Top 9 Payment Processing KPIs High-Risk Merchants Must Track [2025]
6 min
August 26, 2025
Author:
Roan Dollmann
Running a high-risk business means your payments face higher stakes, and more scrutiny. One small issue with fraud, downtime, or chargebacks could cost you customers, revenue, or even your merchant account.
And with non-cash transactions expected to hit 1.3 trillion this year and grow 15% annually through 2027, delivering secure, seamless payments is more critical than ever.
That’s why tracking payment processing KPIs is essential for businesses that want to stay competitive and meet customer demands.
The right KPIs help you spot hidden friction, fix system failures, reduce risk, and prove to banks and partners that you’re in control.
But with so many metrics to choose from, where do you start?
In this guide, we’ll cover the 9 most critical KPIs high-risk merchants should monitor, why they’re important, and how to improve them!
What are Payment Processing KPI’s and Why They’re Important?
Simply put, payment processing KPIs are measurable metrics that track how well your payment system is performing.
From the moment a customer hits “buy” to when the funds arrive in your account, these metrics reveal what’s working, what’s stuck, and where you’re leaking revenue.
For high-risk businesses, keeping a close eye on these numbers can help avoid costly downtime, fight fraud, keep customers happy, and stay ahead in a tough market.
What Is Considered a High-Risk Merchant?
Wondering if you fall into the high-risk business category?
A high-risk merchant is a business that payment providers see as more likely to face payment hiccups, fraud, or chargebacks. This risk often comes from your industry, business model, or customer base.
Common high-risk industries include (but are not limited to) adult entertainment, crypto, forex, gaming, supplement, travel, online gambling, CBD products, subscription services, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.
The stakes are higher when running a high-risk business, but with the right insights, so are the opportunities.
Top Payment Processing KPIs Every High-Risk Merchant Should Monitor
Not all payment issues are easy to spot, until they start costing you. That’s why knowing which KPIs to track is critical for your long-term success.
To make sense of your payment performance, you need to focus on these three key KPI categories:
Each group uncovers a different layer of your system, from how stable and secure it is, to how efficiently money moves from customer to account.
Now, let’s unpack each KPI in detail: what it measures, why it matters, and how to make it work harder for your business.
Reliability KPIs
Uptime / System Availability
Uptime tracks the percentage of time your payment system is fully operational and ready to process transactions, usually measured monthly or yearly.
For example, 99.9% uptime means your system can be down for no more than about 43 minutes a month.
Why it matters
Every minute your payment system is down could mean lost revenue and damaged trust. For high-risk merchants, uptime is even more critical to avoid penalties, protect customer data, and keep your account in good standing.
Many processors have thresholds for uptime. Repeated failures could lead to increased fees or even terminated contracts.
How to track it
Use your payment provider’s dashboard to monitor real-time system availability, and supplement it with third-party tools for independent verification to track these key indicators:
- Downtime incidents: how often your system goes offline
- Duration: how long each incident lasts
- Time to resolution: how quickly your team or provider restores service
- Impact on transactions: how many payments failed or were delayed due to the outage
Over time, this data helps you spot patterns, hold vendors accountable, and reduce your exposure to downtime risks.
How to improve it
Payment Failure Rate
Payment Failure Rate tracks the percentage of attempted transactions that don’t go through successfully.
These failures can happen for various reasons as a buyer triggers a complex system of checks and balances, and security. If only one part of this system fails, the whole payment fails.
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Why it matters
Every failed payment is a missed revenue opportunity. But it’s not just about losing one sale. High failure rates hurt your customer experience, trigger processor scrutiny, and can lead to increased decline rates or penalties, especially for high-risk merchants.
In high-risk verticals, elevated failure rates can raise red flags with acquiring banks and may impact your MID (merchant ID) status.
How to track it
Most payment processors provide failure reports in their dashboards, but you’ll want to go deeper than just the percentage. Key things to track:
- Failure rate = (Failed transactions ÷ Total attempted) × 100
- Decline reasons: insufficient funds, invalid card, 3DS failure, gateway timeout, AVS mismatch, etc.
Channel breakdown: Are failures happening more via mobile, desktop, or specific countries? - Timing trends: Do failures spike at certain hours or during sales events?
By understanding why payments are failing, you can take targeted steps to improve your approval rates.
How to improve it
Pro Tip: If your failure rate consistently exceeds 5–8%, it’s time to audit your stack.
Transaction Success Rate (Conversion Rate)
Transaction Success Rate (also called Payment Conversion Rate) measures the percentage of attempted payments that are successfully completed. In other words, it tells you how often a customer’s payment actually goes through from start to finish.
Why it matters
A high success rate = more revenue, happier customers, and fewer headaches. Every failed transaction is a missed opportunity. Worse, too many declines (especially false ones) can increase churn, damage trust, and reduce customer lifetime value.
In high-risk industries, even small drops in success rate can lead to higher decline ratios, more disputes, and unwanted attention from processors.
How to track it
Most high-risk payment orchestration platforms report this KPI directly, but you can also calculate it manually:
- Success rate = (Successful transactions ÷ Total attempted) × 100
To get actionable insights, break the data down further:
- By device (desktop vs. mobile)
- By region (domestic vs. cross-border)
- By payment method (card, APMs, eWallet, crypto)
- By customer type (new vs. returning)
Look for patterns. For example, if mobile payments consistently underperform, your mobile checkout flow may be the culprit.
How to improve it
Aim for a transaction success rate of 90% or higher. If you're consistently under that benchmark, it's time to audit your stack - from checkout flow to processor reliability.
Risk and Compliance KPIs
Chargeback Rate
Chargeback Rate tracks the percentage of transactions that customers dispute and reverse through their card issuer.
Why it matters
Chargebacks are more than lost revenue, they can trigger higher processing fees, withheld funds, or even account termination if your rate exceeds acceptable thresholds.
Most processors flag chargeback rates above 1%. High-risk merchants face stricter scrutiny and may be required to join monitoring programs (like MATCH or the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program).
How to track it
- Monthly chargeback rate: (Total chargebacks ÷ Total transactions) × 100
- Top dispute reasons: Fraud, product not received, subscription confusion, etc.
- Chargeback ratio trends: Are they climbing, steady, or improving?
Track by:
- Product or service type
- Traffic source
- Payment method
- Geography
This helps identify what’s really driving your chargebacks.
How to improve it
If your chargeback rate creeps over 0.9%, act fast. It’s much easier to fix before you’re locked into costly chargeback monitoring programs.
Dispute Resolution / Chargeback Win Rate
Your Chargeback Win Rate (also called Dispute Resolution Rate) shows how often you successfully reverse chargebacks in your favor after submitting evidence. It reflects the strength of your rebuttals and how well you document transactions.
Learn more about high chargeback ratios in our latest blog post.
Why it matters
Winning disputes means recovered revenue, fewer penalties, and stronger processor trust. A low win rate can signal weak dispute handling, or worse, systemic customer experience issues.
Some high-risk verticals (e.g., supplements, info products, adult content) have win rates as low as 10–15%, but with strong documentation, you can beat the average.
How to track it
- Response rate: Are you fighting enough chargebacks?
- Win rate: (Disputes won ÷ Disputes contested) × 100
- Win rate by reason code: Helps you spot what types of cases you win, or lose, most often.
Break this data down by:
- Product category
- Processor or bank
- Timeframe (monthly/quarterly)
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How to improve it
Pro tip: A win rate above 40% is considered strong in most verticals. Combine fast response times with tight documentation, and you’ll recover more revenue with less friction.
Fraud Rate
Fraud rate measures the percentage of successfully processed payments that are later flagged as fraudulent. It’s calculated after the fact – once a charge is disputed and verified as fraud.
The general formula is: Fraud Rate = (Confirmed Fraudulent Transactions ÷ Total Successful Transactions) × 100
Why it matters
Fraud creates a revenue leak, and it’s a credibility killer. A high fraud rate can lead to chargeback penalties, frozen funds, or even account termination if you’re considered high-risk. For regulated industries or merchants with thin margins, even a 1% fraud rate can trigger processor reviews.
Visa and Mastercard typically flag merchants with fraud rates above 0.9% as excessive. Above 1.5% and you're in real danger of being placed on a watchlist like the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) or Mastercard’s MATCH.
How to track it
Monitor fraud metrics like:
- Fraudulent transaction volume
- Fraud-to-sales ratio (% over time)
- Type of fraud (e.g., card testing, friendly fraud, synthetic identities)
- Source of fraud (location, device, payment channel)
How to improve it
Compliance Rate (PCI DSS, AML/KYC)
Compliance Rate measures how well your payment systems and business practices follow key industry standards like PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) and AML/KYC (Anti-Money Laundering / Know Your Customer) regulations.
Why it matters
Non-compliance can result in processor termination, legal action, or massive data breaches. Compliance also builds trust, especially with larger B2B clients or in financial services.
If you’re not compliant, you’re a liability.
PCI DSS violations can result in fines between $5,000–$100,000/month depending on the severity and duration.
How to track it
Track your compliance status with internal audits, reports from your payment provider, or third-party compliance platforms.
- PCI DSS: Are you certified? When was your last audit? Are you completing quarterly scans?
- AML/KYC: Are you verifying identities and checking against sanction lists? Are your records updated?
Documentation: Do you have clear, auditable logs for all compliance-related actions?
How to improve it
Operational Efficiency KPIs
Authorization Rate
Authorization Rate measures the percentage of transactions that are approved by the issuing bank when a payment is first attempted.
Why it matters
A low authorization rate means fewer sales, even if customers have the intent and funds. In high-risk industries, authorization declines can be higher due to stricter fraud controls, but many are preventable with better data hygiene and processor alignment.
Repeated declines can damage your reputation with card networks and increase your fraud score.
How to track it
- Formula: (Approved authorizations ÷ Total authorization attempts) × 100
- Watch for: Patterns by card type, region, issuing bank, or device
- Tools: Use your processor’s reporting dashboard or PSP analytics
How to improve it
Capture Rate
Capture Rate is the percentage of authorized transactions successfully captured for settlement.
Why it matters
Authorization ≠ payment. If a transaction is authorized but not captured, the money never moves – and you don’t get paid.
This is especially important for businesses with delayed fulfillment, subscriptions, or manual invoicing. Missed captures often mean lost revenue and frustrated customers.
Authorizations often expire within 7 days. If you don’t capture in time, the transaction fails, and you may need to reprocess the payment.
How to track it
- Formula: (Captured transactions ÷ Authorized transactions) × 100
- Look for patterns in:
- Manual vs. automatic capture
- Specific payment methods (e.g., cards vs. wallets)
- Time between auth and capture
- Where to find it: Dashboards, reconciliation reports, and accounting software
How to improve it
Pro Tip: Aim for a capture rate above 97%. Anything lower could signal broken workflows, system sync issues, or human error.
Settlement Time
Settlement Time is the amount of time it takes for money from a successful transaction to arrive in your bank account. It starts when a customer pays and ends when the funds are available for use.
Some providers settle daily, while others may take 2–7 business days depending on your risk profile, payment method, and region.
Why it matters
Cash flow is king. Longer settlement times can choke your operations, delay payouts, and create working capital gaps, especially for high-volume or high-risk merchants.
Inconsistent or slow settlements can also make it harder to reconcile revenue, forecast income, or pay suppliers on time.
Some payment processors impose longer hold periods for new, high-risk, or international merchants.
How to track it
- Track each stage:
- Authorization → Capture → Settlement
- Measure average time per payment method (e.g. credit card vs. ACH)
- Key metrics to watch:
- Average settlement time (in days)
- Settlement consistency (are there delays or exceptions?)
- Volume of held/reserved funds
Most processors include this in payout reports or bank reconciliation files.
How to improve it
Pro Tip: Push for T+1 (next-day) settlement if your business needs tight cash flow management – especially in ecommerce, SaaS, or subscription-based models.
What Else Can You Add to Your KPI Dashboard?
Once you’ve nailed the core payment metrics, these advanced KPIs can give you even deeper insights:
Cart Abandonment Rate: % of users who start checkout but don’t finish it.
Cross-Border Acceptance Rate: % of international transactions that are successfully processed.
Retry Success Rate: % of failed payments that succeed when retried.
Refund Rate: % of total transactions that are refunded.
Decline Reason Breakdown: Categorized reasons for failed payment attempts.
Processor Response Time: Average time it takes for your processor to respond to a transaction request.
Recurring Payment Failure Rate: % of failed recurring or subscription payments.
Average Order Value (AOV): Average amount spent per completed transaction.
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How PayFirmly Helps You Crush Your Payment Processing KPIs
Tracking KPIs is one thing, hitting them is another. That’s where PayFirmly makes the difference. Our platform is built to help you not just monitor performance, but actually improve it across every stage of the payment journey.
Here’s how:
Higher Approval Rates
With intelligent AI-powered routing, PayFirmly automatically selects the best-performing payment provider for each transaction, reducing false declines and boosting your success rate.
Lower Payment Failure Rates
500+ payment methods and smart retry logic mean fewer dropped payments, fewer errors, and more completed checkouts.
Reduced Fraud Rate
Our built-in 3D Secure, PCI DSS Level 1 compliance, and real-time AI risk detection help catch fraud without blocking good customers.
Faster Settlement Times
Optimized processing infrastructure and global acquiring networks get your funds settled faster, helping you stay cash-flow positive.
Lower Processing Fees
Save up to 30% by letting our smart routing engine choose the most cost-effective path for each transaction. No more overpaying just to get paid.
Improved Compliance Rate
We make staying compliant simple. From AML/KYC support to PCI DSS readiness, PayFirmly helps you meet the standards that matter.
Better Chargeback Win Rate
Get expert tools and data insights to respond faster and more effectively to disputes, and increase your chances of keeping the revenue you’ve earned.
Stronger Cross-Border Acceptance
Reach global customers with local payment options and an infrastructure built for international scale, reducing cross-border decline rates.
Hit Your KPIs with a Payment System That Work for You
For high-risk merchants, tracking the right KPIs can mean the difference between stalled growth and sustainable success. From uptime to chargeback rates, every metric reveals key insights into your business health and customer experience.
Clear, actionable KPIs turn complexity into opportunity. With the right data, you can make smarter decisions, stay compliant, and work with partners who truly understand your industry.
PayFirmly is built to help you do just that: streamlining payments, reducing risk, and keeping your revenue flowing.
Turn Your Payments Into a Performance Advantage
Hit your KPIs with PayFirmly and see what smarter payments can do for your business.
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