Grocer-Affiliated Debit Program
Operating domain: Payments · Capability: Affiliated debit / tender migration and program economics
- Value at Issue
- Approved
- Confidence-Adjusted Value Opportunity
- Approved
- Projected Net First-Year Benefit
- Projected
- Verified Net Value Retained
- Finance-Verified
- Executive owner
- M. Chen (simulated)
- Working owner
- J. Whitcombe — Value Case Lead (simulated)
- Confidence
- High
- Data completeness
- 96%
- Next required decision
- Review fee statement
- Decision owner · required by
- D. Alvarez (simulated) · Aug 15, 2027
- Reporting period
- Calendar year · Q2 2027
- Scenario
- Approved base case
- Approved baseline
- Payments Value Case Template v3 · version 7
- Data as of
- Jul 18, 2027
What must be contracted, integrated, tested, measured, and authorized before the debit program can launch?
What do we know?
The approved delivery plan, integration and configuration state, launch readiness and provider delivery position.
Why does it matter financially?
No value is realized until the intervention is live and measurable. Delay moves realization, not the approved amount.
What must happen next?
Complete readiness and launch, or formally hand the intervention into production.
Implementation records for the Grocer-Affiliated Debit Program. Cohort, enrollment, activation, migration and capture figures are approved targets, not observed results. Page completion does not contract, deploy or launch anything.
Approved model and configuration
Approved scope
- Two banners, all staffed and self-checkout lanes, plus the ecommerce checkout
- Affiliated debit product issued to an eligible loyalty cohort
- Rewards funded from the approved program budget
Exclusions
- Credit products of any kind
- Lane hardware replacement
- Third-party marketplace channels
- Any grocer assumption of regulated program obligations
Expected program stages
Enrollment, activation, active use and transaction capture are approved targets. None is an observed result.
| Stage | Definition | Target | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible cohort | Loyalty members meeting the eligibility rule in the pilot store set | 310,000 members | Loyalty file, approved forecast v3 |
| Enrolled | Application submitted and account opened | 62,000 accounts | 20 percent of eligible cohort, approved forecast v3 |
| Activated | Credential funded and used at least once | 43,400 accounts | 70 percent of enrolled, approved forecast v3 |
| Monthly active | At least one settled affiliated debit transaction in the calendar month | 29,500 accounts | 68 percent of activated, approved forecast v3 |
| Transaction capture | Settled affiliated debit volume attributable to the cohort | Per approved Ledger A and Ledger B volumes | Quantify funnel, unchanged |
Budget and change control
Budget is the approved cost registry. Provider variances raise a governed revision rather than editing the approved version.
Timeline and milestones
| Milestone | Target date | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contracting complete | 2027-08-14 | General Counsel | Not started |
| Sponsor bank onboarded | 2027-09-11 | Treasurer | Blocked |
| Integration build complete | 2027-10-09 | VP Technology | Not started |
| Measurement instrumentation accepted | 2027-10-23 | Controller | Not started |
| Wave one launch decision | 2027-11-06 | VP Finance | Not started |
Owners
- ProgramProgram Director
- FinanceVP Finance
- TechnologyVP Technology
- LoyaltyVP Loyalty
- Legal and complianceGeneral Counsel
Dependencies
- Sponsor bank named and onboarded
- Loyalty identity linkage in production
- Acceptance configuration in both banners
- Measurement extracts accepted by Data Operations
Risks
- Sponsor bank onboarding beyond the approved window
- Enrollment below target reduces every downstream ledger amount
- Identity join rate below 98 percent weakens attribution
Baseline and implementation
The approved baseline is the immutable starting point for measurement. Implementation milestones determine when measurement can begin, and the benefit ramp shows when approved value is expected to become realized value.
Approved baseline
The approved baseline is the immutable financial starting point for all measurement. It cannot be edited directly — a material change requires a proposed amendment, a stated reason, a reviewed financial impact and a new approved version.
- Baseline period
- Trailing 12 months — Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
- Measurement method
- Settled card volume and acceptance cost from processor statements, reconciled to the general ledger and normalized to a full-year, same-store basis.
- Annual payment volume
- $800.0M
- Eligible payment volume
- $612.0M (76.5% of annual volume)
- Tender mix
Credit — rewards and premium 41% 2.42% cost rate Credit — standard 17% 1.88% cost rate Signature debit 19% 1.21% cost rate PIN debit 14% 0.62% cost rate Cash, cheque and other 9% 0.18% cost rate - Baseline payment costs
- $15.0M per year
- Effective payment-cost rate
- 1.87% of annual payment volume (14,960,000 ÷ 800,000,000)
- Refund, chargeback and decline costs
- $3.4M per year
- Included opportunities
- ·Launch a debit-led financial program
- ·Renegotiate payment-processing economics
- ·Reduce chargeback and authorization costs
- Excluded costs
- ·Cash handling, armoured transport and vault services
- ·Gift card and store-credit program costs
- ·Fuel-centre payment costs (separate merchant hierarchy)
- ·Pharmacy third-party adjudication fees
- ·Corporate treasury and banking fees unrelated to acceptance
- Approved assumptions
- ·Baseline volume basis: Same-store, 12 months, no acquisitions
- ·Eligible volume share: 76.5% of annual payment volume
- ·Effective payment-cost rate: 1.87% of annual payment volume
- ·Interchange schedule: Published rates in effect at approval date
- ·Volume normalization: Adjusted to constant store count
- ·Nourishe fee rate: 30% of finance-verified, fee-eligible value
- Data sources
- ·Processor settlement statements (12 months)
- ·General ledger payment-expense accounts
- ·Chargeback and dispute register
- ·Authorization and decline logs
- ·Store and lane master data
- Data-quality status
- Sufficient for finance review
- Approver
- Director of Finance · Gelson's Markets
- Approval date
- Jul 24, 2026
- Baseline version
- v1 — original approved baseline
Scope, frozen configuration, rehearsals, UAT, readiness gates, cutover, rollback, Value Activation and operating handoff for this Value Case.
Implementation
Only the milestones that determine when value measurement can begin.
| Milestone | Planned | Actual | Status | Owner | Evidence | Benefit-timeline impact | Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline approved | Jul 24, 2026 | Jul 24, 2026 | Complete | Director of Finance | Approved baseline v1 | On plan | |
| Provider selected | Aug 15, 2026 | Aug 21, 2026 | Complete | VP Financial Planning | Provider evaluation summary | 6 days late — absorbed in build | |
| Implementation plan approved | Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 3, 2026 | Complete | Program Director | Signed implementation plan | On plan | |
| Data validation completed | Oct 15, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 | Complete | Controller | Data validation report, 99.6% coverage | On plan | |
| Production launch | Jan 1, 2027 | Jan 4, 2027 | Complete | Program Director | Launch sign-off | 3 days late — no ramp impact | |
| Measurement period started | Jan 1, 2027 | Jan 4, 2027 | Complete | Director of Finance | Measurement plan activation | On plan | |
| First finance review | Jul 15, 2027 | — | In progress | Director of Finance | Finance review pack | Scheduled | |
| Value verified | Jul 31, 2027 | — | Not started | Director of Finance | Verification record | Pending finance review |
Benefit ramp
When approved value is expected to become realized value, and how the actual ramp compares.
| Month after approval | Phase | Ramp | Approved | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 2 | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 3 | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 4 | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 5 | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 6launch | Implementation | 0% · actual 0% | $0 | $0 | −$0 |
| Month 7 | Initial adoption | 25% · actual 21% | $313K | $263K | −$50K |
| Month 8 | Initial adoption | 25% · actual 24% | $313K | $300K | −$13K |
| Month 9 | Initial adoption | 25% · actual 25% | $313K | $313K | −$0 |
| Month 10 | Scaling adoption | 60% · actual 52% | $750K | $650K | −$100K |
| Month 11 | Scaling adoption | 60% · actual 58% | $750K | $725K | −$25K |
| Month 12 | Scaling adoption | 60% · actual 64% | $750K | $800K | +$50K |
| First 12 months after approval | $3.2M | $3.0M | −$138K | ||
Revised forecast for the first twelve months, using observed months in place of approved months: $3.0M. Year two moves toward 100% realization of the $15.0M annualized run rate ($1.3M per month at maturity). Observed value is not verified value.
Measurement plan
How value will be measured for each approved recovery opportunity, and who in finance owns the verification.
| Opportunity | Approved annualized value | Value type | Measurement start | Finance owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Launch a debit-led financial program Inspect measurement plan | $9.0M | Recurring | Jan 1, 2027 | Director of Finance | In finance review |
Renegotiate payment-processing economics Inspect measurement plan | $4.0M | Recurring | Nov 1, 2026 | VP Financial Planning | In finance review |
Reduce chargeback and authorization costs Inspect measurement plan | $2.0M | Avoided future cost | Dec 1, 2026 | Controller | In finance review |
Overlap and reconciliation
The same payment volume or cost reduction can only be credited once. Opportunity-level eligible value must sum exactly to total eligible value.
- 1Establish total eligible payment volume$612.0M of $800.0M annual payment volume is eligible under the approved baseline.
- 2Calculate value created by debit migrationMigrated volume is valued at the baseline effective rate less the program rate.
- 3Remove migrated volume from the processing baselineMigrated volume is excluded before any renegotiation saving is calculated.
- 4Apply renegotiation savings to remaining eligible volume onlyRenegotiated rates are applied to residual eligible volume, never to migrated volume.
- 5Calculate chargeback and authorization savings separatelyDispute and decline costs are measured on their own cost categories.
- 6Remove duplicated credits, rebates and operational savingsOne-time processor credits and shared labour savings are removed once.
- 7Reconcile unique contribution to total verified valueOpportunity-level eligible value must sum exactly to total value submitted.
| Opportunity | Observed value | Overlap removed | Adjustments | Value eligible for verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch a debit-led financial program | $1.9M | — | −$60K | $1.8M |
| Renegotiate payment-processing economics | $905K | −$70K | −$10K | $825K |
| Reduce chargeback and authorization costs | $275K | — | −$10K | $265K |
| Total unique value | $3.0M | −$70K | −$80K | $2.9M |
Reconciliation check: opportunity-level eligible value sums to $2.9M, equal to total value submitted for verification.
Data quality
Verification is not permitted while data quality is insufficient.
- Complete periods
- Jan 2027 – Jun 2027 (6 of 6 months)
- Missing periods
- None. Two partial store-day extracts back-filled Apr 2027.
- Reconciliation status
- Reconciled to general ledger
- Last validation date
- Jul 8, 2027
- Source files received
- ·Processor settlement statements — 6 files received·General ledger payment-expense extract — 6 files received·Dispute register export — 6 files received·Authorization and decline logs — 6 files received
- Anomalies detected
- ·One duplicate settlement file removed (Mar 2027)·Two store-day gaps back-filled from lane-level detail (Apr 2027)
- Outstanding data issues
- ·Chargeback claim CLM-0003 evidence is partial — representment detail for Jun 2027 outstanding.
Production and service status
Read-only. Simulated service records — operational changes are made in Service Operations.
Decision Brief
Gate: Approved program contracted, integrated, measurable, and authorized to launchApproved program contracted, integrated, measurable, and authorized to launch
- Owner
- J. Whitcombe — Value Case Lead (simulated)
- Due by
- Aug 15, 2027
- Gate action
- Review fee statement
- Open provider-credit dispute
- Cross-case overlap review pending finance