A New World for cards
The role of cards is becoming increasingly specialized in emerging markets, with growth driven by installment plans, high-value transactions, and local schemes. This shift places greater importance on regional processing nuances.
Toolkit: A Glossary of Cards Features for Emerging Markets
The essential card features driving revenue growth and fraud reduction
Over the last decade, the global card industry has undergone a massive transformation, evolving into a sophisticated ecosystem. While these technological advancements are mostly global, certain features have gained a specialized importance in emerging markets. In these high-growth regions, these tools are essential components to combat complex fraud patterns and bridge gaps in local payment infrastructure.
The availability and adoption of these capabilities, however, follow different timelines across regions. Brazil, for instance, has established itself as a global benchmark for financial innovation, with a fully integrated stack of high-performance card features already in place. Meanwhile, other dynamic markets across Latin America, Africa, and Asia are currently at different stages of implementing these rails. This uneven maturity makes local expertise vital for merchants to effectively leverage technology and ensure high approval rates.
This glossary decodes the essential capabilities currently redefining card success. By moving toward a high-performance processing stack, merchants shift from reactive troubleshooting to proactive revenue protection and improved user experiences.
Key Capabilities for High-Performance Processing
3DS
An advanced authentication protocol designed to verify cardholder identity with minimal friction, shifting liability and reducing fraud. It adds a layer of cardholder authentication to reduce risk and shift liability. In order to complete an online purchase, the cardholder can be asked to provide proof of identity by entering a unique password, an SMS code or a temporary PIN.
Precision in application prevents the conversion drops often seen when global authentication rules are applied indiscriminately to markets with varying levels of banking technology adoption.
Card Account Updater
A specialized recovery engine designed to maintain continuity in subscription models and recurring billing. When a recurring payment is declined due to outdated card information, the system queries the card networks in real-time to retrieve the new card details and immediately retries the charge.
It is a critical tool against involuntary churn, successfully saving more than 50% of eligible declines. For a major EBANX Streaming player, CAU resulted in a measurable +53bps uplift in overall approval rates.
Card Verify
A non-financial transaction used to validate a card’s status and risk profile without placing an actual charge. This is primarily used during "free trial" sign-ups or when a customer first adds a card to their account.
By confirming the card is "ready for charge" according to local issuer standards, it reduces friction at the point of acquisition and protects the merchant’s investment in customer onboarding.
Network Tokenization
A security and performance technology that replaces a card's sensitive account number with a unique, secure token. This token automatically updates when a customer's card is replaced or expires. This ensures that the credential on file remains live and secure without requiring the customer to manually update their data.
Implementation can deliver a 4 to 7 p.p. approval rate uplift and more than 80% reduction in fraud-related declines. In markets like the Dominican Republic, tokenized transactions have reached a record 93% approval rate, according to EBANX internal data.
Trusted MID
A strategic framework that bridges technical processing with direct relationship management with local financial institutions. Transactions are routed through "trusted MIDs" (merchant identifiers) that local issuers recognize. Performance experts work directly with these banks to align fraud strategies and risk appetites, reducing "false positives."
Moving from a "black-box" approach to a transparent, collaborative relationship with local issuers typically yields an average +5 p.p. approval rate increase.
