At a glance

Ecommpay has released a white paper suggesting that merchants should use AI not just for fraud prevention but to analyse transaction data for broader business benefits. Their AI-driven tool improved authorisation rates by an average of 11.95 percentage points for retail e-commerce brands in two months. This approach can help merchants enhance customer experience and business performance by understanding transaction data better, with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) playing a crucial role in this shift.

 

 New white paper highlights the role of PSPs in helping merchants exploit the benefits of AI beyond fraud prevention - Ecommpay AI-driven analysis of declines raised authorisation rates for a sample of retail e-comm brands by an average 11.95 percentage points in just 2 months

Inclusive global payments platform, Ecommpay, has published a new white paper - Earning insight from every transaction: optimising enterprise-wide performance through AI and payments data - that challenges the current narrow use of AI in e-commerce. While the application of AI is well-proven for fraud prevention, the payments innovator believes e-commerce merchants are missing the opportunity to use AI to interrogate the immense volume of transaction data for enterprise-wide benefits. It believes PSPs have a critical role to play in shifting the use of AI.

“Merchants have the data but often lack the context,” explained Daniella Sjarki, Business Growth Specialist at Ecommpay. “That’s where PSPs come in. We can combine merchant data with issuer and acquirer signals such as authorisation responses and chargebacks to identify where revenue is being lost and recommend fixes.

“Merchants need to move beyond understanding what happened, to learn why it happened so that changes can be made to optimise future transactions, improve the customer experience and drive business performance.”

Ecommpay has developed a proprietary AI-driven performance analytics engine that goes far beyond conventional payment routing to target the three most prevalent sources of payment declines globally: 3DS authentication failures, fraud and suspicious transaction flags, and client-behaviour errors. In just two months the tool has raised authorisation rates for clients by an average of 7% across five sectors:

• Retail - 11.95%
• Professional Services - 6.43%
• Travel - 6.1%
• Games - 5.85%
• Forex - 4.5%

As the white paper explains, there is much more value to be derived from transaction data than most merchants are currently accessing. It sets out practical ways in which merchants can use AI to improve many aspects of the business, from marketing through to demand forecasting, corporate strategy and improving the user experience. The application of AI to payments data delivers benefits that unlock value, improve customer loyalty and drive better business performance across entire organisations.

It also includes insights and perspectives from a number of industry leaders:

John Lunn, CEO and Founder, Gr4vy said: “AI has enormous potential in payments beyond fraud management, particularly as a diagnostic and optimisation tool. Payments generate vast amounts of transaction data, but identifying why authorisation rates are changing, where false declines are occurring, or which parts of a payment strategy are underperforming has traditionally required specialist consultants and years of payments expertise. When AI is trained on that expertise and combined with a merchant’s transaction data, it can dramatically accelerate that process.”

Andre Moeller, Head of Payments, Risk and Fraud, Volkswagen AG (E-Charging) said: “AI can help distinguish normal variation from meaningful patterns across large volumes of payment events, enabling teams to prioritise the changes with the greatest impact on conversion and trust.

Daniella Sjarki concluded: “Transaction data is incredibly valuable and can help merchants improve long-term business success, but most do not have the expertise to bring this to fruition. With a 360-degree perspective and powerful AI tools, as well as access to transaction data from banks and merchants, PSPs can help merchants transform their businesses and boost revenue.”

Ecommpay internal analysis of client transaction data across a sample of merchants in five sectors over a two-month period.

Figures represent average improvement in authorisation rates across a representative client sample in each sector over the pilot period; full methodology in the white paper

Editorial insight

While artificial intelligence is widely used in online payments for fraud prevention, Ecommpay’s latest white paper draws attention to the broader commercial opportunities that AI can offer merchants. The report suggests that payment service providers (PSPs) are well placed to help businesses extract more value from their transaction data, highlighting the potential for AI-driven analysis to boost authorisation rates and address revenue loss from payment declines.

For merchants operating in competitive e-commerce sectors, the ability to understand not just what happens at the point of transaction but why it happens could offer a practical edge. The findings point to tangible business gains, with Ecommpay’s data indicating notable improvements in authorisation rates across several industries. As AI tools become more accessible through PSPs, merchants may find new ways to optimise payments, reduce customer friction, and strengthen performance beyond traditional fraud controls.

Story ideas and journalist angles

Research/data

AI’s Role in Boosting Authorisation Rates in E-commerce

A new white paper from Ecommpay reveals that AI-driven analysis can significantly boost authorisation rates for e-commerce merchants, showing an average increase of nearly 12 percentage points in retail. This suggests a substantial opportunity for merchants to improve their transaction acceptance rates using AI beyond its traditional role in fraud prevention.

Target audience business-finance Story potential 7/10 Industry trend

The Expanding Role of Payment Service Providers in AI Utilisation

The new white paper by Ecommpay highlights a growing trend where Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are expanding their role by leveraging AI to deliver comprehensive data insights to merchant clients. This shift points to a broader industry trend where PSPs are becoming integral partners in business strategy beyond just payment facilitation.

Target audience trade-industry Story potential 6/10