At a glance
A pie chart of the payment method mix customers used: Visa debit, Visa credit, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local schemes (Bancontact, iDEAL where Viva supports them). Method mix has direct cost (interchange differs by method), conversion (wallet methods convert better), and risk (Amex tickets average higher, AmEx declines higher) implications.
| What it counts | COUNT(transactions) GROUP BY PaymentMethodType + CardBrand, where StatusId = F, ordered descending. Top 8 + Other. |
| API endpoint | /api/transactions on CardType / CardBrand / WalletType fields. |
| Currency | Currency-neutral (count, not amount). |
| Refunds / disputes | Successful captures only; refunded transactions still count in the original method. |
| Failed / declined payments | Excluded. Method mix is read on successful captures only; if you need decline-by-method, use the Viva Dashboard Risk view. |
| Channels | Online + POS + recurring + pay-by-link blended. Wallet methods (Apple / Google Pay) are predominantly online and mobile-app; recurring rebills almost always show as raw card brand (the network token). |
| Time window | 30D vsP. |
| Alert trigger | top method >70% of mix (over-reliance sentinel) OR >10pp share shift for any method. |
| Roles | owner, finance, operations |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Viva Payments data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A Greek omnichannel fashion retailer (“Hermes Style”) on Smart Checkout + 3 Smart POS terminals across Athens, Mykonos, Santorini. Window 03 Apr 26 to 02 May 26.| Method | Successful transactions | Share | Avg ticket | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa debit (EU) | 4,820 | 38.4% | EUR 68 | Greek issuers dominant |
| Mastercard debit (EU) | 3,210 | 25.6% | EUR 71 | Mix of GR + cross-border |
| Apple Pay | 1,840 | 14.7% | EUR 92 | Higher AOV, mobile-driven |
| Visa credit (EU) | 980 | 7.8% | EUR 124 | Travel + premium baskets |
| Mastercard credit (EU) | 720 | 5.7% | EUR 118 | Travel + premium baskets |
| Google Pay | 480 | 3.8% | EUR 78 | Android-skewed, lower share than Apple Pay in EU |
| AmEx | 320 | 2.6% | EUR 168 | Premium / business, highest avg ticket |
| Visa / MC (non-EEA, US/UK) | 180 | 1.4% | EUR 145 | Tourist purchases on Greek islands |
- Apple Pay at 14.7% with EUR 92 ticket is the conversion-lift signal. Wallet-method customers convert at 1.5 to 2x raw-card-entry rates and produce higher AOV (already-warm buyers, frictionless biometric auth). Pushing wallet-method visibility in checkout typically lifts overall conversion 3 to 8%.
- AmEx at 2.6% but EUR 168 ticket = 4.8% of revenue. Small share of count, larger share of revenue. Don’t ignore AmEx pricing negotiation, the per-transaction fee differential matters more than the count share suggests.
- Tourist non-EEA cards at 1.4% on Mykonos / Santorini stores. These are summer-peak revenue contributors. Greek island POS during June to September will see this share jump to 8 to 15%. Cross-border interchange is uncapped (no IFR ceiling), expect higher fees on this share.
- Debit dominance (64% of mix). Mediterranean SMB stores typically run debit-heavy because the EU IFR debit cap (0.2% interchange) makes pricing favourable. Stripe’s typical pricing model under-rewards this; Viva’s pricing structurally passes more saving through. This is one of the core reasons Mediterranean SMBs adopt Viva.
- Apple Pay > Google Pay in EU is the inverse of US. EU iPhone share is higher than US (60 to 70% in Mediterranean markets vs ~50% US); your Google Pay strategy should be calibrated for the smaller share. Don’t waste promotional energy on Google Pay-only campaigns.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why pair it with Top Payment Methods |
|---|---|
viva_payment_methods | Sibling Revenue-side method mix (by amount, not count). |
viv_total_transactions | The base count behind the share. |
viv_avg_transaction | Method mix shifts average ticket size (AmEx + credit lift it). |
viv_decline_rate | Different methods decline at different rates; AmEx + non-EEA = higher decline. |
viv_top_decline_reasons | Reason-code mix often correlates with method mix. |
viv_threedsecure_abandon_rate | Wallet methods (Apple / Google Pay) typically have very low abandon rates. |
viva_revenue_by_country | Country-mix and method-mix correlate (different markets prefer different schemes). |
Stripe stripe_payment_methods / PayPal pp_payment_methods | Cross-PSP method-mix comparison. |
Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard
Where to look in the Viva Payments Dashboard: viva.com/business/account/login. Closest comparable view:Viva Business → Sales → Reports → Methods (mix breakdown by card brand and wallet)Why our breakdown may legitimately differ:
| Reason | Direction | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet-method classification | Marginal | Viva Dashboard sometimes folds Apple Pay / Google Pay into the underlying card brand (Apple Pay over Visa = Visa); we surface the wallet wrapper separately. |
| Co-brand cards | Marginal | A Greek bank co-brand of Visa might appear as either Visa or as the local brand depending on classification. |
| Time zone | Boundary days off | Athens / Cyprus timezone vs UTC. |
| Comparison | Expected relationship | When divergence is legitimate |
|---|---|---|
viv_top_payment_methods ↔ commerce platform method mix | Should align for Viva-paid orders | Commerce platform sees method only at order placement; Viva sees the actual rail. Mismatches usually reflect orders paid via non-Viva methods (PayPal, Klarna, gift card). |
viv_top_payment_methods ↔ Stripe / PayPal mix | Cross-PSP traffic typically diverges | Stripe carries more international card traffic than Viva; PayPal carries non-card buyer-protection traffic. Don’t expect the mixes to match. |
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
“Why is my mix so debit-heavy?” Mediterranean SMB customers (Greek, Cypriot, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) prefer debit cards because they’re tied to current accounts and the IFR cap (0.2% interchange) keeps merchant fees low. UK and German customers tilt slightly more toward credit. Mix follows your customer geography. “Apple Pay or Google Pay, which should I prioritize?” In the EU: Apple Pay first, Google Pay second. iPhone share is 50 to 70% in Mediterranean markets vs 50% US. Apple Pay also typically achieves higher frictionless 3DS rates because the wallet token includes strong device authentication. Google Pay matters for Android-skewed segments (younger demographics, certain Eastern European markets). “AmEx is high cost, should I refuse it?” Vertical-dependent. Hospitality, travel, premium retail: keep AmEx, the AOV uplift typically pays for the higher fee. Commodity retail with thin margins: review cost-effectiveness annually. Note that AmEx EU acceptance fees are negotiable on volume. “Wallet methods convert better, can I prove it?” Yes, the per-method success rate breakdown lives implicitly inviv_decline_rate and viv_threedsecure_abandon_rate. Apple Pay decline + abandon typically run at 50 to 70% of raw-card-entry rates. Promote wallet visibility in checkout.
“My method mix shifted month-on-month, what causes that?”
Typical drivers in order: (1) marketing campaign attracted new audience segment with different scheme preference, (2) seasonality (tourist traffic during summer = more non-EEA cards in Greek islands, more AmEx in business hubs), (3) new product launch attracted premium buyers (more credit + AmEx), (4) outage on a specific scheme during the period (rare).
“Recurring rebill method, does it match the original payment?”
Yes, the rebill is against the same card token used for the initial purchase, so the brand and method classification flow through. If the customer updated their card via subscription portal, the new card brand will appear.
“Pay-by-link methods, what shows up?”
Whatever the customer clicked. Pay-by-link presents the full Smart Checkout method menu (cards + wallets), so the mix can be different from the e-shop traffic of the same merchant (B2B trade buyers tend to prefer corporate Mastercard / Amex).
“JP Morgan acquisition, AmEx pricing change?”
No. AmEx pricing flows through scheme rules and Viva’s merchant agreement. JP Morgan parent ownership doesn’t affect scheme-level fees.
“Local schemes (Bancontact, iDEAL), are they in here?”
Where Viva supports them, yes. Viva’s primary footprint is card-based; local non-card rails are supported in some markets but not all. Check your merchant agreement for which alternative methods are enabled on your account.