Partner Program Terms

The short version

• Share your link or code. When a brand you refer becomes a client, you earn a share of what we bill that brand, for as long as it stays a client.
• A brand counts as yours if it signs up within 90 days of clicking your link, or enters your code. The first referral recorded wins.
• You earn when the brand pays us. Refunds the brand gives its own customers don’t reduce your commission.
• We pay by Wise, ACH or PayPal once your balance reaches $50. We need your tax form before the first payout.
• Be honest about BubbleSMS, say that you’re a partner, and never refer yourself.

1. About these terms

1.1 These Partner Program Terms (the “Partner Terms”) are an agreement between BubbleSMS (“BubbleSMS”, “we”, “us”) and you, the person or business that joins the BubbleSMS partner program (the “Program”).

1.2 You accept the Partner Terms when you continue past the sign-up screen of the partner portal. If you join for a business, you confirm you can bind it. You must be at least 18.

1.3 Schedule 1 (Commission rates), shown in your partner portal, forms part of the Partner Terms.

2. Joining

2.1 You sign up at partners.bubblesms.com with your email address and a one-time code. You get a referral link and a referral code straight away.

2.2 We may decline or remove any applicant at our discretion, for example if your audience or methods don’t fit the Program.

2.3 You may give us your profile, payout and tax details at any time. They are only required before your first payout (section 7).

3. Roles

• Direct partner (affiliate, agency or creator): you referred the brand to us yourself.
• Sales representative: a person we appoint to bring brands in, under a separate appointment with us. These Partner Terms apply to sales representatives except where that appointment says otherwise.
• Second-order partner: you referred another partner, who then referred the brand.

Each role is paid only if it is assigned for that brand. If a role isn’t assigned, nobody earns that share.

4. When a brand counts as your referral

4.1 Link. When someone clicks your referral link, we record the click and store a referral cookie in their browser for 90 days. If that browser is used to create a BubbleSMS account within those 90 days, the brand is referred to you.

4.2 Code. A brand can also enter your referral code during sign-up or on the card step.

4.3 First referrer wins. The first valid referral recorded for a brand is the one that counts. A later click, link or code doesn’t replace it. Commission belongs to the partner who made that first referral (and to the partner who referred them, for second-order commission).

4.4 No self-referral. You can’t earn commission on a brand that you, your employer, or a business you own or control operates, or on any brand in which you have a financial interest you haven’t told us about. You can’t be your own second-order partner, and referral loops don’t count.

4.5 Store claims. If you introduced a brand but it signed up without your link or code, you can claim it in the portal within 60 days of its sign-up, with evidence of your introduction. We will check with the brand’s owner. If we approve the claim, commission starts from the date we approve it. Our decision is final.

4.6 Our records decide. We decide referrals using our own records. We may correct a referral recorded in error, and we may reassign or cancel a referral that involved fraud or a breach of these Partner Terms. Cookies can be blocked or cleared, and we can’t credit a referral we couldn’t record.

5. Commission

5.1 What you earn. For each brand referred to you, you earn the percentage in Schedule 1 for your role, applied to the fees we bill that brand and the brand pays us, excluding taxes. Commission continues for as long as the brand remains a BubbleSMS client, and you remain in the Program in good standing.

5.2 When it is earned. Commission is earned when the brand pays the invoice it relates to. Commission on invoices the brand hasn’t paid yet is shown in your portal as accruing, and is not yet owed to you.

5.3 Customer refunds don’t reduce it. The fees we bill brands are not reduced when a brand refunds its own customers, so neither is your commission.

5.4 Reversals. If we later refund or credit a fee to the brand to correct a billing error, or the brand’s payment is reversed (for example, through a chargeback), we reverse the matching commission. A reversal is deducted from your balance and from future payouts.

5.5 Changes to rates. We may change the rates in Schedule 1 with 30 days’ notice. A change applies only to fees on orders placed after its effective date, and never to commission you have already earned.

5.6 Statements. Your portal shows each referred brand’s summary figures, your commission by brand and role, and a monthly statement.

6. Self-billing

You agree that we issue an invoice on your behalf (a self-billed invoice) for each payout, using the invoice details you give us, and that you will not issue your own invoices for the same amounts. Tell us straight away if your details change, or if you become registered for any sales or value-added tax.

7. Payouts

7.1 Methods. We pay by Wise or PayPal (we only need your email address for either), or by ACH to a US bank account. Our staff send payouts by hand.

7.2 Schedule and minimum. Choose daily, weekly or monthly payouts, or payout on request. A payout is made only when your earned, unpaid balance is at least $50. Smaller balances roll over to the next payout.

7.3 Before your first payout you must complete your payout method, your invoice details and a valid tax form: Form W-9 if you are a US person, or Form W-8BEN if you are not. Payouts are held until these are complete.

7.4 Approval. Each payout is checked by our staff before it is sent. We may hold a payout while we investigate suspected fraud or a breach of these Partner Terms.

7.5 Currency and fees. Payouts are made in US dollars. Fees charged by your bank or by the payout provider for receiving or converting money are yours. If a transfer fails because of incorrect details, the amount goes back into your balance and is paid in the next payout once your details are fixed.

7.6 Taxes. You are responsible for all taxes on your commission. Where the law requires it, we report payments to tax authorities (for example, on Form 1099 for US persons) and withhold tax.

7.7 Bank details. ACH bank details are stored encrypted. Only authorized staff can view them, and every view is logged.

8. How you promote BubbleSMS

8.1 Be honest. Describe BubbleSMS accurately. Don’t make claims about results, revenue or returns, or quote our fees, pricing or commission rates publicly, unless we have approved them in writing.

8.2 Disclose that you’re a partner. Clearly disclose your relationship with us wherever you recommend BubbleSMS, as the FTC’s Endorsement Guides require (for example, “I earn a commission if you sign up”).

8.3 Don’t spam. Follow anti-spam and telemarketing laws. Don’t send unsolicited email, texts or messages about BubbleSMS.

8.4 Don’t game it. No cookie stuffing, forced clicks, hidden links, incentivized or automated clicks, fake accounts, or sign-ups made without the brand’s real intent.

8.5 Respect our brand. Don’t bid on “BubbleSMS” or similar terms in paid search, register domains or social handles containing our name, or present yourself as BubbleSMS. You may use our name and the logos in our brand kit only to promote the Program, following any guidelines we give you.

8.6 No authority. You can’t make promises or agreements for us, or change our terms for a brand.

9. Confidentiality and data

9.1 Brand figures, statements and other non-public information in your portal are confidential. Use them only to follow your referrals and payouts, and don’t share them without the brand’s permission.

9.2 We handle your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy.

9.3 You never receive data about a brand’s customers or conversations through the Program.

10. Ending the partnership

10.1 Either of us may end the Partner Terms at any time by notice. You can do this by emailing us or by closing your partner account.

10.2 If you end the Partner Terms, or we do for any reason other than your breach, we pay the commission you earned up to the end date in a final payout, even if it is under $50, once your payout details and tax form are complete. You stop earning commission on fees for orders placed after the end date.

10.3 If we end the Partner Terms because of fraud, or a serious breach of section 4.4 or section 8, you lose any commission connected with that breach. We may also recover commission already paid on it.

11. Liability

11.1 The Program is provided as it is. We do not guarantee any amount of commission, or that referral tracking will always work.

11.2 Neither of us is liable to the other for indirect or consequential losses. Our total liability to you under the Partner Terms is limited to the commission paid or owed to you in the 12 months before the claim.

11.3 You will defend us against claims arising from your promotional activities or your breach of the Partner Terms, and cover the resulting losses.

12. General

12.1 You are an independent contractor. The Partner Terms don’t create employment, partnership, agency or exclusivity.

12.2 We may change the Partner Terms with 30 days’ notice by email or in the portal. If you keep taking part after that, you accept the change.

12.3 The Partner Terms are governed by the laws of the state in which BubbleSMS is organized and by applicable United States federal law. The state and federal courts located in that state have exclusive jurisdiction.

12.4 Notices to us: legal@bubblesms.com. Notices to you: the email on your partner account.