I designed a cashback that gives players a reason to level up

01 About the project

02 Challenges

• A flat cashback across all tiers, with no reason to level up
• Players unsure whether they had cashback, when it would land, and how much it was worth
• An aggressive strategy, focused on hitting the company's engagement goals

03 Project stages

1. Research and benchmarking

   I read cashback complaints on Reclame Aqui (Brazil's largest consumer complaint site) and compared competitors' programs in the Brazilian iGaming market (online betting and casino). I cross-checked this with KTO's internal research, which described cashback as “a favour, not an entitlement.”

2. Data analysis

   In Tableau (a data analysis tool), the activity heatmap showed Monday was the slowest day of the week. I also calculated the investment and the estimated return for the first 6 months.

3. Model and PRD

   I built the rules for the new cashback: the rate for each tier, the weekly cycle, and what happens when a player doesn't claim on Monday. All of it went into the PRD (the document that describes the product for the team to build).

4. Communication flow

   I planned four message moments, from announcing the change to reminding players who hadn't claimed yet, each on the right channel (push, email, Telegram, or an in-app notice).

04 Findings

• Players didn't know whether they had cashback, when it would be credited, or how much they had built up that week.
• VIPs felt the return was small for how much they played. Since they generate the most revenue, there was a real risk of losing them.
• With the same cashback at every tier, no one had a reason to move up.
• On Reclame Aqui, cashback complaints followed the same pattern across every operator. The problem was the gap between what the banner promised and what the player actually got.

05 Decisions and trade-offs

• Cashback is now calculated on the week's net loss (what the player lost minus what they won), from 1% at Níquel to 7% at Diamante.
• The credit lands every Monday, the slowest day of the week. A benefit that always arrives on the same day builds the habit of coming back.
• The rules reward frequency. Players who come back every week move up a tier and raise their own rate.
• Clarity first. The exact amount, the tier, and the credit day show up on screen and in every message, so players never get less than they expected.
• One claim per week. If a player doesn't claim on Monday, the cashback stays available until they do, and the new week starts counting from that day.

06 Highlights

Cashback by tier

Before, it was a flat 0.1% of the amount wagered across all 10 tiers.

Estimated return

100% in the conservative scenario and 250% in the optimistic one, where more players move up a tier.

Investment

How much the cost of cashback grows compared with the previous program.