Why do online transaction systems feel more interconnected now than they did a few years ago?

Something interesting I’ve noticed lately:

A small issue in one layer of a payment flow can suddenly affect:

• approvals
• user confidence
• retries
• retention
• even customer support load

This makes modern commerce feel extremely interconnected beneath the surface.

So I’m curious:

• Are payment ecosystems becoming more sensitive overall?
• Or are businesses simply operating at larger scale now?
• What part of the system usually creates the biggest ripple effects?

Feels like a fascinating infrastructure challenge.