland, and section 12 (Law and disputes) of those Terms: the operator is established in Switzerland, mandatory consumer protections in the participant’s country of residence still apply, and CIRL does not pick an exclusive court that would strip those protections. This draft does not create a second legal entity or a second dispute process. A later referral-specific legal entity applies only if it is formally adopted and these terms are amended to name it.
Counsel must still review the items in section 21 before this text can leave draft.
1. Program structure CIRL may offer three kinds of participation: Member Referral, Ambassador, and Partner.
Member Referral rewards are non-withdrawable CIRL Credit. Credit may be used only for eligible CIRL subscription benefits under the redemption rules CIRL publishes for the store.
Activated Ambassadors and approved Partners may earn withdrawable referral commissions where those payments are legally and operationally available.
The initial configuration this draft describes, which CIRL may change for future rewards, is:
- Member: 20% CIRL Credit.
- Ambassador: 15% withdrawable commission. The normal rule is automatic activation after 10 cleared direct paying referrals, completed payout verification, and no blocking fraud or compliance flag. Manual review is only for a risk or compliance hold.
- Partner: 25% withdrawable commission. Eligibility may arise after 50 cleared direct paying referrals, or from an explicit strategic approval. Activation still requires CIRL approval or that strategic approval.
The rate, threshold, clearing period, and commission length that apply to a reward are the values recorded when that reward is created. They are configuration, not a promise that the same numbers will apply to a later transaction. Programs do not stack. One qualifying transaction has one direct reward.
2. Direct referrals only A CIRL account may have one direct referring account and may itself directly refer any number of other eligible accounts.
Referral chains may continue through any number of users. Commission never passes through more than one referral relationship. This is not multi-level commission.
If A refers B, B refers C, and C refers D:
- A may earn only from qualifying purchases by B.
- B may earn only from qualifying purchases by C.
- C may earn only from qualifying purchases by D.
- A receives no reward from C or D, and B receives no reward from D.
A person who was referred may later refer other people. That is normal CIRL use.
3. Referral attribution A referral is attributed with CIRL’s referral links, referral codes, a supported app-install method, or another method CIRL designates. Extra labels on a link, such as a social network or an event, are for the referrer’s own counts. They do not create another referrer.
A person may have only one locked direct referrer. Once a valid attribution is locked, it is not normally changed.
CIRL may reject attribution entered after the attribution period, after a qualifying purchase, after another valid referral is locked, or where CIRL reasonably determines that the attribution came from abuse or manipulation.
4. Qualifying revenue Referral rewards are calculated only from qualifying paid revenue CIRL actually recognizes on an eligible transaction.
Free trials, complimentary access, promotional grants, founding benefits, free Business Pro, fully discounted periods, and other zero-revenue benefits generate no referral commission.
Where the store provides it, CIRL uses the store’s transaction and developer-revenue information, including Google Play and, when CIRL offers iOS subscriptions, the Apple App Store. CIRL does not calculate the reward from a price merely displayed in the app.
Taxes, platform fees, refunds, partial refunds, chargebacks, and other payment adjustments may reduce qualifying revenue. Where the store reports developer revenue after those items, that reported revenue is the base.
5. Free and promotional Business Pro A business referred to CIRL may qualify on its own for complimentary Business Pro. The existing Founding Venue grant is 90 days, and it can be extended up to 365 days when that program’s own rules are met. Other complimentary periods, if CIRL offers them, follow the same referral rule.
No referral reward is generated for a period in which CIRL receives no qualifying subscription revenue. The referral relationship stays recorded. The referrer can see that the business joined, that promotional Business Pro is active, and that there is no paid referral reward yet. That status is not an error and not an amount owed.
A complimentary business counts as a referred business. It does not count as a cleared paying referral for Ambassador or Partner thresholds until its first qualifying paid transaction. That same transaction starts the twelve-month direct-referral earning period.
The direct referrer’s commission period begins with the first qualifying paid transaction, not with the complimentary period.
Unless CIRL explicitly states otherwise, a complimentary or more favorable Business Pro promotion replaces a referral subscription discount. They do not stack. When the complimentary period ends, normal paid pricing applies unless another explicit offer applies.
6. Commission period Unless a specific campaign states otherwise, the direct referrer may earn eligible rewards for twelve months beginning on the referee’s first qualifying paid transaction.
Registration, email verification, a free trial, complimentary Business Pro, or another zero-revenue period does not start those twelve months.
The referral relationship remains recorded after the commission period ends. Later purchases do not generate commission unless another CIRL program expressly says so.
7. Annual subscriptions and vesting Rewards on annual subscriptions may vest across the paid service period instead of becoming fully available at once.
CIRL may record the full potential reward when the transaction occurs, and make only the vested portion available over time. The vesting interval is the service period the store reports for that transaction, not an assumed 365-day year.
Nothing becomes available before the applicable clearing period. After clearing, only the share that matches elapsed paid service becomes available.
Refunds, prorated refunds, chargebacks, or revocations may reduce the unvested amount. If the refund is larger than the unvested amount, CIRL records a reversing entry for the excess. CIRL does not erase the original reward record.
Each successful qualifying monthly transaction inside the commission period may generate its own direct reward. Cancelling a subscription without a refund of a previous payment does not by itself reverse a reward.
8. Refunds, chargebacks, and reversals A full refund may reverse the corresponding referral reward. A partial or prorated refund may cause a proportional adjustment. A chargeback, payment reversal, or fraudulent transaction may cause an equivalent adjustment.
CIRL records adjustments as new accounting entries. It does not delete the original transaction history.
If an adjustment happens after an Ambassador or Partner has already been paid, the referral balance in that currency may become negative. Later eligible earnings in that currency offset the negative balance first. A balance in another currency is not used to cover it.
CIRL does not automatically withdraw funds from a participant’s bank account or cryptocurrency wallet to recover an ordinary post-payout referral adjustment.
9. CIRL Credit CIRL Credit is a promotional benefit. It is not cash, electronic money, cryptocurrency, or a bank balance.
CIRL Credit is not withdrawable or transferable unless CIRL expressly says so in a future approved rule.
CIRL Credit may be accumulated and redeemed as a standardized subscription benefit: 25% of the next eligible billing period, 50% of the next eligible billing period, or one free eligible billing period, through a store-supported offer. Google Play subscription offers are the default expression. An Android-only renewal deferral may be used for an approved tier only if a later policy and legal review allows it. Extending an Apple renewal date is not the general way CIRL pays a referral reward. CIRL does not promise that an internal balance will be subtracted from a Google Play or App Store invoice.
A member may be offered a setting to use CIRL Credit automatically. Unused credit stays on the account until a clearly disclosed expiration rule, if CIRL later adopts one, says otherwise. This draft creates no expiration date.
Member rewards are not paid out in cash, including when the amount is small.
10. Ambassador and Partner payouts Ambassador and Partner earnings become payable only after they are vested, cleared, the account is activated for that program, payout verification is complete, and the minimum payout threshold is reached.
The initial intended threshold is 50 United States dollars (USD) in a USD balance. CIRL will not treat another currency as “equivalent” until an approved conversion, with a recorded rate and time, exists. Amounts under the threshold stay available. CIRL does not send a routine payment just because a reward vested.
Member participants who receive only CIRL Credit do not complete payout verification.
Payout verification is the name of this step. CIRL collects only what it genuinely needs, such as the payout destination. Identity, know-your-customer, and anti-money-laundering checks should be done in the payout provider’s hosted or provider-managed onboarding when the provider offers that. CIRL keeps the provider’s reference and the verification status. CIRL does not, by default, collect or store passport, selfie, or other identity-document files. CIRL would keep those files only if a later legal requirement explicitly says so.
Payout methods may include PayPal or Hyperwallet, Wise, Revolut Business, USDC through a regulated provider CIRL selects later, or another method CIRL makes available. Which methods exist depends on country and on the provider accepting CIRL. On current Wise documentation, a normal Wise Business personal API token cannot fund transfers by API for a Swiss-based business; full automation would need an eligible Wise Platform or enterprise agreement unless that eligibility changes. Revolut Business is limited to corridors the CIRL account can actually pay. Current Circle documentation does not offer direct Circle Mint access to individuals or small businesses, so this draft does not rely on Circle Mint. USDT is not part of this draft.
Provider fees, network fees, or conversion costs may apply where CIRL discloses them before payment.
Changing a payout wallet or other sensitive payout detail can delay the next payout, including a 24-hour hold after a wallet change.
An Ambassador or Partner might later be offered a choice to convert available earnings into CIRL Credit. That choice is not in force in this draft and would need its own legal and accounting approval. CIRL will not force that conversion.
11. Automated payouts CIRL intends to process eligible payouts on a schedule, initially monthly, without asking a person to send each routine payment by hand.
A payout counts as completed only after the payout provider confirms success. A request that fails, is rejected, is returned, or is unclaimed is reconciled. It is not treated as paid merely because CIRL submitted it. Failed payouts do not destroy the earnings.
12. Taxes **Counsel placeholder — TAX_WITHHOLDING.** Participants are responsible for taxes, declarations, and reporting that apply to rewards they receive, except where the law requires CIRL to withhold, report, or remit. CIRL may ask for tax information before a withdrawal where the law requires it. The withholding and reporting rules are not decided in this draft.
13. Prohibited conduct Participants must not create or control fake accounts for referrals, refer themselves, recycle payments, buy primarily to generate rewards and then seek refunds, use stolen or unauthorized payment methods, manipulate devices or identities, automate fraudulent signups, purchase referrals, misrepresent CIRL, send unlawful spam, impersonate CIRL, hide a material referral relationship where the law requires disclosure, or otherwise seek rewards from transactions that are not legitimate new customers.
Sharing a household, network, or location is not by itself proof of abuse.
14. Fraud review and holds CIRL may hold pending or withdrawable rewards while it investigates objective fraud, payment, security, or compliance signals. A hold does not by itself mean the participant committed misconduct.
CIRL may ask for further verification where that is reasonably necessary. Where CIRL determines that rewards came from fraud, manipulation, or an invalid transaction, CIRL may reverse those rewards and may suspend or end participation.
Where practical and legally permitted, a participant may ask for a review of a referral-program enforcement decision by emailing support@cirl.app with the subject “Referral review”.
15. Ambassador and Partner status An Ambassador account activates automatically when all three are true: 10 cleared direct paying referrals, payout verification complete, and no blocking fraud or compliance flag. A complimentary or zero-revenue referral does not count toward those 10. Manual CIRL review happens only when a risk or compliance condition requires it. Meeting the count alone does not override a blocking flag or a country rule.
Partner eligibility may arise after 50 cleared direct paying referrals, or from an explicit strategic-Partner mark. Activation still requires CIRL approval or that strategic approval. The Partner rate is 25%, so the activation is a commercial approval. It is not automatic.
Counsel placeholder — HIGH_VOLUME_AGREEMENT. A Partner whose completed payouts in a year reach a configurable materiality level (the planning figure is 50,000 USD) may be required to sign a separate Partner agreement and to pass a stronger compliance review. CIRL does not reduce a valid recorded rate only because the Partner’s volume grew.
16. No guarantee of earnings CIRL does not guarantee that a link will produce registrations, paid subscriptions, or earnings. Illustrations, dashboards, and projected rewards are estimates unless they are marked as completed transactions. Pending or potential rewards are not guaranteed payouts.
17. Independent relationship Participation does not create employment, agency, franchise, partnership, or authority to bind CIRL. Ambassadors and Partners act independently. They may not say they are CIRL employees or authorized agents unless a separate agreement says so.
18. Program changes CIRL may change future rates, thresholds, payout methods, reward types, or availability where that is reasonably necessary. Changes apply to future rewards. They do not remove a reward that was already validly vested, except for a later refund, chargeback, fraud determination, or legal requirement.
Material changes will be communicated in CIRL or by another appropriate notice.
19. Program suspension or termination CIRL may suspend or stop the program, or one person’s participation, for legal, security, fraud, operational, or commercial reasons.
Valid vested rewards that exist before an ordinary closure remain subject to the payout, refund, compliance, and adjustment rules in these Terms. Fraudulent or invalid rewards may be reversed.
20. Privacy CIRL does not give a referrer the referred person’s private billing information, payment token, store order id, exact purchase price, email address, or downstream referral relationships merely because of the referral.
The referrer may see what they need in order to understand their own reward: an anonymized status, the product family, the reward amount, vesting, the availability date, and relevant adjustments.
21. Counsel review before publication These Terms supplement the CIRL Terms of Service, the Privacy Notice, and applicable subscription terms. The operator and disputes are the operator and section 12 (Law and disputes) of the Terms of Service, unless a later referral-specific legal entity is formally adopted. Until this module is approved, the Terms of Service and the Privacy Notice remain the documents in force. This module is **DRAFT — NOT IN FORCE.**
Counsel must review these items before publication. This draft does not decide them:
| Item | What is still open | |---|---| | TAX_WITHHOLDING | Withholding, reporting, and tax-form duties | | AFFILIATE_DISCLOSURE | Affiliate-marketing disclosures required in each launch country | | COUNTRY_EXCLUSIONS | Countries where the program or a payout method must not be offered | | KYC_AML_SANCTIONS | How know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering, and sanctions checks are allocated, normally to the payout provider’s hosted onboarding rather than to CIRL-held identity documents | | STABLECOIN_LEGALITY | Whether a USDC payout is lawful for the operator and the participant’s country | | CONSUMER_SUBSCRIPTION_LAW | How store-subscription and consumer-withdrawal rules interact with credit, discounts, and vesting | | HIGH_VOLUME_AGREEMENT | The separate agreement for a high-volume Partner, described in section 15 |
Contact for questions about this draft: support@cirl.app. Age requirement for a CIRL account remains the one in the Terms of Service (18 or older) unless counsel states a different rule for this program.