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Traffic Light Status

Awin operates a traffic light payment system in which you are classified with a status, which will determine how Awin pay your Publishers. These status are as follows:-

GREEN - You are within your credit limit. Approved commissions will be paid to Publishers in full.

AMBER – You are outside your payment terms and/or credit limit. Approved commissions will be paid only on receipt of payment.

RED – Only used in cases of insolvency or excessive debt levels. You will be unable to access your account if you have a RED status.

Your payment status is highlighted in the Account Overview section of the admin area.

Most of Awin’s competitors pay to the equivalent of the amber status as standard. However, Awin is happy to pre-pay Publisher commissions for you, providing that we can secure adequate credit insurance against your business to cover the risk.

To take advantage of our industry leading payment system it is important that your account is on a green status, there are a number of ways to achieve this:

1. Average Payment Time Are you paying us on time? Awin’s standard payment time is 14 days. If your average payment time exceeds 14 days please check your invoice payment processes and ensure we receive payment for each invoice no later than 14 days after the invoice date.

2. Direct Debit If you are struggling to process invoices within the required payment time you can switch your account to pay by Direct Debit. Direct Debits will be taken three working days before payment is due to ensure that Direct Debits do not fail prior to Publisher payment. Being on Direct Debit means your account will be classed as either Green or Amber 1 (where Publishers will be paid as if you were on Green).

3. Pre-payment You can pre-pay Publisher commissions by providing us with a lump sum payment at the beginning of each month to cover Publisher commissions and override for the coming month. You will need to monitor this payment and ensure it will be sufficient to cover forthcoming validations.

4. Bond payment A bond payment will be accepted as a guarantee against pre-paid commissions. If you then fail to pay an invoice within your payment terms for any reason Awin will use the bond payment to cover losses incurred by pre-paying your Affiliates.

5. Increased Credit Insurance Royal Bank of Scotland provide us with credit insurance and set a credit limit against each Advertiser. While we secure as much credit insurance as we can, further information from you might enable us to secure a better credit limit. Your Finance Director will be the best point of contact for further information on this.

Feel free to contact the Credit Control Team on the following details:

Email: Credit Control
Tel: 020 7553 0336

Paying your Publishers is probably the most fundamental aspect of running an effective affiliate program. Remember, many Publishers will be relying on that next payment to invest back into your program. Late payment of invoices could be affecting the ability of your Publishers to promote your program, and should be thought of as top priority if you want to get the most out of your Publishers.

Exposure Level Status

As of August 2012, Awin introduced the risk exposure level to help Publishers effectively manage their cashflow. We often see Publishers lose out on payments in instances where Advertisers operating under an amber payment status have gone into administration without warning.

In most cases, Awin has supported the affected Publishers and agreed compensation packages to minimise loss, but this requires the Network to shoulder the whole financial impact, so a more sustainable solution has been developed.

The established Traffic Light System will remain, however Advertisers on an amber payment status will now be assigned an additional 'exposure level' which will offer Publishers insight into how likely they are to receive their payments. Exposure levels are decided based on three key factors;

1. Payment type: Advertisers who pay via Direct Debit offer Publishers a greater guarantee that their payments will be made, whilst also providing prompt payments. Advertisers set up in this way will therefore have a low exposure level.

2. Existing invoices: Advertisers with overdue invoices are identified as higher risk than those who do not. Paying within the agreed contract terms will ensure the Advertiser is given a low exposure level.

3. Credit limits: Advertisers who are within their agreed credit insurance limit are at a lower risk for Publishers to promote. Whilst Awin takes every possible step to seek appropriate credit insurance limits, allowing us to cover Advertisers should liquidation or administration occur, we are limited by our own bank's financial assessment of an Advertiser's business. You can request a review of your credit limit by speaking with your Network point of contact.

Combined with the existing traffic light status, Publishers will now have more visibility on their expected payment times and therefore a better ability to manage their cash flow. In essence, the new exposure level status offers additional information to Publishers for those Advertisers on amber status:

Green - This Advertiser has an up to date payment record and no payment restrictions. Publishers will be paid for all confirmed commissions regardless of when the Advertiser pays Awin.

Amber - This Advertiser is set to restricted payment terms. Publishers will be paid for Advertiser commissions only when payment for the corresponding invoice has been received by Awin.

Exposure Level 1 - This is a low risk Advertiser who pays Awin via Direct Debit but has exceeded their credit insurance limits.

Exposure Level 2 - This is a medium risk Advertiser who has exceeded their credit insurance limit.

Exposure Level 3 - This is a medium risk Advertiser, within their credit insurance limit but with overdue invoices.

Exposure Level 4 - This is a high risk Advertiser, they have exceeded their credit insurance limit and have overdue invoices.

Red - This Advertiser has severely restricted invoice terms and overdue payments with Awin. Publishers will be paid for Advertiser commissions only when payment for the corresponding invoice, and the other outstanding invoices, have been received by Awin.

The network would recommend Publishers do not promote Advertisers who are set to this status.

The various exposure levels are summarised in the table below:

We believe these changes will help Publishers manage any potential risk to their business and ensure that they continue to run promotional activity over the short and long term based on greater transparency.