Stay away from any program that doesn't offer this. Most programs require your referrals to generate some amount of cash before you get your commission. Keep in mind that for your partner's site accounting costs are the major expense of the affiliate program. Since they want to keep accounting costs down, they want to avoid making micro-payments to their affiliates. In addition, many programs will only pay you at a specified frequency.
Quarterly payment is typical.
Again, that's done to keep accounting costs down. Read the Terms. An affiliate program may look good at first glance, but the devil's in the details. Be sure to read the program's Terms and Conditions before you join. A disappointing number of affiliate programs bury their terms inside the sign up process.