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Library · MIDs · How to run this

Backup kick-in is not load-balance theater

How to run thisMIDs4 steps
GuideBackup vs load balance — claim map · Calculator lives in the articleOpen

Backup means a written kick-in — cap, CB headroom, named declines, never-flip — so traffic moves when the primary is sick. Load balance (honest) means same offer across accounts for caps/failover and the acquirer was told. Hide the ratio means you split the same offer so each account’s chargebacks look calm. Pretty leftover cap does not rename hiding as backup.

Pair: Backup vs load balance — claim map on MIDs. Write the flip: backup MID kick-in. Type the split: volume allocation.

How to tell them apart

Backup. Primary takes the book until a written trigger fires. Backup has its own cap. Hard fraud never hops.

Honest load balance. Caps or failover. Acquirer knows the plan. Same offer, stated reason.

Hide. Same offer, quiet ratios, no failover story — or a “backup” that always takes a slice with no kick-in.

What not to do

Do not call a spare MID a backup with no flip rule. Do not open accounts to dilute a hot ratio. Do not hop pick-up or confirmed fraud onto the spare.

Related: MIDs, backup kick-in, volume allocation, rate vs threshold.

Procedure

  1. Ask whether a written flip rule exists.
  2. Ask whether the acquirer was told why volume splits.
  3. If the goal is calm ratios on one offer, name hiding — do not call it backup.
  4. Write kick-in or fix allocation math on the dedicated pages.

Failure modes

  • Calling a spare MID a backup with no kick-in.
  • Treating even leftover cap as proof of clean intent.
  • Standing splits renamed as kick-in.
  • Hopping hard fraud onto the spare.

Worked example

None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.

Glossary

Hide-the-ratio split
Same offer across accounts so each chargeback rate looks calm. Not failover. Not honest load balance.

Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services

FAQ

Is a second MID both backup and load balance?
Only if you wrote when it flips and told the acquirer why volume splits. Owning two IDs is neither.
If leftover cap looks even, is that a clean backup?
No. Even leftover can still be hiding. Backup needs a kick-in rule — [backup MID kick-in](/manuals/backup-mid-kickin).
Is this the volume-allocation calculator?
No. [Volume allocation](/manuals/volume-allocation) types caps and leftover. This page filters backup vs hide-the-ratio claims.