Alana Levine, Chief Revenue Officer at Fintel Connect, returns to break down the compliance challenges that affiliate marketers face. As AI reshapes the affiliate landscape, financial institutions face mounting pressure to get compliance right—or face serious consequences.
In this episode, Alana shares her framework for managing affiliate compliance at scale, the real-world costs of getting it wrong, and how the rise of influencer marketing and LLMs is creating additional complexity for the next 12-24 months.
We discuss...The Six Compliance Blind Spots
- Partner vetting: Creating systematic rules for who represents your brand
- Content accuracy: Managing product changes across dozens of live campaigns
- Compensation models: Understanding regulatory limitations on affiliate payments
- Disclosures: FTC requirements and commercial relationship transparency
- Data capture: Navigating GDPR, CCPA, and FCC lead buying rules
- Audit readiness: Maintaining documentation for regulator reviews
Managing Compliance at Scale
- Manual workflows vs. automated solutions: When to invest
- Key players: PerformLine, BrandVerity, Fides, Red Marker, Fintel Check
- Cost reality: ~$100K for dedicated compliance support at $1M affiliate spend
- Real examples of tools catching violations before regulators notice
Publisher Adaptation and the Future
- SEO traffic down 30% for content-heavy publishers
- Why paid replacement traffic is more expensive and lower converting
- Alana's prediction: Affiliate spend will increase, quality will improve
*****
About Alana Levine
Alana is the Chief Revenue Officer at Fintel Connect, an award-winning performance marketing technology company dedicated to driving growth in the fintech, banking and insurance space. They're on a mission to create greater transparency and become the place to be for innovative fintechs and banks to connect with targeted influencers and publishers in the space. As a leading banking and fintech affiliate network in North America, Fintel is proud to power the affiliate programs for partners like Scotiabank, Tangerine Bank, EQ Bank, Borrowell and others.
*****
A word from our sponsor, Fintel ConnectDrive 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
A word from our sponsor, 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=oct
A word from our sponsor, New Market Growth:
New Market Growth helps fintech consumer lenders generate explosive growth on affiliate marketing channels like Credit Karma, Experian Marketplace, LendingTree, and others. Affiliate marketing involves marketing & credit risk expertise, and NMG's founders bring this with 21+ years of lending experience and 8+ years experience as executive affiliate operators. If you'd like help planning or implementing your affiliate marketing strategy, email us at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com
Subscribe to the Free Toaster Newsletter: www.thefreetoaster.com/
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.