7 min read
Growth capital repaid in covers, not payments
How dining-credit funding works, what it really costs, and the kind of room it suits.
Funding options, 4 min read
New guests who pay full price, and capital that's repaid as they dine.
Rewards Network has run the dine-down model for decades. The difference that matters to a fine-dining owner: its members pay full price and earn loyalty points, so the discount is invisible at the table.
At a glance
as of November 2026
- Typical size
- Varies; approvals reported in as little as 48 hours
- Speed
- About 48 hours reported
- Guarantee or collateral
- Varies by product
- Cost structure
- Credits bought at a discount to face value; you pay only when members dine. Premier Funding uses a merchant-cash-advance style holdback.
- Best for
- Restaurants that want new guests without a visible discount; strong in travel-heavy markets
How it works
Rewards Network sells access to its members through airline and hotel dining programs. A member registers a card, dines with you, pays the normal bill, and earns miles or points. Rewards Network keeps a share of that sale against the credits it bought from you up front.
For an owner worried about looking discounted, this is the cleanest answer. The guest sees no 20% back and nothing changes at the end of the meal. The trade-off is reach: the audience is loyalty-program members who travel, which is excellent in Chicago or Dallas and thinner in a college town.
Premier Funding is a separate, larger product that works like a merchant cash advance: an advance repaid as a percentage of all card sales until a fixed total is reached. That includes your regulars, which is the thing the dining-credit products avoid. Price it as an MCA, because it is one.
The trade
For
- ✓Guests pay full price; no visible discount
- ✓Fast approval
- ✓Members skew toward travelers and expense accounts
Against
- ✕Smaller, older audience than a consumer app
- ✕Premier Funding takes a cut of every card sale, regulars included
- ✕Terms are less public than most
How we're paid
We don't earn anything if you choose Rewards Network. It's on this site because for the right restaurant it's the better answer, and we'd rather you take it than take inKind for the wrong reasons.
More funding options, explained
All of them
Find out which of these we'd place for your room.
Covers Advisory is an independent capital advisory, not a lender. We do not make funding decisions, and we are compensated by funding partners when a placement we arrange closes. Our recommendation is the same whether or not a partner pays us. How we're paid.