Chargeback 101: Credit Card Chargebacks Explained (2024)

Disputes with customers are no fun. This is especially true when it comes to chargebacks. Below, we’ll walk through the basics of the chargebacks process, what usually causes them, and the steps you can take to prevent chargebacks from happening.

What Is a Chargeback (or Payment Dispute)?

A chargeback, also referred to as a payment dispute, occurs when a cardholder questions a transaction and asks their card-issuing bank to reverse it. The ability to dispute a payment is meant to protect consumers from unauthorized transactions, but it can mean big headaches for businesses, especially when they’re issued in error.

When a chargeback happens, the disputed funds are held from the business until the card issuer works things out and decides what to do. If the bank rules against you, those funds are returned to the cardholder. If the bank rules in your favor, they’ll send the disputed funds back to you.
Unfortunately, this can be a complicated and time-consuming process involving a lot of paperwork and documentation. (Unless you work with a payment service provider like Square — more on that later.)

Common Causes of Chargebacks and How to Prevent Them

There are a few typical culprits behind payment disputes. Fortunately, there are systems and processes you can put in place to prevent them.

Fraudulent transactions

If a cardholder sees a charge from your business but never bought anything from you, it could mean fraud is at play. This usually prompts them to file a dispute.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• Use our secure point of sale (POS) to accept chip cards and contactless payments like Apple Pay.
• Require buyers with EMV (chip cards) to dip their cards rather than swipe them.
• Train employees on best practices for accepting payment cards.
• Use Square to email receipts to cardholders.

Shipping, delivery, or pricing issues

If a cardholder never receives an ordered item or is overcharged for a product/service, they may file a dispute.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• Keep tracking numbers for every order ready and accessible.
• Use a delivery service that requires signature upon receipt of item.
• Make sure your listed prices are accurate and up to date.

Credit not processed

In these cases, a cardholder returns an item in expectation of a refund or account credit and receives neither. The reason for that return may vary — maybe it’s buyer’s remorse or the user’s error when purchasing online.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• Make sure you have a reliable system in place for handling returns and credits.
• Clearly outline sales policies like your return, refund, or cancellation terms on your receipts and post them clearly in your store (whether that’s a brick-and-mortar location or an online store). This makes you more likely to win payment disputes should they arise. You can add policies to your Square receipt here.
• Learn more about each card company’s refund policies:
  Visa | Mastercard | American Express | Discover

Dissatisfaction with product or service

Cardholders sometimes file a dispute if they are dissatisfied with your product or service. In the case of products, this is typically due to physical defects or an item not being as advertised. With services, the quality is more subjective and difficult to determine.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• Respond to customer service issues promptly and courteously.
• Set realistic expectations. Cardholders who receive items that are not as described have valid grounds for a payment reversal.

Unrecognizable business name

Legitimate purchases can be mistaken as fraudulent due to simple confusion. Let’s say your business sells coffee and bagels. Your shop is called “San Francisco Bakeshop,” but the business name on your receipts is “SF Baker Enterprises.” If cardholders see charges from SF Baker Enterprises, a company they’ve never heard of, they may suspect fraud and, in turn, file a dispute.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• Avoid confusion by having clear, consistent branding on your receipts. You can change your receipt name via your Square Dashboard.

Failure to cancel subscription

Recurring payments for subscriptions are beneficial for both businesses and cardholders, but they can also create a risk for disputes. Cardholders often forget about subscription renewals and will issue disputes to retroactively cancel payment.

How to prevent this type of dispute:

• If you plan to initiate a series of recurring payments, ensure that cardholders understand the recurring transaction agreement (RTA) that they are signing up for. If possible, provide a way for them to acknowledge their understanding and agreement with something visual like a checkbox or signature.
• Explain the billing frequency, amount, refund, and cancellation policies in the RTA.
• Alert cardholders prior to each charge, giving them ample time to cancel before the transaction is made.

The General Chargeback Process Explained

Generally speaking, the chargeback process can differ between payment processors, and it traditionally takes between 60–90 days to resolve. Here at Square, we use our proprietary machine-learning models to predict —and stop — many fraudulent transactions before they happen. We also keep you informed of the status of your chargeback via convenient alerts in your Square Dashboard.

Here is an overview of how the general chargeback process works with most major processors (we’ll get into how Square does it down below):

Step 1: A purchase occurs. All chargebacks start with a customer making a purchase in person, in an app, or online.

Step 2: Customer initiates the chargeback. After the customer reviews their credit card statement at the end of the month, they may notice a charge they didn’t authorize. The customer then contacts their credit card company (known as the issuing bank), asking to investigate the charge in question.

Step 3: Issuing bank reaches out to the merchant’s bank. Once a customer initiates the chargeback process, the customer’s bank reaches out to the merchant’s bank, asking it to provide evidence to refute the claim. This can include things like invoices, receipts, proof of delivery, or anything else the merchant has to prove that the purchase was valid.

Step 4: Decision time. After reviewing all the proof provided by the merchant’s bank, the cardholder’s bank must decide whether or not the purchase was actually valid.

Step 5: Customer is informed. At this point, the customer must accept the proof provided by the acquiring bank and either pay for the goods, or continue to dispute the purchase and begin a process known as arbitration. If the acquiring bank determines the purchase was not valid, then the cardholder (customer) receives a refund for the transaction.

Step 6: Arbitration. If the issuing bank and merchant bank fail to come to an agreement, as a last resort, they enter what’s called the arbitration process. The arbitration process is governed by the issuing credit card company, and its decision is absolutely final.

The credit card company (Visa, American Express, etc.) reviews the proof provided by the parties and has the last word on who must pay for the charges. If a merchant loses the arbitration process, they may choose to seek recourse and repayment in a court of law, at their own expense.

How Square Handles Payment Disputes

At Square we do things a little differently than other processors. We have a team on hand to make the disputes process as simple as possible for you.

Step 1: We notify you of the dispute.
Step 2: You decide on how you’d like to proceed. You can either accept the dispute as valid or choose to challenge it by sending us the documentation you have related to the transaction.
Step 3: The bank determines whether the purchase was legitimate or not. If the bank rules in your favor, the transaction stands. If the bank rules in the customer’s favor, you will need to pay the fee.

The EMV Liability Shift and Chargebacks

In what is known as the “liability shift,”, on October 1, 2015, the credit card industry changed how banks and processing networks handled certain types of credit card fraud. Businesses that swiped cards with EMV chips rather than “dipping” them in an EMV card reader could now be held liable for fraudulent transactions.

The liability shift may have caused a striking rise in chargeback abuse for card-present transactions, with some merchant service providers seeing as much as a 50% increase in EMV-related chargebacks. Some experts speculate this could be because consumers recognize that for merchants who don’t process chip cards are technically liable for any fraud that can occur after swiping a card with a chip.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to process EMV chip cards with an EMV payments terminal like Square Reader for contactless and chip.

FAQ:

• What’s the difference between chargebacks and refunds?
• How will I know if a customer has filed a chargeback?
• What is a chargeback fee or chargeback settlement fee?
• Does Square have a dispute fee?
• Is there a chargeback time limit?
• Are debit card chargebacks handled in the same way?
• How do I write a chargeback rebuttal letter?

What’s the difference between a dispute and a refund?

A refund is a transaction that you initiate as a Square seller to repay a cardholder who’s dissatisfied with the goods or services purchased. A dispute is a forced refund initiated by a cardholder and issued through their bank.

How will I know if a cardholder has filed a dispute?

You will be alerted of any payment disputes with a notification in your Square Dashboard and via email.

What is a dispute fee or dispute settlement fee?

A dispute fee, or dispute settlement fee, is a fee your credit card processing company may charge you, in addition to the reversed funds, if it finds you at fault for a chargeback. Square never charges you an additional fee for a dispute. Many payment processing companies may disallow you from accepting credit cards entirely if you have an unusual amount of chargebacks on your account.

Does Square have dispute fees?

No, Square doesn’t charge any additional fees for disputes. Most other payment processors charge a nonrefundable fee ranging from $10 to $25. Square only charges the normal processing fee as with any other transaction.

Learn more about Square’s payment processing fees.

Is there a time limit on payment disputes?

Time limits can vary greatly depending on the credit card company and the reason for the dispute. Check with the card issuing banks to determine what time limits may apply to your specific case.

Are debit card disputes handled the same way?

Different card brands (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, etc.) have varying policies when it comes to debit transactions. Generally, if a debit card transaction was approved with a PIN, cardholders have a smaller window in which fraud protection is available.

How do I write a chargeback rebuttal letter?

The good news is that if you sell with Square, you never need to worry about writing a chargeback rebuttal letter. All we ask of our sellers is that they address their customer’s claim promptly in the Information Request Form that we email for every dispute. We then use that information to challenge your customer’s dispute with their bank. We’re your advocate.

Chargeback Reason Codes

When you receive notification of a payment dispute or chargeback you may see a code listed with it. Each card company has its own set of codes that indicate the specific reason that a cardholder initiated a dispute.

• For American Express
• For Visa
• For Mastercards

Chargeback Reason Codes List for American Express

*These American Express chargeback cordes require an inquiry first.

Chargeback Reason Codes List for Visa

Detailed Chargeback Reason Codes List for Mastercard

Mastercard chargeback codes fall into four categories:

• Authorization
• Cardholder disputes
• Fraud
• Point-of-interaction error

Chargeback Reason Codes List for Mastercard