Five tactical methods to implement to improve card authorization rates in 2025

In today’s world of digital payments, improving card authorization rates is paramount to building a healthy business. Bluntly speaking, high authorization rates translates to increased revenue and happier customers.

As we head into 2025, here are five practical ways to boost your card authorization success rates.

1. Use Network Tokenization

Network tokenization is a powerful tool for reducing declines and improving security. Instead of using actual card details, this approach swaps them out for secure tokens, which keeps things safer and minimizes issues such as expired cards.

Notably, network tokens are better than traditional tokenization solutions because they auto-update whenever cards are replaced.

Businesses that use network tokenization have seen their authorization rates jump by 2-3%, with some reporting as much as a 6% boost for recurring payments.

2. Smarter Routing

By using data to guide how transactions are processed, businesses can cut down on unnecessary declines. Typically, this involves:

• Using machine learning to study past transactions and spot patterns.
• Setting up rules for routing transactions based on things like card type, bank, or amount.
• Adding real-time monitoring to adjust your strategies on the fly.
• Partnering with backup payment processors to ensure smooth failovers.

Companies adopting smart routing have seen authorization rates improve by 1-2%, especially for payments across borders.

3. Credit Card Account Updaters (CAUs)

Outdated card details are a common reason for declines. Network tokens are a stab at this problem; however, if you use a traditional tokenization strategy or store card details in-house, there are also credit card account updater services offered by payment providers.

Businesses using account updater services report a 1-3% improvement in recurring payment approvals.

4. Clean Up Your Payment Data

Good data is the foundation of smooth transactions. Small changes in how you manage payment information can lead to noticeable improvements. Focus on these areas:

• Make sure Address Verification Service (AVS) checks are in place.
• Validate and standardize customer data during input.
• Include extras like merchant category codes and clear transaction descriptions.
• Keep your payment formats consistent across platforms.

Better data management can give you an edge, with improvements of 0.5-1.5% in authorization rates, especially for riskier industries.

5. Use Risk-Based Authentication

Balancing security and success is tricky, but risk-based authentication helps. This means customizing your security checks based on the potential risk of a transaction. This includes:

• Upgrading to 3D Secure 2.0 with flexible risk-based flows.
• Using tools like device fingerprinting and behavioral analytics.
• Building custom risk scoring models tailored to your customers.
• Adjusting authentication requirements dynamically based on risk levels.

This approach can improve authorization rates by 1-2% while keeping fraud under control.

Wrapping Up

Getting better authorization rates is about finding the right mix of technology and data-driven decision-making. By applying these five strategies, businesses can expect to see real improvements—think a 3-5% overall boost. That means more revenue and fewer headaches for both you and your customers. The key? Take it one step at a time, and keep an eye on how things evolve in the fast-moving world of payments.