BIN-level routing logic, multi-MID strategies, and cascade flows that maximise authorisation rates, reduce processing costs, and isolate risk exposure.
At low volumes, routing doesn't matter much. One MID, one processor, straightforward. But as transaction volumes grow — and especially as transaction mix diversifies across geographies, card types, and channels — routing decisions start to have a measurable commercial impact on every single payment.
A BIN routing strategy sits at the intersection of authorisation rates, processing costs, and risk management. Done well, it increases the percentage of transactions that succeed on the first attempt, reduces processing fees by directing volume to the most cost-effective acquirer for each transaction type, and limits risk exposure by distributing volume across multiple processing relationships.
A 1 percentage point improvement in authorisation rate on £100M of annual volume is £1M in recovered revenue — before any reduction in processing costs. Routing is one of the highest-leverage levers in payments optimisation.
Different BINs — the first 6–8 digits of a card number — carry different characteristics: card type (credit/debit), scheme (Visa/Mastercard), issuer country, card category (consumer/commercial/prepaid). Each combination has different interchange costs, different authorisation behaviour, and may be better suited to different acquirers. We build routing logic that directs each BIN range to the optimal processor.
Operating multiple Merchant IDs across one or more PSPs gives you flexibility — but only if structured correctly. We design multi-MID frameworks that separate transaction types by risk profile, allow independent monitoring and optimisation per MID, and create natural isolation if one MID encounters issues with a card network monitoring programme.
When a transaction declines on a first attempt, a well-designed cascade can retry on an alternative processor — often recovering 20–40% of otherwise-lost authorisations. We design cascade sequences that are ordered intelligently (not just round-robin) and have appropriate retry logic that avoids generating excess decline traffic that could trigger scheme scrutiny.
Before designing any routing changes, we baseline your current authorisation rate by BIN range, card type, currency, geography, and time of day. This surfaces where declines are concentrated, and what's driving them — whether that's soft declines (retriable), hard declines (not retriable), or issuer-specific patterns.
Routing can reduce processing costs by directing transactions to the acquirer with the best effective rate for that transaction type. Debit transactions in some markets may be significantly cheaper via one processor than another. High-value corporate cards may warrant a different treatment. We model the cost impact of routing changes before implementing.
Routing optimisation typically requires either native routing logic at your PSP, or an orchestration layer sitting above it. We have experience across both approaches.
We analyse 90 days of transaction data — auth rates by BIN, card type, geography, currency, and channel — to identify where declines are concentrated and what's driving them.
We model your current effective processing cost across MIDs and transaction types, and identify the routing changes with the highest cost-reduction potential.
We design the optimal routing logic for your volume and transaction mix — including primary routing rules, cascade sequences, and fallback logic.
We recommend the right infrastructure — native PSP routing, orchestration layer, or custom — based on your technical setup, volume, and growth trajectory.
We support implementation, define the KPIs to track post-launch, and review early results to validate the impact and catch any unexpected effects.
Start with a free 30-minute call. We'll give you an honest assessment of where you stand and what's worth tackling first.