Vol. III · §6.0 · 17 entries

Glossary.

Plain-English definitions for every term the rubric uses. If a term appears on a program review page and you'd want it spelled out, it should be here. Email editorial@fintechpays.com if one isn't.

Attribution

The system the program uses to credit an affiliate for a conversion. Last-click attribution (the affiliate cookie set most recently wins) is the most affiliate-friendly; shared attribution dilutes the credit; cookie-overwrite on retargeting destroys it.

CFTC · Commodity Futures Trading Commission

US regulator of derivatives markets — futures, options, swaps, and (under post-2020 rules) some retail leveraged FX. Most prop firms operate in CFTC-adjacent territory; few are CFTC-regulated as financial products.

Clawback

A program reclaiming commission previously credited to an affiliate — typically when the referred user requests a refund, charges back, or fails KYC. Programs with long clawback windows (90+ days) materially erode true-EPC.

Companies House

The UK registry of incorporated companies. We surface an LLP/Ltd number on every UK-targeting publisher page as a baseline trust signal — publishers without one are effectively anonymous.

Cookie window

The number of days after an affiliate referral during which a conversion will still be credited to that affiliate. Ranges from 24 hours (Robinhood-style) to 365 days (Wise/Partnerize). Decay multiplier in the EPC formula.

CPA · Cost Per Action

A flat dollar amount paid per qualified action — typically a signup, KYC-completion, or first deposit. Predictable but capped; revshare scales better over a recurring SaaS LTV.

DFSA · Dubai Financial Services Authority

Independent regulator of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Sets the marketing + conduct standards for affiliate disclosures in the DIFC; pairs with VARA on virtual-asset crossover.

EPC · Earnings Per Click

Realistic dollars-per-click a competent affiliate earns from a program over a fixed time horizon. FintechPays projects this over 12 months after all leak factors. The product of the rubric.

FCA · Financial Conduct Authority

UK financial conduct regulator. The October 2024 finfluencer rule requires every affiliate-promoted finance product to disclose the commercial relationship obviously and prominently.

FTC disclosure

US Federal Trade Commission rule (16 CFR Part 255) requiring affiliate-compensated content to disclose the material connection above the fold. Our ¶ disclosure stripe satisfies this on every page.

Last-click

Attribution model where the affiliate whose cookie is most recently set wins the commission. The most common — and most affiliate-friendly — model when paired with a long cookie window.

MiCA · Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation

EU framework for crypto issuers, exchanges, and service providers (in force June 2024). Crypto programs operating in the EU must hold a MiCA license; affiliate disclosure standards align with ESMA finfluencer guidance.

Net-30 / Net-60 / Net-90

Payment terms — the number of days after the end of the earning period that the program pays out. Net-30 is the common default; longer terms (Net-60+) effectively delay cash flow and drag the EPC.

Reliability factor

A 0.20–1.00 multiplier in the EPC formula reflecting whether the program actually pays — based on Trustpilot complaint volume, Reddit non-payment reports, defunct-ancestor history, payment terms, and ownership-change frequency.

Revshare · Revenue share

A percentage of the program's recurring revenue from a referred user, paid for as long as the user remains a customer (or for a capped period). The model that compounds the highest LTV when paired with a long cookie + low clawback.

True-EPC

Our shorthand for the 12-month EPC after all leak factors — cookie decay, attribution honesty, payout reliability, conversion realism, payment-threshold friction. The number the rubric optimises for.

VARA · Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority

Dubai's regulator for virtual-asset service providers (founded 2022). Sets the licensing + marketing standards crypto exchanges operating from the UAE must meet; cited alongside DFSA on GCC routes.