Credits are how RapidRatings members access certain features on the FHR Exchange. Every package includes a set credit allowance, and credit-gated actions deduct credits from your balance when you use them. This article explains how credits work, what each action costs, and how credits relate to your FastTrack acceptance allotment (a separate quota that also affects what you can do on the platform).
What are credits?
Credits are the general unit of usage on the FHR Exchange. Most actions on the platform are free (managing your own rating, completing client requests, viewing your ActionPath, sending FastTrack invitations), but some actions consume credits. These are typically actions that pull data on other companies or draw on our Member Services team's time.
Each package includes an annual credit allowance:
Package | Credits per year |
Basic | 10 (lifetime, not renewed) |
Essential | 10 |
Pro 50 | 50 |
Pro 150 | 150 |
Pro 250 | 250 |
Pro+ | 500 |
Your current balance is shown in the credit summary on your All Suppliers page, and a full transaction history is available on the Credit Utilization page in the Account menu.
Credits are separate from your FastTrack allotment
The FHR Exchange uses two separate allotments to price member activity. Your credit balance covers most actions on the platform. Your FastTrack acceptance allotment is used specifically when you accept a Financial Health Rating shared to you through FastTrack.
For Basic and Essential members, FastTrack acceptances never consume credits. They are only counted against the free FastTrack allotment (10 lifetime for Basic, 15 per year for Essential). Once that allotment is exhausted, acceptance is locked and the only path to accepting more is a package upgrade.
For Pro and Pro+ members, the free FastTrack allotment is consumed first. Once it is exhausted, each additional accepted share deducts 7.5 credits from your credit balance. Pro members share a 20-share annual allotment across Pro 50, Pro 150, and Pro 250. Pro+ members receive 30 per year.
For the full FastTrack mechanics, see Rate Your Own Suppliers.
What does each credit-consuming action cost?
Basic and Essential credits can only be spent on Public Company FHRs. Every other credit-consuming action is restricted to Pro packages. Costs vary by action and, in some cases, by the geography of the company involved.
Action | Credit cost | Available on |
View a Public Company FHR (first view) | 1 | All packages |
RiskPulse profile view, North America or Europe (first view) | 1 | Pro 50 to 250, Pro+ |
RiskPulse profile view, rest of world (first view) | 3 | Pro 50 to 250, Pro+ |
FastTrack acceptance after free allotment is exhausted | 7.5 | Pro 50 to 250, Pro+ |
Create a share offer for another member | 7.5 | Pro+ only |
Request a private company Refresh | 13.5 | Pro+ only |
Initiate a new member Outreach | 15 | Pro+ only |
A few useful rules:
You only pay once per report. Viewing the same FHR or RiskPulse report a second time is free. Adding a company you have already viewed to your RiskPulse list is also free.
Outreaches that do not succeed are refunded. See the refunds section below.
Public-company discovery is mostly refunded. If you start an Outreach for a company that turns out to be public, you are refunded 14 of the 15 credits and only pay the standard 1-credit cost to view the public report.
For the full cost reference including refund logic and Outreach conversion mechanics, see Member Credit Cost Matrix.
How many credits will I actually use?
Most members fall into one of three patterns:
Light usage (under 50 credits a year): mainly viewing Public Company FHRs and the occasional RiskPulse report. Pro 50 is built for this.
Regular usage (50 to 150 credits a year): RiskPulse monitoring across a portfolio of suppliers, plus occasional shares. Pro 150 fits.
Heavy usage (150 or more credits a year): active RiskPulse monitoring, frequent shares, running Outreach, or accepting FastTrack shares beyond your free allotment. Pro 250 or Pro+.
If FastTrack volume is a driver for you, factor in that Pro members share a 20-share free allotment across bundles. Once that is exhausted, each acceptance costs 7.5 credits. A member accepting 30 FastTrack shares per year would spend 75 credits on FastTrack overflow alone (10 acceptances above the 20 free), which is why the size of your credit balance matters.
If you are not sure where you will land, start with a comfortable package and upgrade later. Your unused credits carry over to the new package, and your FastTrack allotment increases by the delta between the two packages.
What happens if my Outreach is unsuccessful? (Pro+ only)
If you have initiated Outreach to one of your suppliers and the request does not complete successfully, you receive a refund automatically:
Closed as an Exception: full 15 credits refunded.
Resolved as a Public Company: 14 credits refunded, and the standard 1-credit Public FHR cost applies.
Converted to a Refresh request: Outreach charge refunded; the 13.5-credit refresh cost applies instead.
Converted to a Share request that is not accepted: all charges refunded.
You will see each refund as a separate line on your Credit Utilization page, so the balance reconciles cleanly. The same logic applies to Refresh requests: if a Refresh is closed as an exception, the 13.5 credits are refunded.
Do my credits expire?
Credits refresh to your full package allowance at each annual renewal. Unused credits do not carry over from one term to the next.
If your subscription expires and is not renewed, your access enters a grace period during which features remain available. After the grace period, package features and credits are revoked until you renew.
How do I get more credits?
You have two options if you are approaching your limit:
Upgrade your package at any time from the Packages & Subscriptions page in your Member Portal. When you upgrade mid-cycle, you receive the new package's full credit allowance, and any unused credits from your current package carry over.
Contact us at [email protected] if you need additional credits outside of an upgrade.
To initiate a downgrade or cancel, contact [email protected]. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current subscription term.
How do I see my credit balance and history?
Your balance is visible in two places:
The credit summary on your All Suppliers page, always on screen as you work.
The Credit Utilization page in the Account menu, with a full history of every credit-bearing event including the action taken, the cost, the date, and your running balance after the event.
If you have never used credits before, the breakdown will show an empty state until your first credit-bearing action.