The most common conflict between an operator and a traffic team sounds like this: "we brought 900 players" — "we counted 640". Almost always it is not fraud, but the fact that nobody wrote down the definition of a qualified deposit.
Five parameters to fix in writing
Each of them moves the final invoice by tens of percent. They have to be agreed before the first click, not after the first reconciliation.
1. Minimum deposit
The amount below which a deposit does not count as an FTD. In LatAm it is usually the equivalent of 5–10 dollars, in tier-1 it is 20–25. The beginner's mistake is not accounting for the fact that in geos with cheap payment methods a player can put in the minimum, take the bonus and leave: formally such a deposit clears the threshold, but it does not pay back the CPA.
2. Qualification window
How many days a player has to make the first deposit after registration. The standard is 7 to 30 days. The longer the window, the better for the team and the harder it is for the operator to track the source: in a month the player could have come back through a different channel.
3. Minimum turnover
Not everyone treats it as mandatory, but it is exactly what cuts off bonus hunters: the player deposits, plays the bonus down to zero and withdraws. The standard requirement is turnover as a multiple of the deposit, or a fixed number of bets.
4. Exceptions
Multi-accounts, chargebacks, self-excluded players, accounts sharing a device or a payment instrument, players from geos closed by compliance. All of it is deducted in full and is not up for discussion — the only thing that matters is that the list is written down in advance.
5. Hold and clawback window
The hold is how many days a deposit "sits" before the invoice, usually 7. The clawback window has to be written separately: a chargeback arrives on day 60–120, when the invoice has long been paid. Without a written window there is nothing to claw back.
Typical market values
| Parameter | LatAm and Asia | Tier-1 |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $5–10 | $20–25 |
| Qualification window | 14–30 days | 7–14 days |
| Hold until the invoice | 7 days | 7–14 days |
| Clawback window | 60–90 days | 90–120 days |
Market benchmarks, not our terms: the actual figures are always discussed per geo and vertical.
How to put it in writing
Not in an email thread and not in a verbal agreement on a call, but as an annex to the contract: the parameter, the value, who verifies it, whose data export counts as primary in case of a discrepancy. The last point matters more than the rest — a discrepancy of a couple of percent will always be there; the only question is whose data is taken as the truth and how quickly a dispute gets settled.
Three mistakes that cost money
Agreeing the threshold but not the currency
"Minimum deposit 10" in Brazil can mean ten reais or ten dollars — a fivefold difference. The annex always states the currency and the rule for converting the rate on the payment date.
Counting an FTD by registration instead of by payment
If a player registered in March but paid in May, which month does the deposit belong to? The answer decides whether it fell inside the qualification window and into whose account. The working rule: an FTD counts by the date of the successful payment, attribution goes by the tag received at registration.
Not spelling out player returns
A player came through the link, did not deposit, left, and two months later came back on his own via a brand query and paid in. Whose FTD is that? "Ours" and "yours" are equally legitimate answers — what matters is agreeing in advance, otherwise a dispute is guaranteed.
What the annex should contain in the end
- The minimum deposit, with the currency and the conversion rule.
- The qualification window in days and the event it is counted from.
- Turnover requirement, if there is one.
- The full exclusion list: multi-accounts, chargebacks, self-exclusion, closed geos.
- Hold before the invoice and a separate clawback window.
- Whose data export is the primary one and within what time a discrepancy is worked through.
Six lines that save months of correspondence. If the affiliate refuses to put them in writing — that is the main signal of how the partnership will go.
Our terms on these points are collected on the page “Terms” — the same page covers brand bidding and closed geos.
