The acceptance rates are not a fixed metric, they’re influenced by many small decisions across the payment flow. At first glance, they may seem simple: it’s the percentage of transactions that go through successfully. But in reality, each authorisation involves a series of micro-decisions e.g. checkout configuration, risk assessment, routing logic, and issuer validation. So when an authorisation fails, the root cause is rarely singular or obvious.
There are core components that influence the acceptance:
◾Acquirer setup: Domestic vs cross-border routing still affects performance.
◾Issuer logic: Banks apply different risk thresholds. MCCs, high-ticket items, and device mismatches can trigger declines.
◾SCA exemptions: Low-risk, MIT, and TRA exemptions reduce friction but too many flows still default to 3DS. Overuse adds drop-off and weakens conversion without always improving outcomes.
◾Data quality: Poor data kills acceptance. Incomplete AVS, CVV, or billing fields lead to silent fails.
◾Retry logic: Declines can be recovered but not all retries are equal.
Approval rate is often quoted as a key performance indicator. And while it’s useful, it doesn’t tell the full story. Many transactions never reach the issuer in the first place, blocked at checkout, dropped during 3DS, or filtered out by fraud rules before authorisation is even attempted. Tracking authorisation alone means only seeing what happens once the PSP has passed the transaction forward. But the real drop-offs, and the bigger opportunities to optimise, often happen earlier.
So while a PSP might report a 94% approval rate, if 10% of transactions failed before they even hit auth, the actual acceptance rate is much lower.
In 2025, Acceptance is being shaped by a few defining shifts:
◾Issuer behaviour is more adaptive: Many issuers now tailor fraud models based on merchant-level performance (i.e. ast results influence future approvals).
◾Tokenisation and COF setups: Schemes and issuers now prioritise token-based flows yet many merchants still run mixed setups.
When acceptance rates stall, it’s often down to fragmented visibility. Improving performance means digging deeper, as real optimisation starts with smarter diagnostics, not necessarily just switching providers.
#paymentexperts, any perspectives to share on #acceptancerates metrics🎤?
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