Harmonizing complexity: A three-phase transformation of payment network specifications.

Challenge

A cross-regional payment processor needed to unify their technology infrastructure, which had accumulated divergent approaches across decades of business consolidation. The fragmentation included inconsistent transaction processing rules, message formats, field locations, data standards, and documentation.

These variations created substantial operational challenges:

• The technology delivery costs increased, due to maintaining parallel technical implementations
• There were higher operational overhead from supporting divergent processes and specifications
• Due to inconsistent documentation and data standards, there was an increase in complexity of support
• Customer's experienced suboptimal support, because of fragmented service delivery approaches

Solution

Explicit Selection conducted a comprehensive gap analysis across three critical operational domains focusing on Authorization, Clearing & Settlement, and Disputes.

The goal was to:

1. Identify and document all technical differences across product specifications
2. Assess the business and operational impact of these gaps
3. Provide actionable recommendations for consolidation and standardization
4. Benchmark the proposed unified approach against industry standards and best practices

Phase 1: Authorization

This phase compared authorization-related technical specifications across product lines, covering:

• Authorization transaction processing rules and logic
• Authorization interfaces and protocols
• Network authorization services
• Transaction messaging standards and formats
• System usage and implementation guides

Key outcomes

• Established baseline understanding of authorization specification differences
• Identified critical gaps impacting transaction processing capabilities
• Provided strategic direction for documentation consolidation
• Validated approach against payment industry standards

Phase 2: Clearing & Settlement

This phase expanded the analysis to clearing and settlement functionality, examining:

• File exchange processes and sequences
• Settlement timing and cadence requirements
• Data transmission mechanics (FTP, web portals, APIs, etc.)
• Entity taxonomy (Issuing Processors, Issuers, Acquirer Processors, Acquirers, Merchants, Merchant Agents)
• Transaction data structures and supplementary data records
• Nine major document categories covering approximately 1,200+ pages of specifications

The analysis covered both Acquirer-side and Issuer-side operations, focusing on inputs and outputs related to clearing and settlement file exchanges.

Key outcomes

• Mapped complex clearing and settlement ecosystem differences
• Provided separate analysis for acquirer and issuer perspectives
• Identified opportunities for ISO standards adoption
• Delivered actionable consolidation roadmap for settlement operations

Phase 3: Disputes

In the final phase, the team addressed dispute management functionality, examining:

• Dispute file and information exchange processes
• Dispute initiation and resolution workflows
• File upload/retrieval sequences and timing
• Data transmission mechanics and protocols
• Oversight, tracking, and compliance governance

Key outcomes

• Completed the comprehensive gap analysis across all three operational domains
• Provided a unified view of dispute processes across all product specifications
• Benchmarked against industry standards
• Delivered final piece of the consolidation roadmap

Results

The client received a complete roadmap for consolidating credit product platform specifications, offering both detailed technical foundations for implementation and strategic business justification for executive decision-making.