E051 - Real Talk On How Long It Takes To Get Into Big Affiliate Platforms

E051 - Real Talk On How Long It Takes To Get Into Big Affiliate Platforms

Most lenders underestimate how long it takes to get onto a major affiliate platform. The honest answer is 6 to 12 months. Sometimes 18. If one of these channels is on your 2027 roadmap, you need to start now.   In this solo episode, Carlos breaks down the five phases that explain the timeline: 1. Internal prep. Do you have a competitive product and funnel? Get your application rate above 40%. Card issuers need 70 to 80% approval rates, which implies serious work on model alignment. Personal loan lenders need a dialed-in funding rate, too. 2. Getting the partner's attention. A single intro call can take a month or two. BD teams are busy and you are not their priority unless you are already on their short list. 3. Getting them on board. Adding you usually redistributes revenue across their existing lenders rather than growing their top line. The business case looks very different for you than for them. 4. The deal. NDAs, contracts, and cross-functional review. Most terms are standardized. Lenders new to the game often redline anyway and lose months for little gain. 5. The partner does the work. Engineering and onboarding queues are out of your hands. Add it up and you're waiting 6 to 12 months for a single lead. Plan accordingly! ***** The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders San Francisco - September 23rd & 24th 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1 Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com [http://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter   The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com/], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Please Support Our Sponsors   Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]   New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency) NMG focuses on building affiliate marketing programs for consumer lenders. www.newmarketgrowth.com [http://www.newmarketgrowth.com]

News Pod #23 - Pagaya Sues Klarna for (Allegedly) Stealing Its Underwriting Model

Pagaya filed a lawsuit against Klarna for (allegedly) stealing is underwriting. Carlos & Nick discuss the implications for fintech marketers that share their underwriting policies with affiliate marketing platforms. Today's episode expands on coverage from this week's Newsletter. https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/pagaya-sues-klarna-for-allegedly [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/pagaya-sues-klarna-for-allegedly] ***** The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders San Francisco - September 23rd & 24th 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets end August 1 Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com [http://events.thefreetoaster.com]   ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter   The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com/], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Please Support Our Sponsors   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]   Fintel Connect   Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]

News Pod #22 - JD Power Sues Chime + A Preview of Our Sept 23rd Event In SF

JD Power sued Chime in the Southern District of New York over its "America's #1 choice for banking" campaign, alleging breach of contract, trademark infringement, and false advertising. Carlos and Nick discuss, expanding on the coverage in this week’s Edition of The Free Toaster Newsletter.   Carlos & Nick discuss the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders, September 23, sponsored by Experian and Engine by Gen. We talk about the open questions shaping the day: the future of search, who's native to AI, the important of human signal in a content flood, lender unit economics and the new bank formation wave, cross-channel attribution, and whether AI improves or replaces the partnership role. The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets end August 1 Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com [http://events.thefreetoaster.com]     ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter   The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com/], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Please Support Our Sponsors   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]   Fintel Connect   Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]

News Pod #21 - Cash Flow Underwriting Distribution - Carlos and Nick Continue The Convo...

We've been writing about Cash Flow Underwriting lately. This week we continue the conversation. We expand on what we wrote this week in The Free Toaster Newsletter: https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/will-llms-solve-distribution-for [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/will-llms-solve-distribution-for]   ***** The Free Toaster is hosting the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders on September 23rd & 24th in San Francisco.  Learn more: https://events.thefreetoaster.com/ [https://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb] Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]

News Pod #20 - What Would It Take To Scale Cash Flow Based Lending?

In an October 2024 article in The Free Toaster, Carlos laid out 3 things that would unlock distribution for Cash Flow Based Lenders. In today's episode, he shares the progress we've made on all 3 fronts over the last 18 months. https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting]   ***** The Free Toaster is hosting the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders on September 23rd & 24th in San Francisco.  Learn more: https://events.thefreetoaster.com/ [https://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=apr [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]