Rethinking Payment Optimization Through the Merchant of Record Model, with Rehman Baig (FlexFactor)
In this must-listen installment of Payments on Fire, host Drew Edmond welcomes Rehman Baig, Chief Product Officer at FlexFactor, to tackle one of the most persistent dilemmas in payments today: how can merchants drive higher transaction approval rates and slash failed payments? Baig reveals how FlexFactor has turned the traditional Merchant of Record model—typically used for compliance in global platforms—into a powerful lever for payments performance optimization.
They dig into how FlexFactor:
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Takes over transactions at the MID level to directly address declines—an option unavailable to merchants on their own
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Maintains a seamless customer experience, with PCI Level 1 security, dynamic descriptors, and clear post-transaction clarity
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Supports both live and subscription-based payments, operating in milliseconds to retry or reroute in-flight transactions
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Utilizes AI and machine learning to make real-time, agentic decisions about which processor or BIN delivers the best chance at approval
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Continues to push the envelope by influencing issuer behavior and utilizing advanced routing, tokenization, and payload optimization
If your team has ever stared at stubborn decline rates and said, “We’ve tried everything—what now?”, this episode offers fresh perspectives and a bold new path forward. Tune in as Baig outlines how FlexFactor operates underneath other processors, absorbs transaction risk, and uses data-driven logic to recapture lost revenue at scale.