Consolidated Payment Process & Schedule
LinkShare issues two affiliate payments per month. Consolidated payments are initiated on, or close to, the 8th and 22nd of each month. Once we authorize and initiate a payment batch, it generally takes three to five business days for the checks to be mailed.

With batch payments, LinkShare includes all merchant payments received and cleared as of the day the payment file is authorized. This includes merchant payments received via wire transfer as of the prior business day. For merchants who pay by check, banks typically take five or more business days to clear the check and for LinkShare to be be in actual receipt of the funds.

Our standard payment terms require LinkShare's merchants to pay by the end of the calendar month once the invoice is posted. We do have a few merchants who pay net 30 or later, but these are very much the exception. For example, commissions earned during the month of October (which are invoiced in early November) would be paid by most of our merchants by November 30th and processed and paid, in turn, by LinkShare as part of the December 8th payment batch.

Payment Reports
There are two payment reports available to you in SynergyAnalytics™, which is accessed via the SynergyAnalytics™ link in the upper left hand corner of your LinkShare Home page. Once in SynergyAnalytics™, you can access your payment reports by going to the upper left hand box within the Network Transaction Analysis tab. The reports are:

• Affiliate Payment Summary Report: This provides the detail for each consolidated payment issued by LinkShare. By drilling down into each month and specific payment batch, you can see which merchants, invoice periods and dollar amounts are included in each payment. Select the check number to see the merchant detail behind each payment.
• Merchant Payment History Report: This report reflects if and when LinkShare has received payment from a merchant for a specific invoice period, beginning with the March 2005 invoice period. "Received" means the merchant's payment was received and the funds have cleared. LinkShare waits until the funds clear so we can be assured of distributing funds to affiliates.

The invoice periods in the Merchant Payment History Report update after at least one of your merchants has paid LinkShare for that month and we've issued that payment to you. For example, as soon as we issue your first September commission payment, you will see the September invoice period appear in your Merchant Payment History Report. The delay occurs initially and up until that first payment is included in a LinkShare batch. After the monthly column appears, you will see all merchant payment dates as they occur/clear with LinkShare.

Minimum Payment Thresholds
With the introduction of consolidated payments, affiliates receive one check or direct deposit from LinkShare for each payment batch, with a zero dollar payment threshold. However, affiliates have the option of creating a customized payment threshold for each of their channels. To change your minimum payment thresholds, go to Update Profile from Your Account on the Home page. Select the channel for which you wish to change the minimum payment threshold.

Channels are listed in the upper left hand corner of Your Account and are signified by the icon that looks like a web page (rather than the icon that looks like an ID card image). Scroll down to the Payment section and enter your payment threshold in the Payment Threshold box. The payment threshold must be a whole number and cannot contain a decimal. If you have more than one channel, you will need to set the minimum threshold for each channel. You can set a different threshold for each channel.

Direct Deposit
Once an affiliate receives and cashes their first physical check from LinkShare, US-based affiliates have the option of signing up for direct deposit. When your first physical check clears, you'll see an option in the Payment Information section of Your Profile where you can sign up for Direct Deposit ("Click here if you would like to switch your Preferred Payment Method to Direct Deposit."). Review the Direct Deposit agreement and select Agree. You will need to enter your Bank ID, Bank Name and Deposit Account ID in the Payment Information box. You can locate the Bank ID and your Account ID on the bottom of your checks. The Bank ID is the first set of nine-digit numbers and your Deposit Account ID is the twelve digit number following the Bank ID. When all the information has been entered, hit the Update button at the bottom of the screen. If everything is correct, you will see "Updated successfully" in the Message box.

After you enter your bank information, you will see Initiate Random Deposits in the Payment Information box, select this box. LinkShare will issue two random deposits to your account which can take seven to nine business days to post. Once these deposits post, you need to come back to the Payment Information area of Your Profile to enter and verify the amounts. Once verified, you are enabled for direct deposit. While your request is being processed, you will continue to receive your payments via physical check. Currently, direct deposit is only available for US-based affiliates, but we are working to develop direct deposit for international affiliates.