Shopwaive Balances vs. Shopify Store Credit
Compare Shopwaive balances, the digital wallet, with Shopify's native store credit — and learn how to use both rails together
Shopwaive supports two different credit rails, and you can use both.
Shopwaive balances is a digital wallet you offer your customers. Balances can hold any currency — points, or your presentment store currency, for example — and customers redeem them as a discount code or gift code at Checkout, online or at Shopify POS.
Shopify store credit is Shopify's own native feature — the Store Credit Primitive and API — independently developed by Shopify, not created by Shopwaive. Shopwaive fully supports it: we sync your customer's Shopify store credit balance into their Customer profile page in Shopwaive, and you can deposit to it directly from Shopwaive.
They solve different jobs. Here's how to choose — and how to combine them.
At a glance
What it is
Digital wallet, issued and tracked by Shopwaive
Native Shopify feature, supported and synced by Shopwaive
Currency
Any currency, including points or presentment store currency
One account per currency per customer; caps are currency-dependent (under $15,000 per customer in USD)
Redeeming at checkout
Partial redemption — apply any amount as a discount code or gift code, online or at POS
All-or-nothing at checkout and POS
Ledger operations
Deposits, adjustments, bulk import, and automatic refund clawback
Credit and debit only — no hold or authorize
Expiration
Expiry tracked per deposit lot
Expiry managed by Shopify
Customer accounts
Redeemed by code — no new account requirement
Requires the new customer accounts
B2B
Shared company wallets supported
D2C only — not available for B2B
Earning and automation
Earn credit on orders with Shopify Flow
Deposit with Shopwaive's Shopify store credit Flow action or the bulk import native target
When Shopwaive balances are the right fit
Loyalty and points programs — balances can hold any currency, including points, and customers redeem them at checkout like any other payment.
Partial redemption — customers apply exactly the amount they choose and keep the rest for later.
B2B — shared company wallets let a vendor or client team draw from one balance, including on draft orders.
Refunds as credit — issue refunds in credit for any amount on any order, with automatic refund clawback keeping balances honest.
Bookkeeping — full transaction history on every account, with export for your accounting workflow.
When Shopify store credit is the right fit
You want the balance to live natively in Shopify, managed by Shopify, and shown in the new customer accounts.
Your customers redeem their full balance at once — store credit applies all-or-nothing at checkout and POS.
Your program is D2C, in a single currency per customer, and within Shopify's per-customer caps.
Use both together
Shopify's native store credit can be used along with Shopwaive balances — this is not an either/or choice, and Shopwaive never replaces the native feature.
Deposit to native store credit from Shopwaive. Use the Shopify store credit action in Shopify Flow to credit or debit your customers' native store credit automatically.
Bulk import to native store credit. Target Shopify's native store credit during bulk import to update thousands of customer balances in seconds.
See both in one place. Shopwaive syncs your customer's Shopify store credit balance and displays it alongside their Shopwaive balance in their Customer profile page.
Tip: A common pattern is native store credit for simple D2C refund credit, and Shopwaive balances for everything that needs more flexibility — points, partial redemption, expiry lots, or B2B wallets.
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