An issuing bank is the financial institution that provides credit or debit cards to consumers. The issuer is responsible for maintaining cardholder accounts, approving or declining transactions, issuing chargebacks, and protecting cardholders from fraud. In exchange for these services, issuers are compensated with an interchange fee for each transaction processed.

Issuers follow rules set by the card networks (Mastercard, Visa, etc.), yet assessing risk on a transaction-by-transaction basis can be subjective. The issuer ultimately decides whether a transaction gets processed or not.

Your approval rate is directly influenced by how issuing banks view your business and your transactions. AltoPay helps ensure your data formatting, descriptors, and fraud tools align with issuer preferences. If you see increased declines or chargebacks from certain issuers or IINs, our team can help you optimize your strategy for better results. Building a strong authorization profile improves trust between your business and the banks that authorize your customers’ payments.