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Payments Metrics

Prerequisites

Before tracking payments metrics, understand:

TL;DR
  • Auth rate: 85-95% benchmark; alert on 5%+ drops within 1 hour
  • Settlement: 1-3 days typical; reconciliation rate should be over 99.5%
  • Cost: Effective rate varies by MCC; interchange ~70-80% of total fees
  • Advanced: Track token vs. PAN auth lift (+2-5%), 3DS conversion (over 80%), issuer-level performance
  • Scale: Under $100K/mo just track basic auth rate; over $2M/mo needs real-time monitoring

Key performance indicators for measuring payment operations health.

Authorization Metrics​

MetricDefinitionBenchmark
Authorization RateApproved transactions / Total attempts85-95%
Soft Decline RateRetriable declines / Total declines20-40%
Hard Decline RateNon-retriable declines / Total declines60-80%

Settlement Metrics​

MetricDefinitionBenchmark
Settlement TimeAuthorization to funds received1-3 days
Reconciliation RateMatched transactions / Total>99.5%
Exception RateUnmatched items / TotalUnder 0.5%

Cost Metrics​

MetricDefinitionNotes
Effective RateTotal fees / Transaction volumeVaries by MCC
Interchange %Interchange / Total fees~70-80% of fees
Assessment FeesNetwork fees / Volume~0.13-0.15%

Monitoring Recommendations​

  • Track authorization rates by BIN, issuer, and card type
  • Alert on >5% auth rate drops within 1 hour
  • Review decline reason codes weekly

Auth Optimization Analytics​

Beyond basic monitoring, measure these to optimize authorization performance.

Token vs. Non-Token Performance​

MetricHow to MeasureWhat to Look For
Token auth rateAuth rate on network token transactionsShould be 2-5% higher than raw PAN
Token coverage% of stored cards using network tokensTarget >80% of recurring
Token update rate% of tokens auto-updated vs. expiredHigher = less involuntary churn

3DS Impact Measurement​

MetricFormulaBenchmark
3DS challenge rateChallenged / Total 3DS5-15% is typical
3DS conversionCompleted / Challenged>80% is healthy
3DS auth lift3DS auth rate - Non-3DS rate+3-10% typical
Frictionless rateFrictionless / Total 3DS>85% is good
MetricWhat It Tells You
Soft decline %Opportunity for retry recovery
Soft decline recovery rateHow effective is your retry logic
Hard decline by codeWhere you're losing customers permanently

Recurring Retry Analytics​

MetricCalculationAction
First attempt successSuccess / Total first attemptsBaseline health
Retry success rateSuccess / Total retriesMeasure retry value
Optimal retry timingCompare success by retry delayTune retry windows
Max retry effectivenessRecovery rate by attempt numberWhen to stop retrying

Issuer-Level Performance​

Track auth rates by top 10 issuing banks:

IssuerAuth Rate% of VolumeTrend
Chase94%22%↑
Bank of America91%15%→
Wells Fargo89%12%↓
............

Action triggers:

  • Single issuer drops 5%+ → investigate specific decline codes
  • Overall auth drops 2%+ → check for system issues
  • New decline code pattern → research and adapt

Processor Performance Comparison​

If you use multiple processors:

MetricProcessor AProcessor BDelta
Auth rate92.1%90.3%+1.8%
Average latency245ms312ms-67ms
3DS success87%82%+5%
Decline code clarityHighMedium—

Weekly Auth Optimization Review​

  1. Pull auth rate by day → spot anomalies
  2. Review top 5 decline codes → identify new patterns
  3. Check retry recovery rate → validate retry logic
  4. Compare issuer performance → flag outliers
  5. Track token migration progress → measure modernization

Scale Callout​

VolumeAnalytics Focus
Under $100k/moBasic auth rate tracking only. Don't overcomplicate.
$100k-$500k/moAdd soft/hard decline tracking. Review weekly.
$500k-$2M/moFull issuer-level analysis. Tune retry logic.
Over $2M/moReal-time monitoring. A/B test auth strategies.

Next Steps​

Setting up basic monitoring?

  1. Track authorization rate - 85-95% benchmark
  2. Monitor settlement metrics - Reconciliation rate
  3. Calculate effective rate - Total fees / volume

Optimizing auth performance?

  1. Measure token vs PAN - 2-5% lift expected
  2. Track 3DS impact - Challenge and conversion rates
  3. Analyze issuer-level performance - Top 10 issuers

Building weekly review process?

  1. Follow optimization review - 5-step process
  2. Compare processors - If multi-processor
  3. Scale appropriately - By volume tier