The challenge of reconciliation in payments

Reconciliation ensures that financial data from multiple sources is accurate, aligned and accounted for. It’s the backbone of financial control and accurate reporting, supporting compliance, cash flow accuracy and operational oversight.

But, for many payments businesses, it’s also the source of constant operational strain as transaction volumes increase and so too do the back-office demands.

Without robust systems and clear workflows, many resort to ad-hoc workarounds. While these short-term fixes might help meet an upcoming reporting deadline, they introduce hidden inefficiencies that compound problems over time.

To understand how the payments and banking industries navigate their unique reconciliation and reporting challenges, we surveyed 250 UK-based issuers, acquirers, processors, neobanks and e-money institutions.

What did we discover?

• 56% still rely on spreadsheets for reconciliation, leaving them exposed to errors and delays
• Managing data and handling exceptions drain the most time, leading to a widespread struggle to meet reporting deadlines
• Reconciliation errors are common—and they have far-reaching consequences, from financial discrepancies to delayed reporting
• Challenges with accurate data matching stem from cross-currency transactions, multiple payment channels and high transaction volumes

Access the report to learn how leading payment companies are transforming reconciliation and reporting workflows—and how you can too.

Every quarter, the payments industry faces a familiar compliance challenge: Submitting Mastercard QMR or Visa GOC reports on time and error-free. These data submissions give card networks a clear view of metrics like transaction volumes, cardholder activity and interchange fees.

But submitting quarterly reports is far from straightforward. Businesses must collect, reconcile and format large volumes of data with precision—a process often far more complex that it needs to be.

To understand how businesses manage these reporting requirements, we surveyed 250 UK-based payments and banking firms—from issuers and acquirers to payment processors and neobanks. The result? A behind-the-scenes look at the time drains, key challenges and practical solutions shaping QMR and GOC reporting in 2025.

Access the report to discover:

• Why 44% of companies still use spreadsheets—and how it’s costing them time and money
• The #1 bottleneck delaying timely QMR and GOC submissions
• How issuers, acquirers, processors, neobanks and e-money businesses tackle their unique reporting challenges
• Why most payments firms agree reporting processes need improvement (and the biggest barriers in their way)

Read the full report now to benchmark your approach against industry leaders.

If you’re tired of dealing with confusing settlement terms, making sense of unexpected fees or manually correcting errors, it’s time for a change!

Explore Kani’s top tips for issuers and acquirers to make sense of their transaction settlement process. Download the full guide to learn:

Tricky settlements terminology

We’ll show you how to understand tricky terms, including the difference between transaction authorisation, clearing and settlement.

Common settlement mistakes

Get ahead of the competition by avoiding common mistakes in areas like managing settlement advisements, entering new markets and FX (foreign exchange).

How to enhance settlement process efficiency

Eliminate efficiency gaps in your settlement process with Kani’s tips for using consolidated settlement, configuring the NSIF correctly and selecting the optimal currency.

The nitty-gritty of settlement in the Mastercard scheme

We’ll explore what happens behind the scenes when card payments are settled through the Mastercard scheme, showing you the systems involved, how data moves between different organisations and common timing mistakes.

How to automate and streamline settlements with Kani

Discover how card payment issuers and acquirers already use Kani’s automated tool to:

• Automate reconciliations for Mastercard and Visa clearing and settlement
• Calculate correct figures for netting off gross amounts
• Perform detailed analysis of Mastercard, Visa and partner invoices
• Monitor and review settlement status daily via easy-to-use dashboards
• Identify differences between advisement settlement totals and transaction reconciliations

Why fast-moving payments data needs new tools

In this whitepaper, we’ll dive deep into why traditional approaches to reporting and reconciling of payments data are no longer fit for purpose.

Relying on spreadsheets and legacy systems can have serious negative consequences, including costly mistakes. Manual processes also don’t scale up well to take advantage of the new wealth of data available.

Buy vs Build

Many organisations across the payment ecosystem are experiencing challenges with their business-critical reconciliation and reporting processes, and as a result they are exploring solutions to ensure they adhere to payments regulations, and achieve timely, accurate reconciliation and reporting.

This paper discusses the dilemma of Buy versus Build, providing useful insight, context and industry-wide statistics.