CardSynergy Affiliate Program

Affiliate Publisher Terms & Conditions

CCRD Operating Company, Inc., a Bankrate, Inc. Company provides the services available at this site to you subject to the terms and conditions of this Affiliate Publisher Agreement (this "Agreement"). The Affiliate Network of CardSynergy (Also known as Nationwide Card Services or CreditCards.com Affiliate Network) is a service provided by CCRD Operating Company, Inc. Your use of this site and your relationship with CardSynergy are subject to all guidelines or rules that may be posted from time to time on this site, which are all incorporated by reference into this agreement. By clicking the "Accept" button or using this site, you are agreeing to be bound by all of the terms and conditions set forth below, in their entirety, without limitation or qualification, as if you had handwritten your name on a contract. If you do not agree to be bound by this Agreement, do not use this site. If the user is not an individual, then "you" means your company, its officers, employees, members, agents, successors and assigns.

1. Membership

Any website owner may apply to become a CardSynergy affiliate ("Affiliate"). Prospective Affiliates must fully complete the CardSynergy online membership application posted on this website. CardSynergy reserves the right to reject any prospective Affiliate for any reason including, without limitation, inclusion of or links to content that is, in CardSynergy's sole discretion, adult-oriented, offensive, unlawful, discriminatory, defamatory, indecent, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable. All applications must include contact information for the prospective Affiliate, information identifying the website, and samples or screen shots showing links and content of websites under construction. All Affiliates must be over 18 years old.

2. Links, Approved Marketing Copy, and Graphics

By using CardSynergy merchant links, you agree that you will fully cooperate with CardSynergy to create and maintain such links, approved marketing copy, and graphics. You agree to monitor these links frequently and immediately resolve any linking or HTML problems. As an Affiliate, CardSynergy will provide you with a menu of links, approved marketing copy, and graphics available to you in the CardSynergy Affiliate Marketing Network member section for publishers. By including a link on your website, your website visitors will have access to those merchant members' websites. You may not alter these links in any way. Furthermore, you may not use any marketing copy or graphical links other than those provided to you by CardSynergy without the express written consent of CardSynergy. The links, approved marketing copy, and graphics are subject to change at any time, in CardSynergy's sole discretion. CardSyenergy will inform you by either a detailed personalized email and/or email newsletter of any changes to your links, approved marketing copy, and banners. You agree to make any changes requested CardSyenrgy in the time frame provided by CardSyergy. CardSynergy is available by email at partnermgr@cardsynergy.com to assist you with link creation and strategic placement of links, approved marketing copy, and banners on your website.

3. Tracking and Reporting

As an Affiliate, CardSynergy will provide you with information regarding link traffic through your website. We will also provide you with a password-protected Affiliate resource web page. Each Affiliate and each Affiliate resource web page are assigned a unique source identification number. Your source identification number will be provided to you at the time you first access the CardSynergy Affiliate Marketing Network website. Each time you create a link, you are required to use the CardSynergy Link Generator tool to ensure that your unique tracking code is included in the links you elect to include on your website. By including this code in the link, CardSynergy can track click-throughs, impressions, applications and/or approvals, and revenues earned by you.

4. Compensation

a. CardSynergy agrees to pay you a commission for promoting our merchant member banner links on your website. You will earn a commission each time a consumer originating from your website completes an application and is approved for a merchant product or service on the merchant website, unless stated otherwise in our commission schedule which will be provided upon your acceptance as an Affiliate. Specific commissions will be determined by CardSynergy, in its sole discretion, depending on, among other things, payouts from CardSynergy's merchant partners for their products and services. CardSynergy is only obligated to compensate you for merchant product or service approvals for which CardSynergy is able to track from its merchant partners.

b. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, CardSynergy will compensate you for net commissions within 30 days after the end of each calendar month (a "Payment Period"). Only revenues in excess of $25.00 will be paid during a payment period. Revenues less than $25.00 will be carried over to the next payment period. Affiliates have the option of being paid by check via US Mail or ACH debit.

5. Your Responsibilities: Failure to comply with all or any of the following rules and regulations will result in the forfeiture of your commission and the immediate termination of your account.

a. You are solely responsible for:

• ensuring that your business activities and your website content meet the guidelines set forth in this Agreement;

• posting links/graphics on your website and checking them frequently to ensure they are in proper working order;

• ensuring that all materials posted on your website are not libelous or otherwise illegal;

• monitoring your search engine listings, keywords, and meta tags for complete compliance with this Agreement;

• submitting to us a list of all additional websites where you plan to post CardSynergy merchant member links for approval at partnermgr@cardsynergy.com;

• updating all contact, payment, and website information via your administrative page and ensuring that your site complies with all applicable copyright and other laws;

• developing your own branding, company logo, and business. You may not mislead a consumer by misrepresenting yourself as CardSynergy or one of the merchant members of the CardSynergy Affiliate Marketing Network; and
• Adhering to the supplemental guidelines of each CardSyenergy Merchant Partner that you approved with. For a listing of supplemental guidelines go to: (http://www.cardsynergy.com/supplemental-guidelines.php) . Please bookmark this link to reference back. These guidelines may change often and you are responsible for remaining in compliance with these guidelines.

b.You may not:

• Use any computer or other electronic device to send an unsolicited advertisement (also known as "spamming") to an electronic mail address of an individual with whom you lack a preexisting and ongoing business or personal relationship, unless you have received an express invitation or consent/permission from that individual;

• Add leads by fraudulent traffic generation (determined in CardSynergy's sole discretion) such as pre-population of forms, monetary, gift, or prize incentives, or other methods not approved by CardSynergy;

• Mislead consumers in pay-per-click search engine titles or descriptions. The title, description, and/or content must state the CardSynergy affiliate member name or URL to provide an indication to the user that the link leads to an affiliate member website only;

• use certain branded search terms in search engine advertising. Please reference ( http://www.cardsynergy.com/supplemental-guidelines.php) often for the most recent list of restricted keywords by Merchant Partner.

- Provide inaccurate, misleading, or defamatory information, or make any guarantees about CardSynergy, merchant members or the services they provide;

• Place a CardSynergy link directly with Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter or any other online networks;

• May not distribute an email marketing campaign without the pre-approval of CardSynergy;

• Charge a fee to your website visitors to link to the CardSynergy website or any of its merchant member websites or services;

• Take part in, associate with, or otherwise become involved in any activity or operation that diminishes the image or reputation of CardSynergy or any of its merchant members;

• Offer incentives and/or compensation to consumers in exchange for lead submission; or

• Add leads manually, batched, or in bulk into the CardSynergy or any of its merchant member websites. Bulk or batched leads are defined as leads collected by various methods, and then submitted to CardSynergy or any of its merchant members.
• Promote Merchant offers via Adware or Craiglist listings.
• Promote Merchant offers through off-line advertising without the written permission of CardSynergy.
• Promote Merchant offers through kiosks or similar means.

6. Compliance

CardSynergy may monitor your site at any time, and from time to time, to determine if you are in compliance with the terms of this Agreement. Changes to your site that are requested by CardSynergy which relate to the links provided by CardSynergy must be made in a timely manner. Failure to make changes to links as requested may result in termination of your status as an Affiliate. Affiliates whose status has been terminated may reapply to be an Affiliate only with the written consent of CardSynergy.

7. CardSynergy Policies

Any person or entity with a website containing links to CardSynergy or any of its merchant members, regardless of the point of origination, will be a deemed a customer of CardSynergy and subject to its rules, policies, and operating procedures. CardSynergy may change its policies and operating procedures at any time without providing notice.

8. Publicity and Promotions

You shall not create, publish, distribute, or permit any written, verbal, or electronic material that makes reference to CardSynergy or its affiliates without first submitting such material to us and receiving our written consent. You shall not make mention of our Affiliate publisher agreement or linking relationship to any form or member of the media, unless you receive written permission from CardSynergy.

9. Agreement Term

The term of this Agreement commences on our acceptance of your Affiliate publisher membership application and will end when terminated by either party. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause and for any reason, by giving the other party written notice of termination. You are only eligible to earn marketing and advertising fees during the term of this Agreement. Upon termination, you must remove from your website all CardSynergy merchant member links and other content provided to you by CardSynergy.

10. Limited License

For the term of this Agreement, CardSynergy grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to copy, display and use the merchant member links and images, provided through this website. The license granted herein shall terminate concurrently with the term of this Agreement. You may not copy or alter any of the material contained in or linked to the CardSynergy or merchant member websites. You may not use merchant member website content, links and services in any way that is disparaging or that otherwise negatively portrays CardSynergy or the merchant. CardSynergy reserves all intellectual property rights other than those rights expressly granted herein. The license granted herein may be revoked by CardSynergy at any time and for any reason, or no reason.

11. Intellectual Property

All content included on this site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, information, data, photographs, graphs, videos, typefaces, graphics, music, sounds, and other material, and software (the "Materials") is the property of CCRD Operating Company, Inc. or its content suppliers and protected by copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights and these rights are valid and protected in all forms, media and technologies existing now or hereinafter developed. All such content is copyrighted as a collective work under the U.S. copyright laws (17 U.S.C. Section 101, et. seq.) and international treaty provisions, and CCRD Operating Company, Inc. owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such content. All software used on this site is the property of CCRD Operating Company, Inc. or its software suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. You may not modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit any of the content on the site, in whole or in part. Any use other than as contemplated herein, including the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display, or performance, of the content on this site, except as specifically permitted herein, is strictly prohibited. CardSynergy is a trademark of CCRD Operating Company, Inc. All other marks, names, and logos mentioned on the CardSynergy site are the property of their respective owners.

12. Modification

CardSynergy may modify the terms of this Agreement, including without limitation the compensation structure, in its sole discretion. If you do not agree to any such modification, you may elect as your sole recourse to terminate this Agreement. Your continued participation as an Affiliate after the date of such modification constitutes a manifestation of your assent to be bound by the modified terms of this Agreement.

13. Relationship of Parties

The parties agree that we are independent contractors and nothing contained within this agreement will create any partnership or joint business venture, agency or franchise, sales representative, or employer / employee relationship. You shall not have any authority to make, accept, or solicit any offer or representation on behalf of CardSynergy or any of its merchant members. You shall not make any verbal, written, or electronic statement that may contradict this stated relationship of parties.

14. Limitation of Liability

YOU AGREE THAT CARDSYNERGY AND ITS PROVIDERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR EXPENSE OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR RESULTING FROM YOUR POSSESSION OR USE OF THE MATERIALS, CONTENT OR INFORMATION ON THE CARDSYNERGY SITE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS BASED IN TORT, CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE. IN NO EVENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION A NEGLIGENT ACT, SHALL CARDSYNERGY OR ANY OF ITS MERCHANT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS), ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE MATERIALS, CONTENT OR INFORMATION ON THE CARDSYNERGY SITE OR ANY OTHER PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR INFORMATION OFFERED, SOLD, OR DISPLAYED ON THE CARDSYNERGY SITE, YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE CARDSYNERGY SITE GENERALLY, OR OTHERWISE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER CARDSYNERGY OR ANY OF ITS PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

15. Disclaimer of Warranties

CARDSYNERGY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND, WITH RESPECT TO ANY THE MATERIALS, CONTENT OR INFORMATION ON THE CARDSYNERGY SITE OR THOSE OF ITS MEMBER MERCHANTS OR ANY GOODS OR OTHER PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OFFERED, SOLD, OR DISPLAYED ON THE CARDSYNERGY SITE OR YOUR USE OF THE CARDSYNERGY SITE GENERALLY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, ACCURACY OF INFORMATION, QUALITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, TITLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS LIMIT OR DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED OR OTHER WARRANTIES SO THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT SUCH JURISDICTION'S LAW IS APPLICABLE TO THIS AGREEMENT.

16. Confidentiality

All CardSynergy Affiliate Marketing Network information, pricing, agreements, correspondence, and any information you acquire as an Affiliate of CardSynergy shall remain strictly confidential and shall not be used, directly or indirectly, by you or any third party for your own business purposes. You agree not to use information provided by CardSynergy to compete with CardSynergy or any of its merchant members, nor will you share such information with any competitor of CardSynergy.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless CCRD Operating Company, Inc. (CardSyenergy), and its directors, officers, employees, agents, shareholders, partners, members, and associations from and against any and all claims, suits, actions, demands, injuries, liabilities, losses or deficits, damages, judgments, settlements, costs, or expenses arising out of or related in any way to your use of the CardSynergy site, violation of this Agreement, violation of any law or regulation or violation of any proprietary or privacy right.. The terms of this provision shall survive termination of this Agreement.

18. Taxation

Payment of any and all applicable city, state and federal taxes is your sole responsibility. No taxes of any kind, including without limitation sales or income taxes, will be withheld from any payments due to you hereunder. CCRD Operating Company, Inc. (CardSynergy) will report total annual commissions paid to you to the Internal Revenue Service using Form-1099, if applicable.

19. Dispute Resolution

Any dispute relating in any way to your use of the CardSynergy site shall be submitted to confidential arbitration in Austin, Texas, except that, to the extent you have in any manner breached the provisions of Section 16 or violated or threatened to violate CardSynergy's intellectual property rights, CCRD Operating Company, Inc. (CardSynergy) may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in any state or federal court in the state of Texas, and you consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in such courts. Arbitration under this agreement shall be conducted under the rules then prevailing of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class arbitration proceedings or otherwise.

20. Severability

This Agreement cannot be severed and alteration of any part without prior notice and acceptance will render the Agreement null and void. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of the Agreement or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to effect the intent of the Agreement, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

21. Choice of Law

This site is controlled, operated and administered by CardSynergy from its offices within Austin, Texas, United States of America. CardSynergy makes no representation that materials at this site are appropriate or available for use at other locations outside of the United States and access to them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. You may not use the site or export the Materials in violation of U.S. export laws and regulations. If you access this site from locations outside of the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas without giving effect to its conflict of laws provisions. This is the case regardless of whether you reside or transact business with CardSynergy in Texas or elsewhere. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Travis County, Texas.

22. Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between CCRD Operating Company, Inc. (CardSynergy) and you with respect this website and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written, between you and CCRD Operating Company, Inc. (CardSynergy) with respect to this website. A printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default.

23. Electronic Communications

You agree to be bound by any affirmation, assent or agreement you transmit through the CardSynergy website, including but not limited to any consent you give to receive communications from CardSynergy solely through electronic transmission. You agree that, when in the future you click on an "I agree," "I consent" or other similarly worded "button" or entry field with your mouse, keystroke or other computer device, your agreement or consent will be legally binding and enforceable and the legal equivalent of your handwritten signature.