Newbies in the casino affiliate business often come across unfamiliar terms. One such term is a negative carryover. And I advise you to learn its meaning as soon as possible because it is one of the essential attributes of casino affiliate programs. In this article, I will explain this concept in detail and give valuable tips.
What is Negative Carryover?
Negative Carryover or NCO means that the negative commission in the casino affiliate program is carried over to the next month.
Casino players can both lose money and win it. In the first case, you make money, and in the second case, you lose it. When the winnings of the players are greater than the losses, your balance becomes negative. If your affiliate program has a negative carryover, you start the new accounting period with a negative balance. To get back into the positive balance, you need until the earnings from new players cover the negative.
Let’s consider how this system works with an example. Imagine that the player you referred won, and your balance is -$2,350 at the end of September. If this affiliate program has a negative carryover, you start October with -$2,350.
No Negative Carryover
The Negative Carryover is gradually becoming a thing of the past. More and more casino affiliate programs are abandoning this practice and offering partners a no negative carryover policy.
In this case, if you end the month with negative earnings, you start the new month with a zero balance.
Is Negative Carryover a key factor when choosing the program?
Now that you’re familiar with the concept, you may be wondering if you should even work with programs that have NCO. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question unequivocally; you have to decide for yourself. But you should definitely not immediately reject a potential partner because of such a policy. First, evaluate the program according to other parameters, and if everything suits you, then the Negative Carryover should not stop you from working with a program.
Are there any advantages of Negative Carryover deals?
Well, the negative carryover disadvantages are obvious, but what about the positive sides? At first glance, it may seem that there are none, but if you dig deeper, it is possible to unearth several pros. Here are some of them:
- Better starting deal. Affiliate programs understand that you are taking a risk when working on NCO, so they offer better deals, like higher Revenue Share.
- The opportunity to work with big brand names. Some very famous affiliate programs work with a Negative Carryover policy only. And you have no other choice if you want to work with such brands as bet365, NetBet, Casino.com, and many others.
What to do if your balance is in a deep sh…t big negative?
Let’s imagine the worst-case scenario. You work with a program that has a Negative Carryover. Your balance at the end of the month is -$10,000; what about -$50,000 or even -$100,000. All this is possible, and you should be ready for it. Here are some tips that will tell you what to do if your account has gone into the deep negative.
✓Continue Working with a Program
Do not rush to panic and do something. First, try to continue working with the program as usual. It is very likely that the negative balance will be covered in a month or two, especially if one player caused it. If that’s the case, consider yourself lucky and hope it doesn’t happen again.
Here is an example of a program where I have a large negative balance and continue to work with them as usual. Hopefully, I can close it and keep a very valuable High Roller.
✓Ask an affiliate manager to remove the negative balance
You may be surprised by what a simple request can sometimes do. If you have a good relationship with the program, then you can ask to reset your balance or isolate the player who contributed to the mess. In return, you can offer them additional promotions on your website.
✓Don’t deliver new players to the program
If the terms and conditions of the program allow it, you can remove it from your site to prevent new players from registering there. In this way, you will receive income from these players in other programs, and the negative will be covered by the existing ones.
✓Create a new account
If none of the above has happened, and you really want to cooperate with this brand, then ask the manager to create a new account for you. Yes, you will lose all the players you brought to it. But if you know that the partner brings you good earnings and can’t agree on anything else, then this is your only option. But please note that some affiliate programs prohibit multiple account creation. So before creating a new one, please discuss it with your affiliate manager.
✓Stop working with the program
If you feel it will be impossible to cover your balance with new earnings and cannot create a fresh account, then the only way out is to cooperate with a partner. Be sure to write about your decision to the affiliate program representative. It may happen that they find a way out of the situation that suits both of you.
High Roller Policy Explained
It is worth noting that programs that offer No Negative Carryover have their pitfalls. The most important one you should know about is the High Roller Policy.
High Roller Policy is no negative carryover program rules that apply to players with large winnings, usually $5,000 or more. If a single player has generated a negative commission of $5,000 or more, they will be isolated until they cover that negative with further activity.
The activity of the High Roller will not affect the higher earnings from other players. In this way, you will be able to earn by bringing new players in the future.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand the concept of Negative Carriers in casino affiliate programs. Now it will be much easier for you to navigate through a massive number of programs and make the right choice. If you have any questions about the article, feel free to leave a comment below.
