The vocabulary acquirers, card networks and processors use when they write to you about disputes. Each definition is written for a merchant, not a risk analyst.
The bank or payment company that holds your merchant account and settles card payments to you. It carries the network's risk for your disputes, which is why it is the party that writes to you when your ratio rises.
A notification that a cardholder has disputed a charge, sent before the dispute is formally filed. Visa RDR, Ethoca and Mastercard alerts are the feeds Chargebackify acts on.
The final stage of a dispute, where the card network decides the outcome after both the merchant and the issuer have refused to concede. It carries fees regardless of who wins.
A forced reversal of a card payment initiated by the cardholder's bank rather than by you. The funds are pulled back and the transaction is counted against your dispute ratio.
The number of chargebacks in a period divided by the number of transactions, usually expressed as a percentage. Card networks and acquirers use it to decide whether an account needs monitoring.
The documentation a merchant submits to defend a dispute: delivery confirmation, usage logs, prior undisputed purchases and communication with the customer.
The text that appears on a cardholder's statement next to the charge. A descriptor that does not match the brand the customer bought from is one of the most common causes of avoidable disputes.
The period during which a cardholder can raise a dispute, commonly up to 120 days from the transaction or from the expected delivery date, depending on reason code and network.
Mastercard's Excessive Chargeback Program, which places merchants above defined chargeback thresholds into a monitoring programme with escalating fees and remediation requirements.
A Mastercard-owned network that delivers dispute and fraud alerts to merchants so a refund can be issued before a chargeback is filed.
A dispute filed by the genuine cardholder on a purchase they actually made, often called friendly fraud. It is the most common category of Shopify dispute and the hardest to screen for at checkout.
See first-party fraud. The customer is real, the order is real, and the dispute is still filed, usually from forgetfulness, buyer's remorse or an unrecognised descriptor.
The bank that issued the cardholder's card. It decides whether to accept a dispute and initiates the chargeback against your acquirer.
Tying an incoming alert to the exact order in your store, so that any automated action runs against the right amount, customer and fulfilment state.
The stage between the cardholder contacting their bank and the chargeback being filed. This is the window prevention products work in, typically around 40 minutes.
Visa's Rapid Dispute Resolution, which automatically resolves eligible disputes by refunding the cardholder according to rules the merchant has configured, before a chargeback is created.
The network's classification of why a dispute was raised, such as 13.1 for merchandise not received or 10.4 for fraudulent card-not-present transactions. It determines the evidence required and the deadline.
Submitting evidence to contest a chargeback that has already been filed. A win recovers the funds but does not remove the chargeback from your ratio.
A request from the issuer for transaction details before deciding whether to raise a dispute. Answering it promptly can stop the chargeback from being filed.
Visa's Acquirer Monitoring Program, which tracks combined dispute and fraud activity at the acquirer and merchant level and applies fees once thresholds are exceeded.
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