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How We Pay You

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Owen Allen
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When you do business as a ClickBank vendor or affiliate, you'll receive regular payments from ClickBank. This article describes the methods and schedules by which vendors and affiliates are paid.

The following subjects are covered in this article:

Payment Methods

You can receive payments through the following methods:

  • Check – We mail a paper check to the address listed in your account. This is the default payment option.
  • Direct Deposit – We transfer your payment directly to your bank account. You can configure this by supplying your bank account information. Direct deposit is available in the US and select countries.
  • Wire Transfer – We transfer your payment by wire. This option is available for countries not served by international direct deposit.
  • Payoneer – We pay you using Payoneer, an international money transfer service. You can configure Payoneer by supplying your Payoneer account information.

You can switch between the available payment methods at any time. However, it may take up to a week for the new payment method to take effect. Regardless of the payment method, payments are issued to the payee name you have listed in your account.

NOTE – When you change your email address or password, the option to change your payment method is disabled for seven days as a security measure.

Check

Payment by check is the default payment method for ClickBank accounts. The check is made out to the payee name listed in your account and mailed to the address listed in your account.

Direct Deposit

You can receive payments by direct deposit.

Payments that are sent via direct deposit that are returned to us due to invalid banking information are re-sent to you via paper check. Additionally, your account payment method will be switched to paper check until you provide accurate banking information. You may contact ClickBank Accounting to inquire about the details of your returned direct deposits. Please send your request through our Account Questions form with the period ending date, the amount, and your nickname.

Your account nickname is added to your payee name for direct deposit payments.

US Direct Deposit

ClickBank offers direct deposit of your ClickBank account payment to U.S. bank accounts at no extra charge. Direct deposits may take 1-2 business days to reach your account, although many direct deposits are received on the same day that we send them.

International Direct Deposit

ClickBank offers International Direct Deposit (XACH) for direct deposit of your ClickBank account payments into certain international bank accounts, at no extra charge. XACH offers a fast and reliable method for direct deposit of your account payments in your local currency.

See the Accounting Policy page for a list of the countries currently supported for International Direct Deposit.

NOTE - If your country is not on the list, you may be eligible to receive payments by wire transfer for select accounts. Please contact ClickBank Accounting to inquire as to the availability of wire payments.

Once sent, XACH payments generally take only a few days to reach your account, depending on what country your account is in and what currency you receive payment in. Specifically, payments typically take:

  • 1-2 days for Canada
  • 2-3 days for Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the countries within the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA)
  • 3-4 days for Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom
  • 4-5 days for India

Enabling Direct Deposit

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Account Settings tab.
  3. Locate the Payment Information section and click Edit.
  4. Select the Direct Deposit payment method radio button.
  5. Accept the Terms & Conditions.
  6. Enter the Direct Deposit information:
    • Bank Country
    • Bank City
    • Bank Name
    • Account Number
    • Routing Code
    • Account Type
  7. Check the box acknowledging that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions.
  8. Click Save Changes.
    The system displays a notification in your account and sends an email to your Account Email Address with instructions for completing the process.
  9. Follow the link in the email to confirm the change.
    Once you follow the link, the system displays a confirmation of the change, and sends an email confirming the change. Your future payments will use this direct deposit information.

Wire Transfer

For those clients that reside in a country in which we do not currently offer International Direct Deposit (XACH), ClickBank does offer direct wire payment to your bank account for ClickBank accounts with sufficient volume. The additional cost for a wire payment is $35 per wire sent, and an unlimited number of ClickBank accounts can be included in a single wire. Wire payments are available in USD only. To inquire about the availability of wire payment for your specific ClickBank account(s), please use our Account Questions form and select "Payment Inquiries" as the subject line.

Payoneer

To get started, sign up for a Payoneer account. Once approved you will receive an e-mail confirmation with your US Payment Service details, which is your US collection account.

You can set up your ClickBank account to distribute funds to your new Payoneer account via xACH using the following steps: 

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Settings tab.
  3. Locate your Payment Information near the bottom of the page and click Edit.
  4. In the Payment Information Editor, select Direct Deposit.
    The Direct Deposit Information entry screen is displayed.
  5. Select "United States" as your Bank Country.
  6. Enter "New York City," or the name of another city where Payoneer operates, as your Bank City.
  7. For the Bank Name, Account Number, and Routing Number fields, use the information provided to you by Payoneer.
  8. Select “Checking” as your Account Type.
  9. Click Save Changes.
    ClickBank will send you an email confirmation of your changes.

Payment Amounts

The amount that you are paid with each payment varies depending on your payment threshold and account activity. Your portion of sales as a vendor or as an affiliate are credited to your account, and refunds, chargebacks, and chargeback fees are debited from your account.

Generally, if the amount in your account exceeds your payment threshold, you are paid the full amount, minus the following:

  • A $2.50 processing charge.
  • Your return allowance. Typically, this is 10% of the total balance, which is held until the next payment to manage quality issues that arise between payments. The percentage may be increased based on an account's refund and chargeback rates or other issues. No return allowance is held on payments that total $25 or less.

See the Viewing Payments section for information about viewing any fees or other charges or credits that can impact your payment amount.

NOTE – You must meet the Customer Distribution Requirement before you can receive your first payment.

Payment Threshold

The "Payment Threshold" is a predetermined minimum amount of money you must have in your account before we make a payment to you. You may select an amount from $10 to $1,000,000 as your Payment Threshold amount. The default setting is $100. We hold your payment until your payable balance reaches this amount.

To change your payment threshold:

  1. Log in to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Settings tab.
  3. Locate the Payment Information section and click Edit.
  4. Select a new payment threshold from the dropdown menu.
  5. Click Save Changes.

Deductions

If the funds in your account have reached your payment threshold, we send a payment to you. However, the payment may be less than the full amount, due to the following deductions:

Debit Backdating – Returns and revokes are backdated 7 days for accounting purposes. For example, if a return is processed on a Thursday after pay period end, the debit is applied to the previous pay period.

Return Allowance – ClickBank withholds a fraction from each payment that is credited back to your account after 12 weeks (about 84 days). These funds are used to manage quality issues that may arise with Products you publish or promote, including delayed refunds or revoked sales. The standard return allowance is 10%. ClickBank may adjust your return allowance at any time.

If your account has no earnings over an extended period of time, it is considered dormant. Dormant accounts are subject to charges of:

  • $1 per pay period after 90 days of no earnings
  • $5 per pay period after 180 days of no earnings
  • $50 per pay period after 365 days of no earnings

Debits

This section explains the most common debits that can reduce your payment amount.

Refunds

As part of our commitment to quality customer service and satisfaction, ClickBank may approve a return in accordance with our Return and Cancellation Policy. When a sale is returned the customer receives a 100% refund and payouts from that sale are debited back out of the corresponding Vendor and Affiliate accounts.

If the return is for a recurring billing product, then the return policy allows for the most recent payment to be returned. A refund for a recurring billing product also cancels the recurring payments.

Product returns are evidence of customer dissatisfaction with product quality or lack of support and ClickBank wants to encourage Vendors to identify and fix any problems to minimize the number of returned sales. Therefore, Vendor accounts that maintain a refund rate in excess of 15% may be subject to ClickBank retaining its processing margin. Vendor accounts that maintain a refund rate significantly above this amount may be subject to additional fees.

See the Refunds & Chargebacks article for more information about reducing refunds.

Chargebacks

A purchase is "charged back" when a customer disputes a charge through their bank or credit provider, usually because the customer claims that the purchase was unfunded, unauthorized or fraudulent. Customers may also initiate a chargeback through their bank or credit card company if they feel they’ve been unsuccessful in getting a refund directly from the retailer. 

Chargebacks cost ClickBank money and harm its valuable reputation as a reliable Internet retailer. When a Vendor is the subject of a chargeback, the Vendor is assessed a fee based on the chargeback rate of the Vendor account. The chargeback fee assessed to the Vendor is:

  • $22 if the account's chargeback rate is less than 1.0%
  • $29 + ClickBank's margin if the account's chargeback rate is between 1.0%-1.49%
  • $49 + ClickBank's margin if the account's chargeback rate is greater than 1.5%

Overall, sales processed by ClickBank traditionally have a chargeback rate of less than 1%, which is quite low for an internet retailer.

See the Refunds & Chargebacks article for more information about reducing chargebacks.

Example Payment Calculation

Here is an example showing how a payment is calculated.

Previous Balance = $50

Credits = $100

Debits = $25

Allowance release = $35

Here's the math:

$50 (previous balance)

+ 100 (credits)

- 25 (debits)

+ 35 (allowance release)

______

$160 (preliminary total)

Allowance = $160 x 10% = $16

$160 (preliminary total)

- 16 (return allowance)

________

$144 (payment amount)

Payment Schedule

Payments are always sent on the Wednesday two weeks after period-end.

Accounts receiving direct deposit (US or International) are eligible for once per week or once per two week payments. All other accounts receive payments once every two weeks (each a "Payment Frequency"). Pay period end times and payment send dates are dependent upon your selected Payment Frequency. For accounts receiving payments weekly, pay periods end at 12:00:00 a.m. Pacific time every Wednesday. For accounts receiving payments once every two weeks, pay periods end at 12:00:00 a.m. Pacific time every other Wednesday. Changes to your selected Payment Frequency will go into effect in accordance with the Payment Change Deadline.

Changing your Payment Frequency from once per week to once every two weeks (or vice-versa) may result in overlap between pay periods and the amount settled. Due to the overlap the first pay period on your new schedule could be longer or shorter than standard. In the case of overlap, ClickBank always settles your open sales since your last pay period ended.

All changes to payment details, including address or payee changes, and changes between payment methods, must be made before the applicable deadline for each pay period. Specifically, changes must be complete before settlement is run, which occurs at 5 p.m. (U.S. Mountain Time Zone) Tuesday, one week after a pay period ends.

Examples

The following calendars shows an example month, with notations for which Sale/Pay Period Start and End Date, refunds that are calculated through Debit Backdating, and Payment Change Deadlines.

Bi-Weekly Example

This image shows a calendar view of the payment schedule for an account with biweekly payments. The month begins on Monday the 1st. The sales/pay period runs from Wednesday the 3rd through Tuesday the 16th. Debit backdating starts on Wednesday the 17th and ends on Tuesday the 23rd. Tuesday the 23rd is also the payment change deadline. The payment is for the pay period of the 3rd through the 16th is then sent on the 31st.

Weekly Example

This image shows a calendar view of the payment schedule for an account with weekly payments. The month begins on Monday the 1st. The sales/pay period runs from Wednesday the 3rd through Tuesday the 9th. Debit backdating starts on Wednesday the 10th and ends on Tuesday the 16th. Tuesday the 16th is also the payment change deadline. The payment is for the pay period of the 3rd through the 9th is then sent on the 24th.

Customer Distribution Requirement

ClickBank will withhold payment of any balance until an account shows a minimum of 5 sales using at least two of the following payment methods:

  • American Express
  • Carte Bleue
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Maestro
  • MasterCard
  • PayPal
  • Visa

This requirement is in place to help prevent Affiliates from abusing the ClickBank Affiliate program by using their accounts for the sole purpose of fraudulently collecting rebates and/or discounts on their own purchases.

Once you have met the Customer Distribution Requirement, your account will begin issuing payments normally, in accordance with our Accounting Policy, beginning on the next payment issuing date.

Viewing Payments

You can view information about your payments through Payments Reporting. You can view a summary of past payments, or click on a payment to view details about it.

Viewing the Payment Summary

You can view all of your past payments. The UI displays a running total, showing the credits, debits, and payment for each pay period, with the most recent pay period at the top.

  1. Login to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Reporting tab.
  3. Click Paychecks.
    The Paychecks section is displayed. This lists every pay period that has been paid out. The details include:
    • Payment Frequency – How often the account is paid. Accounts can be paid weekly (W) or bi-weekly (BW).
    • Period Ending – The date on which the pay period ended. You can hover over the date to see the exact range, or click the ending date to display details on the pay period.
    • Balance Forward – The unpaid balance carried forward from the previous pay period.
    • Credits – The account's total revenue during the pay period. This includes your portion of sales of your products, affiliate commissions, and reissued payments from prior pay periods.
    • Debits – The total debits from the account during the pay period. This includes refunds, chargebacks, and any fees.
    • Release – The amount of prior return allowances that was released in this pay period.
    • Allowance – The return allowance that was withheld during this pay period.
    • Payment Net Balance – The amount that was paid to you, if the amount meets your payment threshold, or the amount that was carried forward to the next pay period if it did not meet your payment threshold.
    • Status – The status of the balance at the end of the pay period. The possible statuses are:
      • PAID – The net balance at end of period was paid. Paid balance delivery begins on the Date Sent date.
      • THRESHOLD – The account balance did not exceed the Payment Threshold at period end. The balance is carried forward to the next pay period.
      • CDR – The account has not yet met the Customer Distribution Requirement. The balance is carried forward to the next pay period.
      • SUSPEND – The account temporarily suspended from payment. Contact ClickBank for more information. The balance is carried forward to the next pay period.
    • Date Sent – The date on which the payment was sent or will be sent. A dash indicates that a payment was not sent for the pay period.
    • Payment Method – The method by which a payment was sent for the pay period.
    • CSV – For pay periods with account activity, you can click the CSV icon to download a report showing each line item during the pay period.

Viewing Payment Details

You can view the details for a payment period, including all debits and credits that were included in the payment.

  1. Login to your ClickBank account.
  2. Click the Reporting tab.
  3. Click Paychecks.
    The Paychecks section is displayed.
  4. Click the ending date for a payment period.
    The details for that payment period are displayed. The format and fields are the same as those used in Transactions Reporting, but restricted to the transactions that are included in the selected pay period.

Item Codes

The following item codes are used in the Paycheck Detail table and the CSV report:

  • ach-0001 – Payout deduction for an ACH bounce. This fee is $20.00.
  • bncd-0001 – Payout deduction for revoked sale paid via online check
  • bncd-0002 – Payout deduction for insufficient funds via ELV payment
  • rtck-0001 – Payout deduction for returned sale paid via online check
  • cgbk-0001 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via Visa
  • cgbk-0002 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via Mastercard
  • cgbk-0003 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via American Express
  • cgbk-0004 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via Discover Card
  • cgbk-0005 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via Diners Club
  • cgbk-0006 – Payout deduction for charged back credit card sale paid via JCBC
  • cgbk-0007 – Payout deduction for revoked sale paid via Paypal
  • cgbk-0008 – Payout deduction for revoked sale paid via ELV
  • cgbk-0010 – Payout deduction for excessive chargeback rate
  • cgbk-0011 – Payout deduction for excessive chargeback rate
  • cgbk-0012 – Payout deduction for excessive chargeback rate
  • cgbk-0013 – Payout deduction for excessive chargeback rate
  • cgbk-0014 – Payout deduction for excessive chargeback rate
  • bons-0001 – Referral program bonus
  • bons-0002 – Account bonus
  • chrg-0001 – Pay period processing charge
  • chrg-0002 – Dormant account charge - 90 days
  • chrg-0003 – Dormant account charge - 365 days
  • chrg-0004 – Charge for advertisement on ClickBank.com
  • chrg-0006 – Dormant account charge - 180 days dormant
  • rlse-0001 – Previously held return allowance returned to your account
  • wthd-0001 – Return allowance withheld
  • frft-0001 – Forfeiture of account balance
  • rfee-0001 – Charge for re-issuing a prior payment
  • rssu-0001 – Reissue of a check payment
  • rssu-0002 – Reissue of a direct deposit
  • rssu-0003 – Reissue of a wire transfer
  • wfee-0001 – Charge for sending a wire payment
  • rfnd-0001 – Payout deduction for excessive refund rate
  • rfnd-0002 – Payout deduction for excessive refund rate
  • rfnd-0003 – Payout deduction for excessive refund rate
  • rfnd-0004 – Per-refund payout deduction
  • ftfee-0001 – Fee for free trial products

Tax Forms

We send 1099 forms to US based affiliates who generate more than $600 in commissions. There are some instances when a 1099 is not sent to an affiliate based in the US.

1099 forms are sent in January.

U.S.-based affiliates making more than $600 a year must provide a Taxpayer ID. This can be your social security number, or a government-issued Employer Identification Number (EIN). See the IRS website to obtain a free EIN.

Your taxpayer ID number must match the payee name on your account. If you are utilizing a business payee name but reporting under an individual social security number, you will need to fax a completed IRS W-9 form to us at 559-210-0502. Be sure to include a cover sheet that indicates your account nickname.

If you are utilizing a U.S. address but are a beneficial resident of a foreign country, you will instead need to fax a completed IRS W-8ben form to us at 559-210-0502. Be sure to include a cover sheet that indicates your account nickname.

For more information please see the accounting policy.

Video

Troubleshooting

Why Haven't I Been Paid?

If this is your first payment there are two common reasons:

If this is not your first payment, you can have your check reissued if you are receiving payments by check, or contact ClickBank for more information.

If you are receiving payments by direct deposit and a payment is returned to us due to a problem with your banking information, your account is reverted to receiving payments by check, and a check is sent to you.

What Do I Do If My Check Has Been Stolen?

In some countries mail theft is not uncommon. If a check is fraudulently endorsed (deposited by someone other than you) you will need to open a fraud case with our bank. If the bank determines that fraud occurred they will reimburse us the funds. We will then issue you a replacement check. ClickBank cannot reissue a check prior to the funds being returned to us or prior to the completion of the investigation by the bank. To receive information on how to open a fraud case with our bank please use the Account Questions form.

I Didn't Cash My Check In 90 Days. How Can I Get It Reissued?

ClickBank checks are VOID after 90 days from the date of issue. Please present your checks to your financial institution promptly. If you present a check after the 90 days your bank may refuse the check. We can issue a new check only if the stale check is in our possession. Please write "VOID" across the check and send it to the following address:

Click Sales, Inc.
Attn: Paychecks Department
1444 S. Entertainment Ave., Suite 410
Boise, ID 83709 USA

After we receive the stale check, funds will be re-credited to your ClickBank account and sent on your next payment date via your ClickBank account's selected payment preferences. It is very important that you login to your ClickBank account and make any necessary changes to your payee name and address.

My Check Has Been Delayed In The Mail. How Can I Get It Reissued?

No national postal service is 100% reliable. If your check is significantly delayed you may request that we send you a new check. To issue a new check we have to pay a service fee to the bank network to recall (void) the first check. A US $20 cancellation charge applies and is deducted from the amount of the newly reissued check. New checks will only be issued on days when regular checks are sent. ClickBank must receive the reissue request by the pay period end date in order for the reissue check to be processed at the same time as the payment for that pay period. There are no exceptions to these deadlines. To request that a check be reissued, please use the Account Questions form.

Why is my balance decreasing?

Accounts with a positive balance but no earnings for an extended period of time are considered dormant. Dormant accounts are subject to a charge.

I listed a business name in my account but can't cash a check under that name. What do I do?

Return the check to:

Click Sales, Inc.
Attn: Paychecks Department
1444 S. Entertainment Ave., Suite 410
Boise, ID 83709 USA

Add a note requesting a change to the payee name and we will reissue the check.

You will also need to permanently change the payee name in your account.

How Can I Contact ClickBank With An Issue?

If you are having a payment issue, you can file a support ticket or contact your customer service representative.

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