Marketplaces: How to increase the acceptance rate of your transactions?

While e-commerce sales are slowing down, on the contrary, the marketplace model is growing steadily (38% in 2022) all over the world. One of the keys to success is to make sure your customers have a smooth experience, even when they have mixed shopping baskets. It's important to make the payment process as seamless as possible. Guaranteeing a high level of acceptance at check-out is therefore crucial. Lemonway and Payplug, working together to achieve this goal, explain the key features of a maximised acceptance rate. 

In this article, we'll look at the acceptance rate and how it can help you improve the performance of your marketplace.

What's the acceptance rate or authorisation rate?

The acceptance rate (also known as the authorisation rate) is the percentage of transactions that the issuing banks accept as a proportion of all transactions submitted.

The acceptance rate shows how well transactions are going and is something marketplaces should keep an eye on. A high rate means the platform is doing well. The idea is to get as close to the maximum rate as possible. To do this, you need to think about the whole transaction cycle and look at all the things that can affect conversion.

Regarding online payments, the 2^nd Payment Services Directive (PSD2) requires two-factor authentication (2FA) for all transactions, with a few exceptions. 

● Payments of less than €30.

● Recurring transactions.

● TRA (Transaction Analysis Risk) analysis leads to a recommendation (either a request for a frictionless path or strong authentication).

So, even if the merchant wants a frictionless journey, the issuing bank decides whether to trigger strong authentication.

How can we increase the authorisation rate? 

Boost conversion on marketplaces with Payplug and Lemonway.

When it comes to improving payment performance, acceptance rates and conversion rates go hand in hand. There are a few simple things you can do to make a big difference to your conversion rates on marketplaces:

• Your payment methods should be varied and adapted to customers' habits.
• The payment page should be reassuring and consistent with the site's universe.
• Proper management of outstanding payments and analysis of post-payment data to continuously improve your conversion strategy over the long term and
• Maximise frictionless journeys in compliance with DSP2. 

Let's spend a little more time on the last point and how we can optimise "frictionless" transactions (without strong authentication).

Making sure everything's above board and managing risk properly

Platforms must ensure that their payment partner provides a rules engine that is continuously optimised to combat fraud while maintaining conversion rates effectively. The aim is to use TRA (Transaction Risk Analysis), a real-time transaction risk analysis, to send a request for strong or frictionless authentication to the issuer (the cardholder's bank), depending on the estimated risk score.

The more effective a marketplace is at combating fraud, the more it will reduce its default and fraud rates, increasing issuer confidence and encouraging them to accept frictionless requests, thereby improving overall payment acceptance.

Secure transactions on marketplaces is central to maintaining customer confidence. Payplug prevents fraud, ensures security, and manages risk, which also helps increase acceptance rates.

In particular, the solution relies on a managed service offering to manage fraud and non-payment. This means configuring rules based on metrics specific to the merchant's business, assigning a risk score to each transaction and sending a request for strong or frictionless authentication, depending on the profile defined and the merchant's preferences. 

In 2023, Payplug recorded a 94% acceptance rate for merchants using this Fraud Premium* service.

Beyond fraud management, the first criteria remain key. With Payplug, you have access to a partner with expertise in all acceptance and risk management aspects.   

Payplug relies on a direct connection to the Cartes Bancaires network and the BPCE Group to manage its customers' transactions as efficiently as possible. Thanks to this approach, 91% of frictionless requests are accepted by all issuers in France**—the result for your customers: a seamless, secure payment experience.

Regarding user experience, Payplug offers a payment form that can be integrated directly into the checkout page and is PCI DSS compliant. It also provides all the payment methods most commonly used by customers (including CB, Visa and MasterCard) and can be customised based on merchant profiles and location.

To optimise conversion, users can also count on options such as split payment, one-click payment or MultiCapture to optimise the management of multiple shopping baskets.

Fraud management, transaction information and network connectivity are critical to the transaction's success. Good management of these criteria gives the marketplace a high authorisation rate.

Payplug and Lemonway: how can you benefit?

By relying on Lemonway and Payplug, marketplaces benefit from unique expertise dedicated to their model and an agile and secure service to make the payment experience as smooth as possible for merchants and users.

Marketplaces can benefit from the combined technology of Lemonway and Payplug thanks to the quick and easy integration of the Lemonway API. They will then have at their disposal the key elements they need to ensure their success and payment performance: numerous payment methods to broaden their potential buyer base, advanced functionalities such as MultiCapture and the personalisation of their payment page through the provision of hosted fields in compliance with PCI DSS standards.

These features enhance the existing offering and complement Lemonway's marketplace expertise. As a result, the two companies are making the experience of merchants and shoppers more fluid while meeting the needs of marketplaces with a thorough understanding of their regulations.

Would you like to benefit from these features and improve your marketplace's payment experience and acceptance rate? Contact us today.

*Results from Payplug Fraud Premium customers - 2023

** Payplug 2023 data