A broker can pitch you an IB deal that looks generous on paper. The rep is warm, the portal screenshots are clean, and the rate beats what you've seen before. Then you sign, send over your first batch of traders, and the fine print starts to matter.
Payouts land a month late. The portal numbers refresh weekly instead of live. Nobody can tell you where a sub-IB's volume got counted.
The rate is the last thing you should be checking and the first thing people check. Before you sign, the real question is whether the program is genuine: licensed, able to pay on schedule, and built to run sub-IBs from the markets you operate in.
What this checklist covers
Four groups of checks, in the order we would run them: the license, verified on the regulator's own register instead of the broker's website; the payout mechanics, pinned down in writing before anything is signed; the sub-IB infrastructure; and how your jurisdiction, and your traders' jurisdictions, shape what the deal can legally look like. This is not a ranked list of top programs, and it deliberately skips the commission model math. Whether CPA, rev share, or lot rebate pays better is a model question, and we break that one down separately in our commission-model comparison; here we check whether the program behind the offer can deliver.
Check 1: Verify the license on the regulator's own register
The license is the cheapest fact you can verify and the most likely to be dressed up. "Regulated broker" is a marketing phrase, not a fact. A broker's own vetting guide (QuoMarkets, mid-2026) puts the license first and is specific about method: run the name against the regulator's own public register, not the marketing page; if the broker's core claims do not survive that lookup, the affiliate side is usually shakier too.
Start with the legal entity. The brand on the website is frequently a different company from the licensed one, so search the legal name, not the logo. Then check the status that matters for your market:
United Kingdom. Many IBs operate as Appointed Representatives under the broker's license. Search the FCA Financial Services Register by firm name to see both the firm and its appointed representatives.
Australia. Search ASIC's professional registers for AFS licensees and authorized representatives by name or license number.
Cyprus. CySEC's regulated-entities list publishes the investment-firm lists and, crucially, a list of approved domains. Check that the site you would send traffic to appears there.
Red flag: the broker names a regulator but the register search returns nothing, the licensed entity does not match the website, or an "EU license" will not name the member state.
Check 2: Get the payout mechanics in writing
Recurring commission only matters if it reaches your account on schedule. Track360's 2026 IB guide notes that forex IB earnings are tied to trading volume, per standard lot or as a percentage of spread revenue, and that manual payout operations break down once a program passes 50-100 IBs. The question is whether the payment pipeline is automated, documented, and boring.
Ask for four things in writing before you sign:
The formula. Base rate, spread width, account-type differences, and whether sub-IB override tiers carry a cap. One broker's checklist flags spread width and account types as the line items that quietly change a headline rate.
The cadence. Daily, weekly, or monthly cycle; the minimum withdrawal; and which rails you are paid on: bank transfer, e-wallet, or crypto. In the contract, not from the rep's mouth.
What counts. Minimum trade duration, holdback or clearing periods, and how volume is attributed when a trader moves between account types.
The proof. Self-service, exportable reporting on your own volume. QuoMarkets puts it plainly: that is one of the few things that genuinely protects your income.
For scale, one industry guide (Track360) pegs typical 2026 ranges: lot rebates of $2-15 per standard lot, spread shares of 20-50% of spread revenue, and CPA per first-time deposit from $100 up to $1,850 depending on region and tier. Treat those as a sanity check, not a promise, and ask how the program converts payouts when your base currency differs from your traders'.
Red flag: the rep answers payout questions by phone only, the numbers on the quote change in the contract, or "reporting" means a screenshot someone emails you.
Check 3: Stress-test the sub-IB infrastructure
If you build a sub-IB network, you are running a small upstream business, not just referring traders. One industry guide (Track360) describes the typical shape: hierarchies run 3-5 tiers deep, a Master IB earns direct commission on personally referred traders plus an override on all sub-IB volume, and white-label portals give sub-IBs branded self-service access with real-time data.
What to demand:
Portal access before signing. A live or demo login, and a straight answer on whether data updates in real time or in batches.
Attribution logic. How the program prevents double-counting across tiers, and what happens when an IB transfers between masters. Ask for the rule in writing.
Tracking method. Server-to-server postbacks or cookies alone. Track360 reports S2S postbacks recover 15-35% of conversions that cookie-based tracking misses, and calls cookie-only attribution effectively dead in 2026.
Sub-IB KYC. The verification your sub-IBs go through. A serious program keeps KYC/AML records, onboarding documents, and rebate agreements for every IB and will describe that process.
Post-onboarding assets. Which marketing materials, co-branded content, and certifications you actually receive, versus the ones in the pitch deck.
Red flag: no portal access until after signature, batch-updated numbers sold as "real time," or a tracking stack that cannot explain how a trade gets attributed to you.
Check 4: Work out how your jurisdiction changes the deal
The same program does not run the same way everywhere your traders sit. One industry guide's 2026 breakdown (Track360) maps the differences that matter for affiliates:
United Kingdom (FCA). IBs operate as Appointed Representatives or hold their own license; reforms in 2025 tightened AR oversight, and commissions must not create a conflict of interest.
Cyprus (CySEC). A basic license requires EUR 50,000 in minimum capital, EU passporting runs through MiFID II, and 30:1 leverage caps apply on major pairs.
European Union (ESMA/MiFID II). Complete audit trails are expected across the IB relationship, and inducement rules apply to commission structure.
Australia (ASIC). A 30:1 leverage cap has applied since 2021, and foreign brokers face a reporting obligation from October 2024.
Run the lookups from Check 1 against any broker you are considering: the FCA register, ASIC's professional registers, and the CySEC entities list all tell you which structure the entity you are dealing with actually sits in.
Why this matters for your numbers: leverage caps compress the lot volume your traders produce, and lot-based commission is built on exactly that volume. The same override rate on a capped retail book earns less than on an uncapped one, so a program that treats all traffic as one pool is hiding a real variable.
Red flag: the program will not say how a UK, EU, or Australian retail account is handled, or refuses to put jurisdiction treatment in the agreement.
Where Paynura fits
If your audience already funds through e-wallets instead of a broker's deposit page, the forex vertical at Paynura's forex page is built around that rail. We act as an independent affiliate partner of Skrill, Neteller, and Luxon Pay for trader audiences, and the income is deposit-based rather than trade-based. The page shows an illustrative commission of $12.40 per $1,000 deposited, with the standing note that figures are illustrative and final rates are confirmed during partner onboarding.
It is recurring income from your audience's deposit activity, with payouts in Skrill, Neteller, BTC, or USDT and a sub-affiliate tier for the affiliates you bring in. We explain that side of the offer in Monetize Your Forex Influence.
Before you compare it against a broker's IB pitch, it is worth seeing the offer numbers for your own traffic. You can create an account at Paynura and look at the live rates during onboarding.
FAQ
Does running an IB program require my own license?
It depends on where you operate. In the UK, most IBs work as Appointed Representatives under the broker's authorization, which is why the AR status is on the FCA register; in Australia, the structure is visible in ASIC's professional registers; and in Cyprus, the broker's entity and domain both need to appear on CySEC's lists. The lookups from Check 1 are how you confirm which structure you are signing into.
How often should a forex program pay out?
Industry guides report anything from daily to monthly cycles. The practical standard, per Track360's 2026 IB guide, is automated payout, since manual processing does not scale past 50-100 IBs. Whatever the cycle, the cadence, minimum withdrawal, and payment rails belong in writing before you sign.
How do I confirm a broker's license is real?
Search the licensed entity's legal name on the regulator's own register: the FCA Financial Services Register for UK firms, ASIC's professional registers for Australia, and CySEC's regulated-entities list for Cyprus. Use the legal name, not the brand, and for Cyprus confirm the domain you would refer users to is on the approved list. A broker that hesitates at this question has told you the answer.
What payout terms should a strong forex program offer?
A written formula that names spread width and account-type differences, a fixed cadence with a stated minimum withdrawal, at least two payment rails you can use, and self-service export of your volume. Track360's 2026 ranges for comparison: lot rebates of $2-15 per standard lot, spread shares of 20-50%, and CPA per first-time deposit from $100 up to $1,850. If a program's terms sit far outside that band, ask why before assuming the outlier works in your favor.
Before you sign
Run the register lookups. Get the formula, the cadence, and the attribution logic in writing. Only then should you do the commission math, because the math is the easy part and the fine print is where programs go quietly wrong.
Sign up at Paynura and review the forex and e-wallet offers in one dashboard before you commit your traffic anywhere.