Employee Rewards should make your team feel valued—not create another finance headache. By paying for MicroGifts employee rewards through pay.com.au, Australian businesses can turn a routine expense into frequent flyer points, support cash flow, and potentially reduce the tax often associated with staff bonuses.
MicroGifts makes the reward side simple: businesses can send branded digital Mastercard gift cards instantly by SMS or email, with reporting, spend controls and personalised messages built in. Employees can spend their gift wherever Mastercard is accepted, including through Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Why this combination works?
pay.com.au lets businesses pay suppliers and expenses by credit card, bank transfer or BPAY—even where the supplier does not normally accept cards. Eligible payments can earn PayRewards Points, which can be transferred to airline programs including Qantas Business Rewards, Virgin Australia Business Flyer and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
That means a Employee Reward & Recognition budget can do four jobs at once:
• Recognise staff with a flexible, income tax free instant digital gift.
• Earn PayRewards Points on the payment.
• Potentially earn credit card points as well, while preserving working capital through the card’s interest-free period.
• The business is exempt from FBT Tax where the gift qualifies for the ATO’s minor benefits exemption
A simple Employee Reward & Recognition example
Imagine a business with 50 employees and a $150 MicroGift for each person.
Employees 50
MicroGift per employee $150
Total reward spend $7,500
PayRewards Points at 2 per $1 15,000
Qantas Points after transfer at 2:1 7,500
At the published Qantas transfer rate, that $7,500 Christmas program could generate 7,500 Qantas Points for the business—before considering any points earned on the underlying credit card.
The exact points earned depend on the pay.com.au plan, payment method, card issuer and program terms, so businesses should confirm the current earn rate and any fees before processing payments.
Tax benefits using pay.com.au to earn more frequent flyer points
A MicroGift can be more tax-efficient than simply adding a cash bonus to payroll—provided it is structured correctly.
Under the ATO’s minor benefits exemption, a reward provided to an employee may be exempt from fringe benefits tax (FBT) where its value is less than $300 including GST, it is provided infrequently or irregularly. The ATO specifically identifies birthdays, service awards, loyalty, Christmas gifts and performance nomination gifts as situations where this exemption can apply.
The tax benefits for the employee using pay.com.au
For employees, the advantage is that a qualifying MicroGift Reward can deliver its full face value without being taxed as additional income.
Where the gift qualifies for the minor benefits exemption, it is generally not subject to FBT and is not included in the employee’s assessable income. Employees can enjoy the full value of the employer gift, rather than receiving a cash bonus that is reduced by income tax.
Make Staff rewards work harder
Employee gifts are often treated as a pure cost. With MicroGifts and pay.com.au, they can become part of a smarter business payment strategy: staff receive the full value of a flexible reward, finance gains visibility and control, and the business earns rewards on money it was going to spend anyway.
Before launching the program, confirm the current pay.com.au pricing, PayRewards earn rate, transfer rates and eligibility conditions, as these can change.
Let you Reward & Recognition program deliver maximum benefits using pay.com.au, give your team the freedom of a MicroGifts digital Mastercard —and give your business the opportunity to earn frequent flyer points, manage cash flow more effectively and use a potentially more tax-efficient way to say thank you.
