Affiliate
Definition
Affiliate: A partner paid by a broker for sending it customers — usually once per qualified sign-up — whose relationship with the customer typically ends at the referral.
What it means
An affiliate earns for introductions. A tracked link or code records who arrived through them, and the broker pays when that arrival meets the programme's conditions — most often a one-off CPA for each client who qualifies.
The difference from an introducing broker is what happens after the click. An IB usually keeps the relationship — teaching, answering questions, supporting clients in their own language — and is often paid a rebate on their continuing trading. An affiliate usually hands the client over and moves on. Brokers use both words loosely, so the title matters less than the terms.
Example
A finance writer places a broker link under a platform review and is paid once for each reader who opens and funds an account: that is affiliate work. An educator who runs weekly classes for the clients they refer, and earns on those clients' trading, is working as an IB.
Why it matters to an IB
Whatever the title, the partner agreement decides what you are paid for and when a client counts. And being paid by the broker is a connection readers should be told about, near the link — see evidence before claims.