QualiQuanti streamlines global research incentives with digital payouts

Highlights

• QualiQuanti is a Paris-based research firm that runs qualitative, quantitative, and hybrid studies for global brands.

• The company operates two consumer panels and compensates participants across online and in-person studies.

• In 2025, QualiQuanti moved its incentives from paper checks to digital bank transfers through Tremendous.

• With Tremendous, its team saves up to 2 days a month on administration, eliminates reissue and shipping fees, and provides panelists with a faster, easier payout experience.

Overview

QualiQuanti is an independent French research firm with more than 35 years of experience in qualitative and hybrid research. Founded by Daniel Bô, author of “Big Quali: La puissance des études qualitatives à l'ère du Big Data,” the firm uses a proprietary methodology called Big Qual, an approach designed to scale qualitative research while preserving depth, meaning, and human insight.

The firm operates its own consumer panels, TestConso.com in France and Consumer-Worldwide.com internationally. Combined with client lists, these panels support fast, reliable recruitment across a wide range of targets and geographies.

A typical QualiQuanti study combines a recruitment survey, a multi-day online forum, and a live Zoom session to balance scale and depth. Participants invest meaningful time, attention, and creative energy across these phases. That’s why the firm views fair, transparent, timely compensation as a methodological and ethical requirement, not just an operational one.

"Qualitative research is based on cooperation. Participants are not just respondents: they are contributors," says Daniel. "Respecting their time and effort is a condition for producing rich, meaningful data at scale."

Challenge

Before Tremendous, QualiQuanti compensated participants with paper checks. The process was manual and cumbersome. The research team manually collected postal addresses, printed and mailed checks, emailed participants, and tracked payments via spreadsheets. 

"This involved several risks: lost checks, delays, follow-ups from participants, and sometimes reissuing payments," says Daniel. "It was time-consuming and not very satisfying for our team or our participants."

Tracking incentives was challenging. Once a check was sent, there was no way to confirm whether a participant had received or cashed it. And when issues like lost checks or incorrect addresses occurred, the team had to start the process over, taking time away from more important research tasks.

Participant frustration compounded the problem. "With paper checks, feedback was often about delays," says Daniel. "'Has my check been sent?' 'I haven't received anything yet.'" This experience fell short of QualiQuanti's vision for a seamless participant experience.

The real-world fraud risks of paper checks

While sending participants paper checks had been standard practice for many years, it exposed QualiQuanti to operational risks.

In one case, a check intended for a consumer video session participant was intercepted and fraudulently altered before being deposited. The original payment was for €30, but the check was falsified and ultimately deposited for €1,617.31 under a different name.

This incident illustrated several vulnerabilities of check-based incentives: postal interception risks, check modification and fraud, limited traceability, and additional administrative effort required to investigate and resolve issues. QualiQuanti knew it needed to move to secure, traceable digital payments.

Solution

In December 2025, Daniel connected with Tremendous for the first time. He wasn't actively shopping for a new incentive solution, but he was curious to learn more. 

"We were clearly aware that our existing process with paper checks was becoming increasingly inefficient," he says. "So I saw it as an opportunity to explore alternatives and reflect more broadly on how incentives fit into our methodology."

QualiQuanti signed up and started sending bank transfers to participants later that month. Today, Tremendous is the firm's primary incentive solution. Paper checks are now a rare exception rather than the rule.

Faster, simpler incentive delivery

The shift from checks to digital bank transfers has significantly reduced the time QualiQuanti spends on incentive administration. 

"We save several hours per week, especially during active fieldwork periods," says Daniel. "On a monthly basis, that probably represents up to two full working days saved because we no longer handle printing, mailing, tracking, or reissuing payments."

Not only is the process faster — it’s also more streamlined. "There are fewer steps, and each step takes less time. We upload recipients, send incentives, and can immediately see whether payments are claimed," says Daniel. "Previously, everything happened in emails, spreadsheets, and postal follow-ups."

Participants have noticed the difference as well. Instead of checks that take days to arrive, bank transfers typically arrive within hours. "With Tremendous, feedback is mostly positive and spontaneous. Participants mention speed, simplicity, and clarity. That's a major change," says Daniel.

At the end of a recent study, recipients mentioned how quickly their payments were received: 

• “Very simple and fast.”

• “The amount appeared immediately.”

• “Honestly very practical (despite initial skepticism).”

Full incentive visibility, fewer reissue fees

Another benefit of moving to Tremendous has been improved transparency for the firm’s research team. With paper checks, they had no reliable way to know if a participant had actually received their incentive. And the risk of loss, theft, or alteration during postal delivery was an ongoing challenge.

With Tremendous, the incentive process is now faster, safer, and easier to manage.

"Being able to see whether an incentive has been received or not is extremely valuable," says Daniel. "With checks, you never really know what happens once it's sent."

Switching to bank transfers also provides financial and administrative benefits. "There are no shipping costs, no reissue costs for lost checks, and fewer hidden administrative costs," Daniel says. "But beyond direct costs, the real benefit is reducing friction: fewer errors, fewer complaints, fewer interruptions during projects."

A participant-centric approach to compensation

Tremendous’ support for EU bank transfers was a non-negotiable for QualiQuanti. Since its founding, the firm has offered cash payments to participants instead of other incentives like gift cards. This preference is rooted in QualiQuanti's human-centered vision of research.

“Gift cards are restrictive and sometimes perceived as paternalistic,” says Daniel. “Bank transfers are neutral, flexible, and respectful. Participants decide how to use their compensation. For us, this aligns better with a participant-centric philosophy.”

In France, where research incentive amounts tend to be more modest than in other regions like the U.S., participants want maximum flexibility in how they spend their payout. Bank transfers give them that freedom.

Scalable global payouts

QualiQuanti currently sends incentives to French participants, but the firm operates an international panel through Consumer-Worldwide.com and regularly runs studies across European markets. The team plans to use Tremendous for upcoming global projects.

"International incentives require reliability, clarity, and traceability, which is exactly where Tremendous adds value," Daniel says. "Currency, banking formats, and participant trust are the main considerations. Having a robust, well-known platform helps reassure participants, especially in remote studies."

Tremendous also helps QualiQuanti support changing research project expectations. "Today, clients expect faster results, more engagement, and more realism," says Daniel. "Budgets are under pressure, but expectations are higher. They want depth, speed, and international reach." A scalable global incentive platform helps the firm meet these requirements.

Impact

Since moving to Tremendous, QualiQuanti has replaced paper checks with fast, trackable bank transfers. The platform has reduced the administrative burden on its team and improved the incentive experience for participants.

• Up to 2 days saved per month on incentive administration

• Transparent, centralized tracking of participant payouts

• Eliminated costs from lost checks, reissued payments, and shipping fees

• Increased participant satisfaction with digital bank transfers

• Scalable incentive solution for upcoming international studies

Ready to streamline your research incentive process? Sign up now or schedule a demo to see Tremendous in action.