Skip to main content

Processor Reporting Checklist

TL;DR
  • If you can't see it, you can't fix it. Get the reports before you touch a fraud rule or a checkout flow.
  • The four that matter: auth rate by BIN, soft vs hard declines, 3DS challenge rate and conversion, chargeback ratio by reason code.
  • Route alerts to at least two inboxes. One inbox plus one spam filter is how merchants find out about a reserve three weeks late.
  • Check three things weekly: auth rate trend, chargeback ratio versus threshold, settlement timing versus schedule.
  • A processor that won't give you raw decline data with BINs has told you something. Write it down for the renewal.

Most merchants tune fraud rules blind because their processor never handed them the numbers. Ask for these reports and alerts by name.

Minimum Reporting You Should Demand​

  • Auth rate by issuer BIN, brand, method (CP vs CNP split).
  • Soft vs hard decline breakdown.
  • 3DS challenge rate and conversion.
  • Chargeback ratio by reason code and distance to thresholds.
  • Fraud-to-dispute linkage (TC40/SAFE match rate) where available.
  • Refund rate and timing.
  • Settlement timing and holds visibility.
  • Alert match rate if using CDRN/Ethoca.

Notifications to Configure​

  • Chargeback/dispute alerts (immediate).
  • Large transaction threshold alerts.
  • Failed transaction spike alerts.
  • Deposit/settlement confirmations.
  • Account health warnings (approaching network thresholds).
  • Reserve changes.
  • KYC/KYB document requests.

The 3 Reports to Check Weekly​

  • Auth rate trend (by BIN/brand/geo/method); investigate drops.
  • Chargeback ratio trend and distance to threshold.
  • Settlement/deposit timing vs expected schedule; flag delays.

Ask Your Processor​

Say this, word for word:

  • "What reports and alerts are available by default?"
  • "Can I export raw declines with reason codes and BIN?"
  • "Do alerts go to multiple recipients? How do we add a backup?"
  • "Where do webhook failures show up?"

Scale Callout​

  • Under $100k/mo: Minimum reports, chargeback alerts, deposit confirmations.
  • $100k-$1M/mo: Add BIN-level auth, soft vs hard decline tracking, a weekly review cadence.
  • Over $1M/mo: Daily monitoring, alert routing redundancy, webhook plus email.

Where This Breaks​

  • No BIN or issuer detail, so you can't target fixes.
  • Alerts land in one inbox and the spam filter eats them.
  • Nobody watches the webhooks, so failures stay silent.
  • The processor refuses data access. Note it for the next contract renegotiation.

Next Steps​

Got the reports? Now use them:

  1. Payments metrics - What each number should look like
  2. Benchmarks - Where you sit against everyone else
  3. Auth optimization - What to do about a bad auth rate

Still fighting for access?

  1. Alerts configuration - Set up routing that survives one person quitting
  2. Processor management - How to run the relationship
  3. Experimentation - Prove a change worked before you keep it
Last updated on