Smarter payments, more revenue: A guide to winning the authorisation game

Every failed transaction is a missed opportunity. Not just in revenue—but in customer trust. When payments don’t go through, shoppers walk away, often for good.

That’s why optimising authorisation rates matters. It’s not just a backend efficiency metric—it’s a revenue driver, customer loyalty booster and a competitive edge. Even a modest 1% to 2% gain in approvals can deliver significant impact on your bottom line.

But optimisation isn’t simple. Declines can result from outdated credentials, misaligned fraud tools, issuer preferences or even unpredictable checkout behaviours. So where do you begin?

Focus on these four levers to lift authorisation rates

Worldpay identifies four key areas to optimise for stronger payment performance:

1. Consumer optimisation

Make checkout intuitive, frictionless and secure. Reducing cart abandonment starts with understanding how your customers want to pay—and eliminating the obstacles that block them.

2. Conversion optimisation

Use tools that ensure you always have the right payment credentials. When cards expire or change, conversion drops. Smart account updating keeps payment data fresh.

3. Risk optimisation

Striking the right balance between fraud protection and approval rates is critical. An overly aggressive fraud rule can block legitimate customers. A flexible, intelligent model helps you stay protected without hurting conversions.

4. Cost optimisation

Choose the most efficient routing for every transaction. Whether it’s debit routing, PINless options or regional networks, every cost-saving route adds up.

These four pillars create a connected strategy to drive revenue—while building trust at every step.

Smart tools that take the heavy lifting off your plate

Worldpay offers a suite of optimisation technologies that simplify the complexity and deliver results.

• Account updater capabilities: AI-powered services automatically update expired or replaced cards using direct connections with global card networks.
• Network tokens: Replace sensitive card data with secure, tokenized identifiers. This improves accuracy and approval rates while reducing fraud.
• Smart retry: Using AI, we intelligently identify when and how to retry failed transactions, helping merchants recover revenue without wasting resources.
• Debit routing: Choose the most cost-effective rail, including PINless and regional options. Improve approval rates and reduce interchange fees.
• Fraud management: Leverage real-time fraud prevention informed by more than 52 billion annual transactions. Protect your business while preserving good customer interactions.

Each tool plays a role. Together, they create a unified strategy for optimising performance.

Use better data to unlock better results

Most merchants rely on a limited view of their payments data. That makes it harder to see patterns, benchmark performance or anticipate issues.

With Worldpay, you gain access to a wider payments ecosystem and smarter insights. Our data helps you understand how your business compares across regions, issuers and channels—and where the biggest opportunities lie.

Why Worldpay is your optimisation partner

When it comes to optimising payments, Worldpay does the hard work—so you don’t have to.

Dynamic account updater capabilities

We connect directly to card networks to automatically refresh your customers’ payment credentials—file-based, real-time or both.

Singular service for tokens

From token creation to cryptograms and lifecycle updates, we manage the entire network token process across multiple acquirers.

Fully managed optimisation

Our suite of AI-powered solutions helps you convert more sales, route payments efficiently and lower fraud losses. We handle the complexity, so you can focus on growth.

Fraud insights at global scale

Our fraud models are trained on billions of transactions across 174 countries. That scale gives you a faster, more accurate defence that’s tailored to your vertical, market and customer base.

It’s time to stop leaving revenue on the table

Authorisation optimisation isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Every decline you prevent is a customer you keep and a sale you capture.

At Worldpay, we help you take, make and manage payments in a smarter way, backed by scale, technology and people who understand your business.

Want to learn how to boost your approval rates and unlock more revenue?

Listen to our latest podcast or connect with us today for personalised guidance.