Merchant Counselor

Online Payments

Online payments are more than a checkout page.

Merchant Counselor helps businesses design and optimize the payment infrastructure behind ecommerce, subscriptions and recurring revenue.

We look at the entire payment flow — not just the processor.

Tell Us About Your Payment Setup Explore Online Solutions

A customer relaxing on a couch in an urban loft completes a phone checkout for a Crescent Leather Bag, with the same purse shown on the television across the room — from inspiration to checkout.

A customer on a couch in an urban loft holds a phone displaying a Crescent Bag checkout with a Pay now button.

BEHIND THE CHECKOUT

She taps “Pay now.”What happens next?

A simple purchase depends on several systems working together.

01
Checkout
The customer submits her payment details.
02
Gateway
Securely sends the payment request.
03
Processor
Passes the request to the card network.
04
Card network
Routes the request to her bank.
05
Her bank
Approves or declines the payment.

The decision returns to checkout.

Simplified card authorization journey.

When a payment fails, we help identify where—and why.

Start with what you need to solve.

Choose an area to explore.

BETTER CHECKOUT EXPERIENCES

An honest mistake shouldn’t end the sale.

Help customers correct payment details while keeping appropriate fraud controls in place.

ZIP code checkout scenario: a customer asks, “Wait... which ZIP code is tied to this card?” while her laptop highlights a billing ZIP error.

CVV checkout scenario: a customer checks her card and says, “I thought I typed that correctly.” Her laptop prompts her to check the security code.

Billing address checkout scenario: a customer realizes, “Oh—I’m still using my old address.” Her laptop prompts her to check the billing address.

An honest mistake can become a lost sale. Corrected details—and how the next attempt is routed—can affect the outcome.

Explore Approval Rate Optimization Explore Chargebacks & Risk

Illustrative checkout scenarios.

Subscriptions & Recurring Billing

The customer still wants the coffee. Can the next payment go through?

A replacement card can interrupt an ongoing subscription.

Month 1
First delivery.
The subscription begins with a successful payment.
Between deliveries
New card. Same subscription.
Her saved payment details may need updating.
Next billing date
Next month’s delivery?
A failed renewal can interrupt the next order.

Card updates

Eligible payment retries

Customer notifications

The right setup helps manage payment interruptions while respecting the customer’s subscription choices.

Explore Subscriptions & Recurring Billing

Illustrative subscription scenario.

Different businesses.Different payment infrastructure.

The setup should fit the way your business operates.

Saturday at the farmers market: a vendor accepts a customer's card payment at a produce stand. — One stand. One payment route.
One merchant account can fit the job.
Simple setup

Online orders around the clock: an ecommerce team manages orders in a warehouse, with an illustrative provider outage panel. — More volume. More moving parts.
Redundancy and orchestration help coordinate available payment routes.

Additional providers depend on compatibility, underwriting and your business needs.

Explore Payment Orchestration Discuss Your Payment Setup

Test a proposed setup with limited eligible traffic before expanding.

Merchant Counselor

Not sure where the problem is?

Tell us what’s happening with your payments. We’ll help you identify where to look next.

Talk to a Merchant Counselor

Start with the problem you’re seeing.

A diagnostic payment review: a green panel asks “What are you noticing?” with options for more declined payments, failed subscription renewals and unexpected processing costs, beside a laptop showing payment activity with a “Find the cause.” note. — A clearer view of your payments.