When you apply to the Awin.com affiliate network, there’s one place in the process where they ask you to enter your credit card to charge $5 to it. Why does Awin do that?

I can tell you the reason why. Full disclosure – I work for Awin.com.

Awin is dedicated to keeping fraudsters out of the network, so the application process is quite thorough about proving the applicant’s identity. If you think about it, the credit card company had to verify your identity before giving you a credit card, so this is just one more way to make sure you are truly the person applying to join the network. Fraudsters will do anything to hide their identity, so the last thing they want to do is submit any information that would enable Awin to find out who they really are.

The money is instantly placed in your account on Awin.com, so in reality it doesn’t cost you a cent. You get the whole $5 back (it’s included in your first payout, so it also makes you $5 closer to your first commission payment).

Some key things to know about this process:

• Awin never sees your credit card number. The whole thing is handled by a secure third party who merely verifies the information associated with the card back to Awin.com. It’s also not kept on file, so no worries that it could be hacked later either.

• If you want your money back sooner, just request to close your Awin account and it will be returned to you. (But since Awin has advertisers like Etsy.com, HP.com, and GetYourGuide.com among thousands of others, there’s no reason to quit!)

• Yes, Awin is the only network that does this, and it’s been tremendously successful, so it won’t change in the future. If anyone else asks you to pay when you join, I would strongly recommend against it.
  

If you want to join Awin

Because I am familiar with the folks here at Wealthy Affiliate, I have a join link you can use if you wish. It’s not an affiliate link, but it does tell Awin that you came via Wealthy Affiliate so your application can be fast-tracked.

If you have any questions about this, please feel free to ask and I’ll be glad to answer as soon as possible.