Case Study: How TrafficStars Boosted Approval Rates and Card Sales with UpGate

Card Payment Processing with Redundancy & Smart Cascading
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Client: TrafficStars

Industry: AdTech / Digital Advertising

Region: Global

Use Case: Card Payment Processing with Redundancy & Smart Cascading

TrafficStars is a leading global ad network that connects advertisers and publishers across high-volume digital platforms. With a focus on performance-driven results and real-time bidding, the company processes thousands of transactions daily. For a business operating at this scale, having a fast, reliable, and optimised payment infrastructure is critical, not just for operational efficiency, but for revenue growth.

Verticals 

💘 Dating: A $4.6B industry globally, with constant microtransactions and subscriptions. It is projected to reach USD 10.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period.

📈 Forex & Trading: Investopedia reports that the forex market is the largest and most liquid in the world, with daily trading volumes between $6.6 – 7.5 trillion. 

🎰 iGaming: Expected to exceed $145B globally by 2030, where success depends on seamless deposits and withdrawals.

🌿 Nutra (Health & Wellness): The Global Nutraceuticals Market size was valued at around USD 485 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 885 billion by 2030.

💋 Adult Entertainment: Digital-only adult content (streaming, webcams, subscriptions) was approximately USD 70.9 B in 2023, grew to USD 76.2 B in 2024, and is projected to exceed USD 118 B by 2030 (CAGR ~7.6%).

These verticals are known for their high transaction volumes and strict regulatory and risk profiles, making payment performance critical for success. In industries where speed, reliability, and approval rates directly impact ROI, TrafficStars needed a solution that would allow them to scale without compromise.

The Challenge

TrafficStars, a global ad network, faced several critical challenges in their payment operations:

  • 📉 Low approval rates due to reliance on a single PSP

  • 🔄 No redundancy or failover, leading to potential revenue loss during outages

  • 👁 Limited visibility into key performance metrics like approval rates, chargebacks, and transaction health

To scale efficiently and avoid revenue leakage, TrafficStars needed a more robust, data-driven, and flexible payment setup.

The Solution

In May 2024, TrafficStars migrated their card payment processing to UpGate, gaining immediate access to an agile and unified payment orchestration platform.

By June 2024, they enabled a second card processor and implemented smart cascading to automatically reroute declined transactions and maximise approval potential.

The Results

✅ +23% approval rate increase after cascading was enabled

📈 +8% increase in card sales in June (vs. May)

🚀 +26% increase in card sales in July (vs. May)

📊 August maintained the high card sales achieved in July

💰 Positive ROI achieved by Month 2

🔎 Gained full visibility into approval rates, chargebacks, and payment performance

Why UpGate Made the Difference

UpGate's orchestration platform empowered TrafficStars to:

  • Scale efficiently with redundancy and smart routing

  • Reduce failed payments and increase conversions

  • Monitor and optimise payments with real-time insights

“With UpGate, we gained full control over our payment routing and saw a clear improvement in approval rates and transaction reliability within the first few weeks” TrafficStars 

Ready to Optimise Your Payments?

Discover how UpGate can improve your approval rates, reduce friction, and drive revenue growth: Book a demo