Despite rising payment processing costs, many businesses still leave significant savings on the table by not optimizing their card processing fees. At purplekite.ai, we regularly work with enterprise and mid-market companies that are unaware of just how much inefficiency hides in their payment stack.
The good news? Many of these inefficiencies are fixable—if you can identify and act on them. But as industry veterans like Todd Linden (former CEO of Paymetric) and Silvana Hernandez (SVP, Mastercard) have pointed out, businesses often face three major barriers to optimization: data blindness, complex payment ecosystems, and lack of internal ownership.
Let’s unpack each barrier with real-world insights—and how to overcome them using AI-powered tools from purplekite.ai.
1. Lack of Actionable Data: You Can’t Optimize What You Can’t See
“Most merchants don’t realize they’re overpaying. They just see a percentage fee and move on. But small changes in routing or tokenization can save millions.”
— Todd Linden, Payment Industry Consultant and Former CEO, Paymetric
Many companies receive processor statements filled with line-item fees, acronyms, and confusing pass-through charges—but no clear insight into what they can actually control.
purplekite.ai solves this by connecting directly to your processors and applying AI models that parse and normalize fees across providers, card types, and channels. This gives your team a real-time view of your effective rate, interchange trends, and savings opportunities—something static PDF statements or spreadsheets just can’t provide.
Pro tip: Focus on interchange qualification. Merchants using Level II or III data can see 10–50 bps savings on B2B transactions, yet many aren’t passing the right data through.
2. Fragmented Payment Ecosystems: Too Many Hands, Not Enough Coordination
“When you’ve got a gateway, an acquirer, a fraud tool, and a recurring billing platform all in play, no one owns the outcome.”
— Michael W., Payments Strategy Lead, Fortune 100 Retailer
Modern payment stacks often involve multiple vendors, each optimizing for their own slice—not your bottom line. Your acquirer may push volume to its own rails. Your PSP might prioritize authorization rates over cost. And your internal team might not have visibility into it all.
purplekite.ai sits on top of this stack as a neutral intelligence layer. We aggregate transaction-level data from gateways, processors, and alternative payment methods, then provide recommendations to reduce fees while maintaining (or improving) approval rates.
Real-world win: One enterprise customer rerouted 20% of volume through regional debit networks using our BIN intelligence API, cutting costs by 18 basis points—without switching acquirers.
3. No Internal Champion: Optimization Falls Through the Cracks
“Payments often sit between finance, tech, and ops—but no one’s actually responsible for optimization.”
— Silvana Hernandez, SVP Digital Payments, Mastercard
Fee optimization requires ongoing attention. But many companies lack a dedicated payments operations or strategy lead. This results in “fire-and-forget” implementations that miss ongoing savings opportunities, such as updated network rules or better pricing tiers.
purplekite.ai is designed to act as your AI-powered payments analyst—always on, always scanning. Our clients receive automated alerts when rates spike, fees shift, or when card behavior patterns change. We also offer fractional strategy support, helping teams act on insights even if they don’t have internal bandwidth.
Ready to Start Saving?
At purplekite.ai, we believe fee optimization shouldn’t be a one-time project—it should be a living strategy. With our AI-driven platform, industry partnerships, and deep domain expertise, we help companies uncover, act on, and sustain savings across their entire payment lifecycle.
Let’s make payments smarter—and cheaper.
👉 Learn more at purplekite.ai or contact our optimization team to get a free fee analysis.