Jestr Credits
Jestr Credits represent funds available in your studio account that can be used toward campaigns.
Credits can come from money you've deposited in advance or from unused funds returned after a campaign.
Rather than processing a new payment every time you launch a campaign, you can maintain a balance on Jestr and allocate those funds across your games and campaigns as needed.
How you get Jestr Credits
There are two common ways credits are added to your account.
Funding your account in advance
You can deposit funds into your Jestr account before creating or launching a specific campaign.
Once your payment is received, the funds are added to your available Jestr Credit balance.
This is particularly useful if your team runs campaigns regularly. Instead of processing multiple invoices throughout the month, you can fund your account once and use that balance as campaigns are launched.
For information on funding your account and available payment methods, see Billing & Invoices.
Unused campaign funds
If a campaign ends without fully utilizing its budget, the applicable unused funds are returned to your account as Jestr Credits.
Those credits remain available for future campaigns rather than being lost.
Using your credits
Available Jestr Credits can be used to fund campaigns across your studio account.
Credits aren't permanently tied to the game they were originally deposited or returned from. You can generally move your available balance between different games and campaigns as needed.
For example, if a campaign for Game A finishes with unused funds, you can use those credits toward a future campaign for Game B.
This makes it easier for studios managing multiple titles to keep their available Jestr budget in one place.
Credits committed to active campaigns
Once credits have been allocated to an active campaign, those funds are committed to that campaign while it runs.
They can't simultaneously be removed and allocated toward another campaign.
When the campaign ends and its final spend is calculated, any applicable unused amount is returned to your available Jestr Credit balance.
For more information on how campaign budgets are utilized while a campaign is active, see Active Campaigns.
Credits don't have a Jestr fee
There is no Jestr campaign fee simply for depositing, holding, or moving Jestr Credits.
Jestr's fee applies when funds are used through a campaign.
For example, depositing $20,000 into your Jestr account gives you $20,000 in Jestr Credits.
It doesn't immediately become $16,000 after a 20% fee.
Instead, the applicable fee is calculated at the campaign level when those credits are allocated and utilized.
For more information on Jestr's fee structure and creator pools, see Budget, CPM & Rewards.
How unused campaign funds are calculated
When a campaign doesn't fully utilize its creator pool, the unused amount returned isn't limited to the remaining creator rewards.
The corresponding unused portion of Jestr's campaign fee is returned as well.
For example, imagine you run a $15,000 campaign.
At Jestr's standard 20% campaign fee:
Total campaign budget → $15,000
Creator pool → $12,000
Jestr fee → $3,000
Now imagine the campaign ultimately uses only $6,000 of its $12,000 creator pool.
That means 50% of the creator pool was utilized.
Jestr therefore keeps 50% of the associated campaign fee:
Creator rewards utilized → $6,000
Jestr fee utilized → $1,500
Total campaign cost → $7,500
The remaining $7,500 is returned to your account as Jestr Credits.
In other words, you aren't charged the full Jestr fee for campaign budget that ultimately wasn't utilized.
For a deeper explanation of campaign budgets, creator pools, and fees, see Budget, CPM & Rewards.
When credits become available again
Campaign spend isn't necessarily finalized the instant a campaign reaches its end date.
Jestr allows a short tracking period so recently submitted content can finish accumulating eligible performance before the campaign's final spend is determined.
For campaigns with an end date, submissions can continue being tracked for an additional 48-hour buffer after the campaign ends.
Once campaign spending has been finalized, the applicable unused amount can be returned to your available credit balance.
For more information on campaign completion and the 48-hour tracking buffer, see Active Campaigns.
Managing credits across multiple campaigns
Keeping funds as Jestr Credits can be particularly useful for studios, publishers, and agencies running campaigns regularly.
Instead of:
Invoice → Campaign → Refund → Invoice → Campaign → Refund
you can maintain an available balance and continue allocating it as needed:
Fund account → Run campaigns → Unused funds return to Credits → Reallocate to future campaigns
This reduces the amount of payment administration required between campaigns and makes it easier to keep campaigns moving.
Viewing your balance
Your available Jestr Credit balance can be viewed from your studio dashboard.
This represents funds that are currently available to allocate toward campaigns.
Keep in mind that funds already committed to active campaigns aren't freely transferable until the applicable campaign spend has been finalized.
Want your credits refunded?
You aren't required to keep unused funds on Jestr.
If you have an available Jestr Credit balance that you no longer intend to use, you can request a refund through the Jestr Finance team.
If you're planning to run additional campaigns, however, leaving the balance as Jestr Credits is generally the easiest option. Your existing balance can simply be applied toward the next campaign without repeating the payment and invoicing process.
Continue to Refunds for information on processing times, fees, and how to request a refund.
Next step: Refunds
Jestr Credits can remain on your account for future campaigns, but you can also request the return of an unused available balance.
Continue to Refunds to learn how the refund process works.