Verification Methodology
How every discount code on this site is sourced, tested, dated and updated — the process behind the "Verified" badge, and the limits we set on what we will and will not publish.
Why this page exists
Voucher code sites are easy to operate badly. Stale codes, fabricated scarcity, scraped images and invented user testimonials are all common across the industry. This page sets out exactly what verification means on MoneySaverCodes, so you can judge whether the "Verified" badges on our deal cards are meaningful — and so you can hold us to the standard we describe here.
How a code becomes a verified voucher
1. Sourcing
Every code on the site is pulled directly from an official affiliate network API — Awin, CJ Affiliate or Rakuten. We do not scrape forums, accept user-submitted codes via a public form, or republish codes from competitor sites without independent verification. Network feeds remove expired codes within days of expiry, giving us a clean upstream signal.
2. Verification at checkout
Before a code receives a "Verified" badge, it is tested against the retailer's live checkout flow on the merchant's site to confirm the discount applies and the basket total reflects the saving. This is what the "Verified" badge means in practice — not a marketing label, but a manual test result.
3. Stored verification date
Every voucher record carries a `lastVerified` ISO date in our data layer, which is shown to users on the deal card as the date the code was last checked. The date refreshes automatically when the affiliate network reconfirms the code in its feed, and manually when an editor re-tests at checkout.
4. Refresh cadence
Voucher fetches run automatically from the Awin, CJ Affiliate and Rakuten APIs on a recurring schedule (currently weekly Monday morning, with a planned move to daily). Changed codes are updated in place, new codes are added, and codes no longer in the network feed are flagged for removal.
5. Expiry and removal
Expired codes are removed from the live data layer by an automated cleanup script that runs as part of every fetch cycle. Stores that drop to zero active vouchers and have no editor note are excluded from the homepage Popular Stores grid, the A-Z directory, and most cross-link surfaces — the goal is that users never see a thin or empty page presented as if it contained live deals.
6. User feedback signal
Every deal card carries a "Did this work?" thumbs-up / thumbs-down widget. Codes that receive consistently negative feedback are flagged for immediate manual review. If a code is confirmed as non-working, it is removed from the site within 24 hours of the confirmation. This is genuine real-world validation, not a vanity metric.
What we do not do
These are practices common across the voucher code industry that we explicitly avoid. They are bad for users and, increasingly under UK consumer protection law, illegal.
Fabricated urgency or scarcity
We do not display "Only a few left!" or "Running out fast" warnings on voucher codes — those imply stock scarcity that does not exist for digital promotional codes. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024 explicitly prohibits this kind of fake urgency. Our expiring-soon indicators are only ever shown when a voucher carries a real, retailer-set expiry date.
Fabricated social proof
We do not display invented popularity counts on deal cards. The community feedback figures shown on this site are real counts from real users via the in-page thumbs-up / thumbs-down widget, and the "used today" indicator is hidden entirely when the count is below a small threshold to avoid presenting a misleading low number as a popularity signal.
Scraped images or unverified product copy
Product imagery is either sourced from official affiliate network product feeds (with permission baked into the network agreement) or shown as a neutral placeholder. We do not scrape retailer or Amazon product images directly — Amazon Associates terms specifically prohibit this, and our Amazon product cards use a clean gray placeholder rather than a scraped image.
AI-generated user reviews or testimonials
No editorial article, store guide or category page on this site carries a fabricated user testimonial, AI-generated review, or invented case study. Where a quote appears, it is attributable to a named real source. Where statistics appear, they cite a named UK or international authority report (Office for National Statistics, IAB UK, Save the Student, etc.) with a link to the live source page.
Where our codes come from
Every code on this site is pulled from an official affiliate network feed. The three UK networks we currently work with are:
- Awin — the largest of the three by joined-programme count on this site, covering most of our fashion, home and garden, and health and beauty retailers.
- CJ Affiliate — covers a handful of US-headquartered retailers with UK operations and selected travel partners.
- Rakuten — a smaller set of UK retailers including selected fashion and electronics programmes.
We do not aggregate codes from competitor voucher sites or republish forum postings. Where a code is sent to us directly by a retailer (typically for a limited-window exclusive), we verify it at checkout before publication exactly as we would a network-feed code, and we mark it with the "Exclusive" badge so the source is transparent.
Corrections and complaints
We make mistakes. Affiliate network feeds occasionally publish codes that fail at checkout despite being live in the feed, exclusivity terms shift between when a code is sourced and when a user redeems, and retailer terms can change without public notice. When that happens we want to hear about it.
The fastest correction routes are:
- Mark the code as "Did not work" using the thumbs-down widget on the deal card. Repeated negative feedback flags the code for immediate manual review.
- Email the editorial team via our contact page with the deal URL and what happened at checkout — we typically respond and remove the code (or correct the listing) within 24 hours.
A structured audit log of formal complaints (ASA, CMA, affiliate network escalations) is maintained internally for compliance reporting. We do not publish that log because it contains personally identifying information from complainants and operational detail relevant to affiliate-network relationships.
How this differs from our other transparency pages
- How We Rank Deals — covers the ordering of deals once they are on the site (discount value, recency, user feedback, exclusivity).
- Editorial Policy — covers our editorial standards: tone, factual accuracy, hedging, superlatives, and how editorial articles are written.
- How It Works — covers how the site is funded: the affiliate commission model and how that interacts (or does not) with editorial decisions.
- This page — covers verification: how codes are sourced, tested, dated, refreshed and removed.
The four pages together describe the operational standard we hold ourselves to. If any of them does not match what you see in practice, please tell us.