Dynamic Risk Orchestration: How 2026 Payment Stacks Combine AI, SCA Exemptions & Real-Time Routing to Balance Fraud and Conversion
For years, merchants relied on fixed fraud rules and predictable authentication flows to manage risk. A transaction was either safe…
Payment Funnel Intelligence 2026: How to Benchmark Declines, Friction, Routing & 3DS by BIN, Issuer and Geography
Most merchants track approval rates, but very few understand why their payments fail and almost none analyse declines at the…
Fraud Velocity & Transaction Sequence Modelling: The 2026 Guide to Detecting Bot Attacks, Card Testing & Rapid-Fire Abuse
Over the past two years, fraud has changed shape. Instead of slow, isolated attempts, PSPs are now seeing bursts of…
Early-Warning Systems for Fraud: How 2026 PSPs Predict Chargebacks Weeks Before They Happen
Chargebacks rarely begin at the moment a customer files a dispute. By 2026, PSPs will have learned that the earliest…
Predictive Risk Models 2026: How Merchants Use Behavioural, Device & Payment Graph Data to Prevent Fraud Before Checkout
Fraud in 2026 no longer behaves like a series of isolated attacks that merchants can block with static rules, velocity…
Cross-Rail Payment Optimisation: Using Data to Balance Cards, A2A, Wallets & APMs in High-Risk Markets (2026 Edition)
The era of relying on a single payment rail is over. By 2026, merchants operating in high-risk and cross-border environments…
Real-Time Payments Diagnostics: How Merchants Use Live Issuer Feedback, Risk Scores & Acquirer Health Signals to Optimise Acceptance in 2026
For years, merchants optimised their payment performance using static rules: fixed routing preferences, monthly acquirer reviews, and after-the-fact reporting. That…
AI in High-Risk Underwriting: How PSPs Use Machine Learning to Assess Merchant Risk Profiles, Chargeback Probability & Business Model Red Flags
Underwriting has entered a new era. By 2026, the volume, complexity and global distribution of high-risk merchants have evolved far…
The 2026 Merchant Underwriting Framework: How PSPs Assess High-Risk Businesses Under PSD3, FCA & Global AML Standards
Merchant underwriting is undergoing its most significant transformation in over a decade. What was once a largely documentation-driven onboarding checkpoint…
2026 Global Acquiring Rulebook: How Visa, Mastercard, and Regional Regulators Reshape Legal Obligations for High-Risk MCCs
The global acquiring landscape is entering one of its most significant reform cycles in over a decade. By 2026, Visa,…
Building an AML & KYC Operating Model That Survives Bank and PSP Due Diligence in 2026
AML and KYC requirements for payment companies are entering a new phase. Banks, acquirers and upstream PSPs are applying stricter…
APM and Currency Sequencing: How to Prioritise Local Payment Methods When Entering 5+ New Markets in 2026
Entering multiple new markets in 2026 is no longer just about localisation of language or pricing. The real differentiation now…
Compliance-First Market Entry: How to Map Licensing, FX Controls and Data Rules Before Switching On Payments in 2026
In 2026, global expansion teams can no longer rely on the old sequence of launching a product, proving demand, and…
Settlement Risk Intelligence: How Predictive Models Detect Delays, Corridor Failures & Liquidity Gaps in 2026
For high-risk merchants, the payment challenge in 2026 is no longer authorisation or routing efficiency, it is the unpredictability of…
Local vs Cross-Border Acquiring: Choosing the Right Entry Model for New Markets in 2026
Expanding into a new market used to be as simple as adding another acquirer or switching on cross-border processing. By…
Settlement Orchestration Layers: The New Infrastructure Behind Global Merchant Payouts in 2026
For years, cross-border commerce challenges centred on authorisation rates, local payment method coverage, and the quality of payment routing. But…
The Conversion-Compliance Balance –How to Optimise Checkout Without Violating PSD3 or AMLD6
Optimising a checkout seems simple in theory: make it fast, make it familiar, make it easy for customers to pay.…
Localisation = Conversion – Why Regional Payment Options Matter More Than Discounts
For years, merchants have relied on discounts to boost conversion rates. A percentage off, a seasonal promotion, a limited-time offer…
The 2026 PSP Selection Framework: How High-Risk Merchants Can Stay Bankable Across Multiple Jurisdictions
For high-risk merchants, securing the right payment service provider has never been more difficult than it will be in 2026.…
Transaction-Level AI: How PSPs Use Predictive Fraud Models to Cut Chargebacks and False Declines
Payment fraud is evolving faster than traditional decisioning systems can respond. As digital commerce expands across cards, A2A payments, mobile…
Beyond Cards: How Tokenisation is Extending to Open Banking and Alternative Payment Rails (2026)
Tokenisation began as a security upgrade. In the early PCI-DSS era, its purpose was simple: to protect card numbers by…
Token Lifecycle Management: How 2026 Merchants Are Using Network Tokens to Boost Approval and Retention
By 2026, one of the most persistent challenges in digital payments remains frustratingly simple: cards change, but merchants don’t know…
Beyond PCI: How Network Tokenisation is Becoming the New Compliance Baseline in 2026
Card security has always been shaped by one principle: protect the PAN. For nearly two decades, PCI DSS defined how…
2026 Alternative Payments Outlook: From Wallets to Embedded Finance in High-Risk Commerce
Alternative payment methods (APMs) have moved decisively from niche convenience to strategic necessity, particularly in high-risk commerce, where traditional card…
The 2026 A2A Playbook: Choosing Between Cards, Open Banking, and Instant Payment Rails
By 2026, merchants and PSPs will be operating in a very different payment environment from the one shaped by card…
Beyond Gateways: How Payment Orchestration Platforms Are Driving 2026 Merchant Approval Rates
Merchant approval rates in 2026 are shaped by factors far beyond gateway connectivity. Issuer behaviour, stricter PSD3 data requirements, corridor-specific…
PSPs, Push Payments & Liability: How UK/EU APP Scam Rules Will Reshape Gateway Roadmaps in 2026
Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams have become the most disruptive fraud category in the UK and EU, growing in direct…
Fraud at 35,000 Feet: The 2026 Guide to Preventing Ticketing Fraud and Synthetic Identities in Travel Payments
The warning signs usually appear at the boarding gate. A passenger’s name is on the manifest, the ticket number checks…
Cross-Border Acquiring in Travel: How Airlines and OTAs Can Cut FX Loss and Settlement Delays by 2026
In 2026, the commercial success of airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) hinges as much on their payment infrastructure as…
The Recurring Revenue Risk Model: How PSPs Underwrite Subscription Merchants in 2026
In 2026, subscription merchants sit at the centre of one of the most significant risk recalibrations in the payments industry.…

