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How the score works

The Affcalculator quality score rates an affiliate cohort from 0 to 100 on what happens after the FTD. It exists because most affiliate reports stop at deposit volume, which is exactly where the real analysis should begin. Volume is not quality; sometimes your biggest affiliate is your most expensive leak.

The scored KPIs

Eight KPIs, each normalized between a "poor" (0 points) and "good" (100 points) benchmark, then weighted. Fields you leave blank are excluded and the remaining weights rescale automatically, so a short-form score and a full-form score are always comparable.

KPIWeightPoor (0)Good (100)
FTD to 2nd deposit rate20%15%45%
NGR per FTD at 90 days20%€0€150
Active at day 3015%10%35%
Bonus cost, % of deposits15%40%15%
Registration to FTD rate10%10%40%
Early withdrawal rate10%50%15%
NGR per FTD at 30 days5%€0€60
Wagered per FTD at 90 days5%€0€2,000

The 2nd deposit rate and 90-day NGR carry the most weight because they are the two numbers that separate players from bonus tourists. The wagered benchmark assumes casino traffic; sportsbook turnover per FTD runs far lower.

The penalties

Fraud and risk are not KPIs to average away, so they cut the score after weighting: responsible gambling flags reduce it by 4% per percentage point (capped at 40%), duplicate accounts by 5% per point (capped at 50%), and chargebacks by 5% per point (capped at 30%). A KYC pass rate below 85% raises a review flag without changing the score, because verification failure is a compliance conversation, not a discount.

The tiers

A (75-100): scale, raise caps, protect the terms. B (60-74): keep and review quarterly. C (40-59): renegotiate, usually away from flat CPA. Below 40: a leak; audit before the next invoice.

Deal economics

Separately from quality, the calculator computes total 90-day cost (CPA × FTDs + fixed fees + rev share on GGR or NGR as contracted), ROI against cohort NGR, and payback in months at the 90-day run rate. Quality and deal structure are scored apart on purpose: good traffic on a bad deal loses money, and a rev share deal can make mediocre traffic acceptable because cost tracks value.

What the benchmarks are anchored to

The default thresholds are calibrated against published industry data rather than invented. The sources worth reading:

The 7.3% responsible-gambling base rate comes from Auer & Griffiths (2023), who found 7.3% of 37,986 new registrants at a European operator became high-risk within 90 days, and that first-week behaviour predicts it. Cohorts far above that baseline deserve scrutiny regardless of revenue.

Retention and deposit benchmarks reference Optimove's iGaming Pulse (monthly active retention around 70%, average monthly deposits per depositing player of roughly $544 US and $259 globally in late 2025).

Day-30 activity bands (15-25% industry, 30-40% best in class) and composite scoring practice, including weighting registration-to-FTD conversion and chargebacks, follow operator guidance such as Track360's traffic-quality scoring guide.

Bonus-abuse contrasts (high allocation with low wagering, healthy GGR with near-zero NGR) draw on Sumsub's iGaming Fraud Report (bonus abuse is roughly 64% of all iGaming fraud) and EveryMatrix's bonus-abuse analysis.

Every benchmark and weight is editable in the full model, because your market, product mix and margins should override defaults.

Limitations

This is a screening tool. It works on aggregated cohort metrics, not player-level data; it cannot detect sophisticated fraud like gnoming that survives duplicate checks; and a score is a reason to investigate or renegotiate, never a substitute for doing so. Validate before terminating any partner.

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