Pay After You Pass
A fee model with no upfront cost — the challenge fee is deducted from your first funded payout, so only passing traders pay.
Definition
Pay after you pass (PAYP) is a pricing model where the firm waives the upfront challenge fee in exchange for deducting it from the trader's first funded-account payout. Traders who fail the evaluation pay nothing; traders who pass effectively pay a higher effective rate (they must generate enough profit to cover the fee plus their own net gain). PAYP exists as a differentiated offering — typically at a higher equivalent fee than standard challenges — and is used by firms to lower the barrier to evaluation attempts and capture traders who are unwilling to risk an upfront payment. The total cost to passing traders is often 30-50% higher than an equivalent upfront-fee challenge.
Example
Why It Matters
Pay-after-you-pass shifts the challenge-fee cost from the 85-95% who fail to the 5-15% who pass. For confident traders the math is unfavorable — they effectively subsidize the failing cohort. For traders who are uncertain about their chances, PAYP is a risk-reducer: the worst case is the time cost of attempting the challenge, with no financial downside. FTUK's Lightning Challenge is the notable PAYP product in this dataset; the model is spreading across newer firms as a marketing differentiator.