How CPA/Bonus Offers Work — and Why "Free Money" Offers Can Be a Red Flag

✓ Last verified 2026-07-26

“Get a 100% deposit bonus” sounds like free money. Understanding how these offers actually work — and how affiliate/CPA compensation shapes what gets marketed to you — helps you read the fine print correctly.

How broker bonus offers actually work

A deposit bonus adds extra credit to your account when you fund it — for example, deposit $500 and receive an additional $500 in bonus credit. This is not the same as cash you can withdraw immediately. Bonus credit is almost always attached to conditions:

• A trading volume requirement — you must trade a certain lot size or notional volume before the bonus (or sometimes even your original deposit) becomes withdrawable.
• A minimum holding period — the bonus may be forfeited if you withdraw funds before a set time.
• Forfeiture clauses — some structures let the broker claw back the bonus, and sometimes trading profits made using it, if you withdraw early or don’t meet the volume requirement.

The core mechanic to understand: a large bonus tied to a high trading volume requirement can effectively pressure you into overtrading — taking more or larger trades than your strategy would otherwise call for, purely to unlock funds that are nominally “yours.”

Why affiliate/CPA compensation matters to you as a reader

Many broker “recommendation” sites and creators are paid via CPA (cost-per-acquisition) — a fixed fee when a referred user signs up and deposits, sometimes combined with revenue share from that user’s ongoing trading activity. This isn’t inherently a conflict of interest by itself, but it means the specific broker and specific bonus being promoted to you may reflect what pays the promoter best, not necessarily what’s structurally best for you. (TradeCheckPH earns affiliate compensation from some of the brokers and prop firms we cover — see our disclosure in the site footer.) This is exactly why comparing the actual terms of a bonus, not just the headline percentage, matters more than which site is recommending it.

Reading a bonus offer before you accept it

1. Find the specific volume requirement — how many lots/how much notional volume must you trade before the bonus and any resulting profit becomes withdrawable? Compare this against how much you actually intend to trade.
2. Check what happens to your original deposit — some structures don’t just void the bonus if you withdraw early, they restrict your original deposit too. Read this carefully.
3. Check whether losses are still yours even if the bonus is forfeited — bonus credit going away on early withdrawal is one thing; find out whether losses incurred while trading with it still come out of your own money.
4. Treat “guaranteed” or unusually large bonuses as a reason to slow down, not speed up — see our common forex scams guide for how this pattern shows up in outright fraud.

The practical takeaway

• A bonus is a marketing tool with strings attached, not free money — read the volume and withdrawal conditions before you accept one.
• Large bonuses paired with high trading volume requirements can push you toward overtrading against your own strategy.
• Verify the broker’s regulatory status independently of any bonus offer — a good bonus does not substitute for the license check in our broker verification guide.

This is general educational information, not investment advice. Bonus terms vary significantly by broker — always read the specific terms and conditions before accepting an offer.