Merchants face a frustrating challenge – declined card transactions that disrupt the purchasing process, leading to lost sales and disappointed customers. The impact? Revenue left on the table and customers who may never return.
This problem becomes even more glaring when you consider the growing e-commerce opportunity. Online retail experienced record sales this holiday season, with $10.8 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales on Black Friday, up 10.2% over last year. Yet, behind these staggering numbers lies a challenge many merchants are struggling to solve: how to capture more of that revenue by minimizing declined transactions.
Why Declined Transactions Are a Bigger Problem Than You Think
According to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate is 70%. That means only three out of ten customers who add items to their cart actually complete the checkout process. And these numbers are trending higher each year.
Online shopping cart abandonment rate worldwide between 2006 to 2024
Source: Statista
While several factors contribute to this issue, payment declines are one of the most significant and avoidable ones. According to Visa and MasterCard, 15% to 30% of recurring credit card payments are declined, and 40% of online declines are due to insufficient funds. That’s a lot of lost sales! But there are longer-term repercussions as well. Frustrated customers often switch to competitors. That’s because they blame the merchants—not the card issuers who made the decision—for the declines. This friction means that all the effort you’ve invested in attracting and retaining customers can go to waste.
The Good News: Declined Transactions Can Be Prevented
Many NSF declines stem from avoidable issues, like unexpected expenses or overlooked account balances. Merchants who address these declines proactively can reclaim lost sales and strengthen their relationships with customers. This is where Kipp’s platform comes in—a real-time solution designed to save sales that would otherwise be lost.
How Kipp Helps Merchants Approve More Payments
Kipp’s platform enables real-time collaboration between card issuers and merchants to authorize more transactions that would otherwise be declined. Here’s how it works: Merchants set a small premium bid they’re willing to pay to offset the issuer’s risk for approving insufficient funds transactions. When a transaction is about to be declined due to insufficient funds, Kipp steps in to save the sale with real-time recommendations for the issuer to approve it .Kipp integrates seamlessly into the existing payment flow, maintaining your current transaction and settlement processes while adding an optimized layer to increase approvals. Customers experience zero delays in their payment process, and the merchant does not need to make any integration effort.
What Merchants Gain with Kipp
Kipp’s platform offers tangible benefits that go beyond saving sales:
Higher Conversion Rates: Increase transaction success rates by up to 50% by approving more payments
Cost Efficiency: Pay only for successful transactions that would have been declined
Increased Revenue: Avoid NSF declines and capture more sales through issuer collaboration
Improved Customer Experience: Create a frictionless buying journey, which leads to greater satisfaction and loyalty
Don’t let declined transactions hold you back. Let us show you how Kipp can help your business approve more payments and create a seamless shopping experience for your customers.
