Grow faster with fewer declines

This Insights series explores how merchants can unlock hidden revenue by optimizing payment authorization rates – covering strategies from smart routing and credential management to global localization and executive-level performance insights.

Most merchants think of revenue loss in terms of abandoned carts, fraud or poor customer experience. But there’s another, often invisible, culprit quietly draining your earnings: failed payment authorizations.

At first glance, a few declines may seem like no big deal. But multiply that over thousands or millions of transactions, and the impact can be staggering. A 1% drop in your authorization rate could translate into millions in lost revenue annually, especially if you’re operating at scale. What’s worse, most businesses don’t even realize it’s happening.

Why payments fail – and why that matters

Every decline is a fork in the road. Some are legitimate: fraud, expired cards, insufficient funds. But many aren’t. Silent failures caused by outdated credentials, poorly routed payments or inadequate issuer data can chip away at your margins with every transaction.

"Every decline is a fork in the road."

These aren’t just technical hiccups. They’re missed sales, abandoned customers and lost lifetime value. And they often happen for reasons well within your control – if you know where to look.

Let’s say a subscription customer’s card on file has expired. Without an automatic account updater, that payment fails. That customer might update their information, or they might churn. Either way, the business loses revenue and risks long-term loyalty.

Good enough is costing you growth

Most merchants assume their authorization rate is "just fine." But when you don’t know what’s possible, you’re leaving money on the table. Benchmarks vary by industry, channel and geography. With the right partner, you can unlock significant revenue just by optimizing what you already have.

Here’s what you might be missing:

• Outdated account data can cause avoidable declines.
• Inefficient routing can cost you both approvals and fees.
• Lack of issuer alignment reduces trust and increases denials.
• Rigid fraud rules might reject good customers.

Each of these represents a source of value leakage. When left unchecked, they can suppress your revenue potential without raising obvious alarms.

Worldpay helps you reclaim lost revenue

At Worldpay, we take a data-led approach to improving authorization performance. We handle 55 billion transactions a year – each one giving us valuable insight into what drives approvals and what prevents them.

We use that intelligence to power a suite of tools that directly address the hidden revenue drain:

• Account updater: Prevents declines from expired or changed card details.
• Smart routing: Dynamically selects the best-performing path for every transaction.
• AI-powered decisioning: Helps differentiate between risky and valid transactions in real time.
• Issuer advocacy: We work directly with global and local issuers to improve approval logic and share data.
• Tokenization: Keeps customer credentials secure and payment-ready for future transactions.

Together, these tools don’t just prevent declines. They also boost long-term revenue and improve customer retention.

Real results, real revenue gains

Many of our clients see dramatic improvements in approval rates within weeks. One merchant in the travel sector saw a 20% increase in authorizations after integrating our optimization suite. Others experience a 1.3% lift through tokenization alone.

Even small percentage gains can unlock massive revenue when scaled across your transaction volume.

"Many of our clients see dramatic improvements in approval rates within weeks."

For example, if your annual processing volume is $500 million, a 1% lift in authorization rate equates to $5 million in recovered revenue. That’s money that can be reinvested into growth, innovation or customer experience.

Turn silent failures into lasting growth

If you're not actively optimizing your authorization rates, you're missing out. Silent failures are more than technical issues; they’re lost business.

Worldpay's approach doesn’t just stop the leak. It boosts your baseline, improves customer experience and opens the door to long-term growth. With the right data, tools and partnerships, you can transform a performance gap into a competitive advantage.

Because when every transaction counts, performance matters.

Coming next in this series:

How to turn passive value leakage into active growth

You can’t grow what you don’t see. Learn how hidden payment failures quietly erode revenue and how to turn them into a competitive edge.