Is a postback the same as a webhook?

Technically, yes: both are HTTP calls one server makes to another when something happens. “Postback” is the affiliate-marketing name and usually means a call carrying a click ID so a conversion can be credited. “Webhook” is the general term, often used for signed notifications between business systems.

Why do brokers prefer postbacks to tracking pixels?

A pixel fires in the client's browser, where it can be blocked or lose its cookie, and it cannot see a deposit or a trade, which happen on the broker's servers. A postback is sent from server to server when the event is recorded, so it does not depend on the browser.

What is an FTD postback?

A call sent when a referred client makes a first-time deposit. Axi and Trackbox both list it as a standard postback event beside registration. Send it once the deposit is confirmed, not when it is requested, so a failed payment never credits a partner.

Postback (server-to-server tracking)

What is a postback?

A postback is a server-to-server call one system makes to another when an event happens. In affiliate and IB tracking, the broker's system tells the affiliate platform that a referred trader registered, deposited or traded, quoting the click ID it received, so the partner is credited without depending on browser cookies.

Updated 2026-11-13 · By EntropyX Labs engineering

How a postback works

Click. The partner's link sends the visitor to the broker with a click ID in the address.
Store. The broker's sign-up keeps that click ID on the new client's record.
Event. When the client registers, makes a first deposit (FTD) or trades, the broker's server calls the partner's postback URL with the click ID and the event.
Credit. The affiliate platform matches the click ID and credits the partner under its agreement.

Vendor documentation follows this pattern. Trackbox's guide asks the affiliate for postback URLs for the lead and FTD events and for the name of its click ID parameter; Axi's affiliate help centre lists registration, FTD and commission as postback events.

The case for server-to-server tracking is that deposits and trades happen on the broker's server, not in the browser. WebKit documents that Safari blocks all third-party cookies by default and deletes cookies created in JavaScript after seven days without user interaction, so browser-only tracking loses referrals. Track360 adds that server-to-server calls survive ad blockers for the same reason.

What to ask a vendor

Which events can fire a postback: registration, KYC approval, first deposit, trading volume?
Where is the click ID stored, and does it survive a sign-up spread over several visits?
Are failed postbacks retried, and what stops a duplicate credit?
Is each call authenticated, for example by a signature or a secret token?
Is there a log of every postback fired, with the receiver's response?
Does the partner need a postback at all, or does the CRM hold the partner itself?

Where EntropyX Labs fits, and where it does not

Brokerage CRM records the referring IB or affiliate on the client's record at sign-up, so deposits, trading and the partner's tiers, rebates and payouts are tracked in one system, with no postbacks between two tools. If you already run an external affiliate platform for paid campaigns, it is connected per engagement, including which events it receives. EntropyX Labs does not sell a separate affiliate or IB tracking product.

The same server-to-server idea runs inside the stack: EntropyX PSP notifies the CRM by signed webhook when a deposit confirms.