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How to Set Up Direct Sale Cascading

The Direct Sale Cascading feature lets you set fallback processors for a direct sale transaction that receives a soft decline. If the primary processor declines the transaction, Phoenix automatically retries it through your fallback processors in order, helping you recover revenue that would otherwise be lost.

Open Payment Routing​

Follow these steps to open the Payment Routing tab in your store's settings.

  1. Click Stores in the left navigation bar.

  2. Select the store you want to configure.

  3. Click the Payment Routing tab within the store.

    Info

    The Routing Mode section on the Payment Routing page shows whether the store uses Store Routing or Billing Profile Routing. If it's set to Billing Profile Routing, cascading rules are read-only here. See How to Set Payment Routing at the Billing Profile Level to reach the billing profile, then follow the steps in Configure Direct Sale Cascading below to set them up there.

Configure Direct Sale Cascading​

Complete these steps to set up fallback processors for direct sale transactions in the Cascading section.

  1. Click + Add Cascading Rule in the Cascading section.

  2. Select Direct Sale under Transaction Type.

  3. Choose the processor that normally processes direct sale transactions according to your store's Payment Routing percentages under Primary Acquirer / Processor.

  4. Review the Strategy field, which displays Static.

  5. Set your first fallback processor under Fallback Acquirer / Processor and its Priority.

    • Recommended: Configure 2 to 3 fallback processors, ordered as your first, second, and third fallback. Add more fallback processors if you have additional ones available.

    • If the primary processor returns a soft decline, Phoenix tries the first fallback, then the second, then the third if necessary, all within milliseconds and before the customer notices anything.

  6. (Optional): Click the + icon to add another fallback processor, or the - icon to remove one.

  7. Click Add to save the cascading rule.

    Info

    Repeat this process for every processor that participates in your store's Payment Routing, and vary the fallback order between rules. Avoid always placing the same processor as the third fallback, since it would only receive your highest-risk transactions, which reduces its approval opportunities and can affect its long-term health.

For more on payment routing and recovery in Phoenix, see the guides below: