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Operations

Operations illustration 15 min read
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TL;DR
  • Daily (5-15 min): Auth rate, fraud queue, chargeback queue, deposits
  • Weekly (30-45 min): CB ratio trend, win rate, processor emails, reconciliation
  • Monthly (1-2 hr): Statement review, effective rate, rule performance
  • Oh shit: Auth drops 10%+, 5+ CBs/day, processor "review" email → act immediately
  • Scale by volume: under $500K/yr = weekly CB count check only; over $2M/yr = real-time monitoring

The unglamorous work that keeps money flowing and losses contained.

Pick Your Mode​

🔧
Operator
Daily/weekly tasks. Checklist and processor management.
📊
Analyst
Tracking and optimization. Metrics and statement analysis.
📚
Reference
Procedures and workflows. Representment and change checklists.
Popular
✅
Operations Checklist Start Here
Daily, weekly, monthly routines
📊
Total Cost Model
Complete budgeting worksheet - all payment costs
🛠️
Tool Stack by Tier
What tools to buy at each volume tier
⚔️
Representment Workflow Popular
Fighting chargebacks step-by-step
🤝
Processor Management
Working with your processor
📄
Reading Statements
Understand fees, catch overcharges
🔒
Holds and Reserves
Why your money is stuck
🆘
When to Get Help
DIY vs consultant vs hire decision framework
📈
Scaling Milestones
What changes from $100K to $500K to $1M+
If You Only Have 2 Hours This Week
  1. Check your chargeback ratio (stay under 0.65%)
  2. Respond to any disputes due in the next 7 days
  3. Verify yesterday's deposits hit your bank
  4. Scan for any processor emails you missed

See the full checklist for daily, weekly, and monthly routines.

Scale Matters

Under $100K/month: Check your chargeback count weekly and verify deposits hit your bank. That's your entire ops routine. Skip the Sandbox Training section below.

$100K–$1M/month: Add weekly chargeback ratio tracking, monthly statement reviews, and a basic representment process. Time investment: 30–60 minutes/week.

Over $1M/month: You need real-time monitoring, a dedicated dispute workflow, and someone who owns payment operations. See Who Owns What.

Over $10M/month: Full-time ops team, multi-processor monitoring, incident response playbooks, and quarterly vendor reviews. See Scaling Milestones.

Operations at a Glance
TaskFrequencyTimeWhoLink
Check fraud queueDaily5 minFraud/OpsChecklist
Review new disputesDaily5 minOpsRepresentment
Verify depositsDaily2 minFinanceReading Statements
CB ratio monitoringWeekly10 minOpsMetrics
Processor emailsWeekly5 minOpsProcessor Mgmt
Statement review / reconciliationMonthly30 minFinanceReading Statements
Rule performanceMonthly20 minFraudChecklist
Core Operations Guides
✅
Operations Checklist
Daily, weekly, monthly checks with time estimates
🏦
ACH Operations
Managing bank payments, preventing returns, verification tools
🤝
Processor Management
Working with your processor, handling scary emails, when to switch
🔒
Holds and Reserves
Why your money is stuck and what to do about it
👥
Who Owns What
Roles, responsibilities, and handoffs by team size
🔄
Payment Change Checklist
What to verify before shipping checkout changes
📄
Reading Your Statement
Understanding fees, catching overcharges
⚔️
Representment Workflow
Fighting chargebacks operationally
Sandbox Training for Operators (onboarding new team members with test environments)

Your team needs hands-on experience before touching production.

Why Sandbox Matters​

ScenarioProduction RiskSandbox Solution
New employee onboardingProcess real customer cards wrongLearn workflows without risk
Testing new rulesBlock legitimate customersValidate before deploying
Incident response drillsScramble during actual attackPractice until it's muscle memory
Process changesBreak live checkoutVerify before rollout

Training Checklist by Week​

Week 1: Basic Operations
  • Log into processor dashboard
  • Find transaction search
  • Locate chargeback notifications
  • Generate basic reports
  • Process test transaction end-to-end
Week 2: Exception Handling
  • Process a test refund
  • Void a test transaction
  • Respond to a test chargeback
  • Investigate a test decline
  • Batch close procedure
Week 3: Monitoring
  • Set up test alerts
  • Review test chargeback ratio report
  • Identify a test fraud pattern
  • Generate reconciliation export
  • Compare settlement to expected
Week 4: Incident Response
  • Run through fraud attack drill
  • Practice emergency rule deployment
  • Test backup payment path
  • Document learnings

Test Card Numbers (Common)​

NetworkTest NumberUse For
Visa4111 1111 1111 1111Success
Visa4000 0000 0000 0002Decline
Mastercard5555 5555 5555 4444Success
Mastercard5105 1051 0510 5100Decline

Note: Always check your processor's documentation for their specific test cards.

Quick Links
📉 Chargeback spike?🚨 Fraud attack?⚠️ Approaching thresholds?📊 Need metrics?

Next Steps​

Just getting started?
  1. Operations Checklist - Daily/weekly routines
  2. Processor Management - Working with processor
  3. Reading Statements - Understand fees
Handling disputes?
  1. Representment Workflow - Step-by-step
  2. Chargebacks Overview - Full guide
  3. Time Frames - Don't miss deadlines
New to payment operations?

Start with The Guide, Pathway 4: Running Payments Daily, a beginner-friendly 19-minute walkthrough covering daily tasks, reading statements, and when to get help. This page is the full deep dive.

See Also​

💳 Payments Overview🛡️ Fraud Prevention💰 Chargebacks📋 Compliance
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