Top 5 Reasons Payment Conversions Fail

Top 5 Reasons Payment Conversions Fail

Capturing every payment Conversion in the complex world of commerce without borders. The ecommerce share of consumer purchases in the U.S. continues to grow at about 16% annually. It s continued its growth rise, with record-shattering shopping figures and new mobile trends providing shoppers with more accessibility, flexibility and security when it comes to purchasing goods and services. However, on average, 15% of online payment authorization attempts are declined. That s no small loss. Based on estimated total ecommerce sales, that 15% decline is equal to billions of dollars left on the table¹ for payments that simply fail to process. How do you stop it from happening to you? First, your payment processing should be actively helping you on the conversion front. And, with the explosion of online and recurring payments, its role is more important than ever. Harnessed properly, payments support profitable growth. And new data-driven services and tools can help alleviate the pressure points where these payments break and fail to authorize. Realigning what s misaligned can help you capture and convert revenue that could otherwise be lost. As a payments professional, marketing executive, CFO, or business owner, you clamor for information that helps you improve your business. But, how can you easily and quickly identify your processing problems and improve your payments performance and overall results? In this brief we share the top five reasons you may not realize your payments are failing. ¹15% of the 2017 ecommerce sales: $394B (U.S. Dept. of Commerce) 2

Recurring transactions lose continuity 2 Vague information on why payment authorization attempts aren t successful 3-6% * amount recurring revenues could increase if a business optimizes approval rates. 40% * of declined payments are categorized as do not honor which provides little insight as to the underlying reason. Subscription customers are some of your most loyal and profitable. It s imperative that their recurring payments continue without a hitch when external factors come into play, such as a massive card reissuance. Tying the industry s most advanced automated account updating solution with an intelligent authorization retry service option can help increase conversions and maintain your recurring revenue. Update your payment processing system with a solution that will work overtime to ensure recurring transactions are using the most up to date card information and your services aren t interrupted. Card Issuers decline legitimate payments for a variety of reasons, decisioning varies issuer-by-issuer, and payment attempts succeed or fail for reasons that are often difficult to discern. Use your payments data to view issuer performance, and find opportunities to increase efficiency, boost approval rates and optimize customer lifetime value. *Vantiv, Now Worldpay, 2017 3

3 4 An overly aggressive fraud filter 40-60% Consumer doubt or lack of trust on your checkout page 18% * ** of declined legitimate e-commerce orders are due to overly aggressive fraud filters. of shopping carts are abandoned due to consumers lack of trust in the checkout page. False positives cost US e-commerce companies $8.6 billion in 2016, which eclipsed the $6.5 billion in prevented fraud. This means false declines must be reduced in order for merchants fraud prevention strategies to be cost-effective. However, this data refers primarily to false declines by the merchant and processor and does not include false positives by issuers/issuer processors. A confusing or insufficient payment experience can lead to cart abandonment by the user, which ultimately costs your business. The solution for this can be two-fold. Update your user experience, such as provided spaces for card entry, to make it a smooth process for the consumer. Second, ask your payments processor if they have solutions, such as digital wallets that convey a higher degree of security. The point is clear merchants need to work with their processor to optimize good transactions, but also need to be aware that many transactions they determine are good are subsequently falsely identified as fraudulent by the rules in issuers systems. An overly aggressive fraud filter by either party or both is turning away good consumers. Consider revisiting your fraud detection strategies while working in tandem with your payments processor to strike the right balance. *Riskified, 2017 **Baymard Institute, 2016 4

5 Mass card reissuance due to disruptive industry events damage continuity If issuers update their card portfolios, which often happens following a data breach or switching their card network relationships, it is sure to cause payments to fail. Your payments provider can help you detect when issuers close and subsequently reissue a large number of accounts and also create a smooth transition during this unexpected change. 17.2M * 17.2M credit and debit cards were reissued following a widespread data breach in 2013. Conclusion Simply put, you re leaving money on the table when legitimate payments fail to process. The reasons can be complex, but the result is clear revenue is lost and customer loyalty is broken. By thinking strategically about payments you are able to increase your revenue and increase customer lifetime value. Vantiv, Now Worldpay s solution is to constantly seek conversions improvement for its merchants. We leverage insights from processing 23 billion transactions annually to identify ecosystem inefficiencies and use our high performing platform and broad and deep solution set to influence outcomes and yield higher conversions. Ultimately this will drive sustainable and profitable growth for your business. Contact us to learn more at ecommercesales@vantiv.com *Consumer Bankers Association, 2014 5