Plasma One 20% Apple Cashback Caps at $100 or $50 by Tier
Plasma One is running a 20% cashback boost on Apple purchases from 00:00 UTC on 11 September to 23:59:59 UTC on 25 September 2026. The rate is the same at every tier that gets the offer. The cap is not, and the cap is what decides how much this is worth.
An existing Platinum account is capped at 100 USD of boosted cashback for the whole period, which at 20% corresponds to 500 USD of qualifying Apple purchases. An existing Core account is capped at 50 USD, or 250 USD of purchases. Every new account is capped at 50 USD regardless of which tier it unlocks, and an account opened before 11 September is never treated as new no matter when it was funded or first used. Lite accounts are excluded entirely unless they unlock Core or Platinum during the window, and only transactions authorized after that change qualify.
For anyone timing this against a new iPhone, the arithmetic lands early. A 1,200 USD phone earns the same 100 USD at Platinum as a 500 USD purchase does, because everything above 500 USD falls back to the base rate.
The offer only exists if the app shows it to you
The boost is targeted. It applies only to accounts where Plasma displays it in the Plasma One application during the period, and Plasma states it is under no obligation to explain who it selects or why. Where the in-app display states a rate, cap or period that differs from the published terms, the display controls for that account. Holding an eligible tier does not by itself create eligibility, which makes checking the app before buying the actual precondition rather than a formality.
Only purchases settled to an Apple merchant descriptor qualify
Qualifying means bought directly from Apple: the apple.com store, the Apple Store app, or an Apple-operated retail store, settled to a merchant descriptor Plasma recognises as Apple. Carriers and carrier installment plans, authorized resellers, electronics retailers, marketplaces, warehouse clubs and any third-party checkout or buy-now-pay-later service are all excluded, and buying an Apple product through them earns nothing extra.
Plasma is explicit that merchant category codes are not used, because the codes Apple settles under are shared with carriers, retailers and marketplaces. A mixed basket that combines Apple products with other goods does not qualify in whole or in part, since the contents of a basket are not visible at card level.
App Store purchases, in-app purchases and subscriptions billed through an Apple Account are also excluded, and that exclusion is written to survive the descriptor test. Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud, Apple Arcade and Apple One do not earn the boost even though they may settle to an Apple descriptor. The boost is aimed at hardware bought from Apple retail, not at the services attached to it.
Pre-orders turn on the authorization date, not the order date
A transaction qualifies only if the card payment is authorized inside the boost window and later settles. An order placed on 20 September that the merchant only authorizes on 30 September earns nothing, and Plasma says so directly: placing the order during the period is not sufficient. The reverse case is allowed, so a pre-order authorized during the window still counts even if it ships after 25 September.
This matters more than it looks for new hardware, because Apple generally charges shipped orders at dispatch. A pre-order for a device that is not dispatched until October can easily have its authorization fall outside the window, and the 30-day hold then runs from settlement as Plasma records it rather than from any date shown by the merchant.
Boosted cashback replaces the base rate and lands in XPL
The 20% applies instead of, not on top of, the base or category rate that would otherwise cover the transaction. Once the cap is reached or the period ends, the normal tier rate resumes. The boost also sits outside the monthly cashback cap attached to each tier, though Apple spending still counts toward the monthly qualifying spend that determines which band other purchases fall into.
Payment comes after a 30-day hold following settlement, and a return, refund, reversal or chargeback during that hold voids the accrual. The amount is accrued in dollars and paid in XPL, so the value of the reward moves with the token between the purchase and the payout. Plasma also runs reward integrity screening that can withhold accruals from accounts showing abnormal return or refund patterns, applied at criteria it does not publish.
One more constraint applies to anyone already tracking the 20% Dyson boost, which runs until 22 September. The two overlap, but where a single transaction could qualify under both, only one boosted rate applies and Plasma decides which.
Sources: Plasma One Apple Cashback Boost supplemental terms, Plasma One rewards addendum, X announcement.
