Case study

How an acquirer saved $121K in fraud and processing costs

+1.8%

uplift in quarterly authorization approval rate.

$121K

savings in fraud and processing costs.

$6.8M

increase in quarterly net approved spend.

Problem

Improving spending and approval rates

A leading acquirer in the United States noticed rising decline rates across its merchant portfolio. They sought a solution to boost overall authorization spending and enhance approval rates, but first needed to pinpoint the factors behind the rising declines.

 

Approach

Surfacing insights with Mastercard

The acquirer partnered with Mastercard to look for answers. Using Mastercard’s Acquirer Intelligence Center (AIC), they were able to dive deeper into authorization approval rates. Through AIC, the acquirer discovered that:

Approval rates were declining every quarter.

Underperformance was driven by card-not-present transactions and retail merchants.

High decline rates were driven by fraudulent merchants and security related issues.

Results

Better cost management with merchant clients

After identifying fraudulent merchants and reducing card-not-present declines, the acquirer achieved substantial savings in processing costs and fraud losses, while improving card-not-present approval rates.