We had a great turn out for our recent webinar on the 14th October, “The Truth About Affiliate Payment”, that brought together publishers, networks, brands and agencies to discuss how slow and inconsistent payments are holding back the affiliate industry. The focus of this webinar was on practical steps and accountability across the chain. Key topics covered included: Delayed payments, validation delays, reconciliation, and practical fixes.
Read the full article below for expert insights and useful tips – there is something to learn for publishers, networks, brands and agencies alike!
A special thank you to APMA member Revving, sponsor of our payments guide, Everything you need to know about publisher payments & this webinar.
Why payments matter
Julia Stent, Consultant Strategy Advisor & APMA Board Member opened with the headline findings from APMA’s research. “Over half of publishers in our study said payments impact their commercial progress and growth,” she said. She reminded attendees that the affiliate channel drives about £19 billion of revenue for UK brands. “If cash moved within 30 days, over half of businesses told us they would invest that cash flow in growth. Nearly one in five said they could create more jobs.”
The session is part of APMA’s Payments Project. The APMA has published a payments guide, Everything you need to know about publisher payments, that compares processes across 12 networks. It has run two publisher roundtables over the summer. The next step is a voluntary code of conduct for advertisers that sets clear standards.
Julia’s message was simple. “This is not just an admin task. It is a fundamental growth task.”
What publishers are facing
Warrick Lambert, CEO at Genie Shopping, described the scale of the backlog. “We still have hundreds of pending transactions from 2024,” he said. “Even if they were validated today, we would still wait another 60 days to be paid.” He called payments the biggest bottleneck in the channel. Many publishers are small businesses, and long cash cycles make that hard. He also flagged swings in rejection rates. “One of our biggest advertisers went from a 40 percent rejection rate to 80 percent. We spent the media months earlier, so we cannot optimise after the fact.”
David Ayre, CIO at intent.ly, focused on the day-to-day. “The first of every month is an administrative nightmare,” he said. “We were paid this year for transactions from 2019. It is good to be paid, but six years later is not a system you can plan around.” For David, transparency is as important as speed. “It is not always about cancellations. It is about knowing where the money is across multiple networks and invoices.”
The network perspective
Carla Arrindell, Global Sales and Marketing Director at Optimise, stressed the distinction between validation and payment. “You cannot pay on performance if you have not validated the sale,” she said. “It is unrealistic to expect every advertiser to validate in exactly the same way. There must be clarity on what the validation period is. If it slips, silence cannot take over.”
Arrindell pointed to better tooling. “At Optimise we have transactions-by-payment reports so partners can see what was paid and in which invoice. Other networks have similar reports.” Where those tools are missing, she said, there is room for improvement. The biggest gap is communication when schedules slip. “Explain what happened, what is being done, and the likely impact.”
The accelerator view
Rich Lane, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Revving, shared a benchmark for the delay. “Outside of travel, the average time to payment is around 100 days. That is too long.” he said. He noted the wider UK context. “The government recognises late payments as a major problem for business.” He added that faster payments are not only about plugging gaps. “Some partners smooth cash flow ahead of funding rounds. Some reinvest in R&D. In a few cases, our solution is cheaper than local FX conversion.”
Rich said the affiliate sector lacks a strong shared platform for late-payment issues. “Creators have a way to nudge brands on late payments. Affiliates do not. We need a collective voice.”
When faster payment unlocks growth
Lambert shared a concrete result. “In 2023 we partnered with Revving to accelerate payments. It was instrumental in our growth. We on-boarded new retailers and scaled existing ones.” He also cited network pilots and direct agreements that brought payments forward. “Retailers where we have faster terms are growing at about twice the rate of the rest.”
Arrindell said Optimise runs express or faster pay where the data supports it. “If a brand’s validation track record is strong and the partner’s quality is strong, we can pre-pay against expected approvals. Partners invest more. Brands see better results.”
David added that personal relationships still matter. “We have improved outcomes by working with our network and agency contacts. Sometimes the blocker is on the advertiser side, such as POs or finance workflows. You need someone who can help resolve it.”
Power dynamics and escalation
An audience question asked whether publishers hold back from hard lines because they fear losing the brand. Rich acknowledged the imbalance. “Larger publishers have more sway. Smaller publishers often need the money most,” he said. His advice was direct. “Publishers should spell out the impact of delays, such as headcount, operations or media throttling. Give networks and agencies facts they can take into the room.”
Poll results during the webinar supported the urgency. Most respondents said delayed payments affect their work significantly. When asked what faster payments would unlock, investing in growth was the top answer.
Should retailers pay interest for late payments?
Another audience question asked about interest charges on delayed or non-approved transactions after a set period. David supported the idea. “Yes, one hundred percent.” Carla said many advertiser contracts already include penalties for late payment, but they do not solve long validation cycles. “Many delays are process issues, for example POs that cover multiple channels. We use penalties as a deterrent, but the constructive fix is process change and clear communication.”
Rich asked whether penalties are enforced often enough. Carla said the priority is to prevent recurrence by tightening processes and escalation paths.
Clear actions you can take now
For publishers
- Know your terms before you invest. Document validation cycles, payment terms, rejection trends, and invoice timetables for every programme you scale.
- Price in timing and approval risk. Do not optimise on headline CPA alone. Model expected approval rate and days-to-cash, then set bids, tenancies, content releases or whatever else is appropriate for your business model accordingly.
- Use peak to negotiate. Retailers need volume now. Ask for faster validation, interim approvals, or express pay on defined cohorts, backed by your quality data.
- Strengthen reconciliation. Centralise “transactions by payment” reporting where available. Maintain a single map across networks from transaction to invoice to remittance.
- Escalate with specifics. When cash is stuck, state the amount, invoice, age, and operational impact. Set a named contact and a date for the next update.
For networks and platforms
- Publish validation and payment SLAs in one place. Include schedules, dependencies, and known choke points. Keep this current.
- Proactive incident comms. If a validation run misses, notify partners, state the cause, the new timeline, and the mitigation.
- Improve reconciliation tools. Provide a single report that links each transaction to invoice and payment. Allow export by programme and by date range.
- Offer risk-based faster pay. Where data supports it, pre-pay against expected approvals with clear thresholds and clawback terms.
- Back your account managers.. Give account teams a clear playbook for payment escalations, including finance contacts and standard templates.
For advertisers and agencies
- Treat payments as part of strategy. Late cash reduces partner investment and your sales. Make payments a standing agenda item in business review meetings..
- Audit your internal finance flow. Map purchase orders (POs), invoice approval and payment release. Remove multi-channel PO conflicts. Publish expected timelines to partners.
- Hold to published terms. If a slip is unavoidable, notify early, name the fix, and provide a date for resolution.
- Pilot faster validation where safe. For low-risk cohorts, shorten windows or run interim approvals to bring cash forward.
- Measure the upside. Track sales and coverage changes when payment speed improves, then scale what works.
What good looks like
Warrick cited Awin’s faster payment pilot on selected programmes that removed a chunk of validation delay through predefined acceptance rules, which allowed faster invoicing. The approach works, but it is not standard and needs repeated negotiation. Carla pointed to Optimise’s express pay model where long-standing, high-quality partners can be pre-paid. Both examples linked faster cash to higher partner investment and better results for brands.
What the APMA will do next
The APMA will continue cross-stakeholder workshops, publish the advertiser code of conduct once ready, and expand practical guidance for finance and account teams. Jules closed with a reminder. “Any improvement in payment speed means more revenue, more customers and higher valuations. It also supports job creation. That is the outcome we want.”
Final tips from the panel
- Carla Arrindell, Optimise: “Get closer to contacts who can help, including finance. Build relationships so you get insight and support when things go wrong.”
- David Ayre, intent.ly: “Talk to each other and be transparent, especially through peak. Get involved in the APMA.”
- Rich Lane, Revving: “Share plans. If partners show what faster payments unlock next quarter, everyone understands the value.”
- Warrick Lambert, Genie Shopping: “Leverage peak. Audit commissions, payment terms and rejection rates. Negotiate on timing and approvals, not only on CPA.”
The message across the board was consistent. Faster, predictable payments increase partner investment, reduce waste, and grow programmes. The fixes are known. The work is to apply them, communicate clearly, and measure the results.
Read APMA Payments Guide
