Redemption data shows how reward preferences vary across the U.S.
By Mindy Woodall●3 min. read●Jul 16, 2026
How consumer gift card and payout preferences vary by state
There’s a persistent question that haunts every person who runs a reward program: What options do people really want?
Americans overwhelmingly favor control over convenience when it comes to getting rewards. Cash-like rewards dominate redemptions nationwide, and the runner-up choices reveal a distinct geographic story, with different states favoring different payout methods and gift card brands.
Over the past year, Tremendous processed millions of rewards sent by businesses to recipients in the U.S. Here’s what real consumer redemption data reveals about recipient behavioral patterns, and how they shift depending on where people live.
Key findings
Payout choice tracks with payout size. Prepaid Visa captured the most money (31.12% of dollars), but PayPal was chosen most often (33.75% of redemptions).
PayPal averaged about less than half the reward amount compared to prepaid cards. In general, people seem to switch to prepaid cards and bank transfers as reward amounts increase.
Cash and cash-equivalent options dominate, taking in about 76% of every dollar redeemed, with their lead widening for higher denominations.
Amazon.com is the universal gift card: It’s the top retailer card nationally and #1 in all 50 states.
Phone allegiance shows up on the redemption map. Google Play was the #2 gift card by volume in 14 states, while Apple was in 13.
Local taste breaks the pattern. West Virginia sent over half its redemptions to PayPal, the highest of any state, and Tennessee was the only state where a gas brand (Shell) cracked the top 10.
The takeaway for incentive programs: Prioritize cash-like rewards and big-brand gift cards, then match additional payout options to state-level preferences to appeal to your target audience.
Top incentives by total dollars redeemed in the U.S.
Monetary options: PayPal led at 16.53%, followed by bank transfers at 14.51%, Venmo at 7%, instant debit transfer at 1.79%, and Cash App at 0.60%.
Gift and prepaid cards: Prepaid cards led by a wide margin at 35.16%, followed by Amazon.com at 13.87%. Next was:
Walmart (1.52%)
Apple (1.28%)
Google Play (0.84%)
Target (0.81%)
Starbucks (0.74%)
Top incentives by total redemptions in the U.S.
Monetary options: PayPal was the most-redeemed payout method at 33.75%, followed by Venmo (7.73%), bank transfer (6.71%), Cash App (1.91%), and instant debit (0.5%).
Gift cards and prepaid cards: Prepaid cards led at 17.52%, just ahead of Amazon.com at 17.03%. Apple was the next most-redeemed card at 2.92%, followed by:
Walmart (2.46%)
Google Play (2.13%)
Starbucks (1.56%)
Target (0.99%)
DoorDash (0.31%) took the final national spot, though it did not crack the top 10 in any individual state.
Most popular incentive options by state
By dollars redeemed: Virtual prepaid Visa was the top option in 40 states, with PayPal leading in 9. Michigan was the lone outlier, where bank transfers ranked first.
By volume: PayPal was the most-redeemed option in every state, ranging from 23.95% of payouts in Maryland to 51.78% in West Virginia.
Gift cards and prepaid cards: Amazon.com ranked first by both dollars and volume in all 50 states. Below that, preferences split:
Walmart was the #2 gift card by volume in 23 states.
Google Play (14 states) and Apple (13 states) divided the rest of the country along familiar Android and iPhone lines.
The tech angle: digital wallets and phone loyalty
Beyond brand and cash preferences, the data points to a broader digital-first shift. By volume, PayPal, Venmo, bank transfer, and Cash App together account for just over half of all redemptions nationally. People seem to prefer digital wallet options like PayPal over gift cards when given the choice. And within digital payout types, PayPal is the most popular with Tremendous recipients.
That digital preference carries over into brand loyalty as well. When recipients pick Google vs. Apple, they split almost evenly along platform lines, with Google Play ranking as the #2 gift card by volume in 14 states and Apple holding that spot in 13. That’s a fairly even split that tracks Android and iPhone loyalty more broadly.
Methodology
Tremendous analyzed millions of reward redemptions made through its platform in the U.S. between March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Results reflect the incentive options recipients actually selected, ranked by both total dollars redeemed and total number of redemptions nationally and within each state.
Two catalog changes are worth noting for anyone comparing options over time: Cash App was added as a Tremendous option in early September 2025, and virtual prepaid Mastercards were retired in mid-May 2025 and replaced by virtual prepaid Visa cards.
This dataset includes redemptions across reward program types including research and survey incentives, marketing rewards, employee recognition, referral programs, charitable donations, and class-action payouts. Note that redemption patterns reflect two combined layers of choice: which incentive options a given client chose to offer, and which of those options recipients then selected. The data shows what recipients chose among the options available to them, not necessarily their preference among all possible options.
Full state-by-state breakdowns are available in the original article: https://www.tremendous.com/blog/top-incentive-options-by-state/
