Deterministic, layered routing priority

Context

Multiple signals can apply to one purchase — a user's pinned card, a live targeted offer, an open sign-up-bonus requirement, and category multipliers. Their conflicts must resolve the same way every time.

Decision

Routing applies a fixed precedence: (1) merchant whitelist override, (2) live merchant/category offers, (3) minimum-spend-requirement (MSR) gating, (4) category multipliers, (5) catch-all fallback. Higher layers win only when they produce equal-or-higher incremental cash-equivalent value.

Consequences

• Decisions are reproducible and explainable — every route ships with the rule that won.
• A targeted offer can override raw category earn because it reflects real incremental value.
• User intent (a pinned merchant) is honored above all automated signals.