How to Fight Chargebacks

When it comes to chargebacks and your business, the more you know the better. Our goal is to provide you with answers to your questions about chargebacks so you can make your best, informed decisions.
There are no secrets when it comes to chargebacks and payments, particularly when it comes to knowing how to fight chargebacks. It is 100 per cent possible for you to prevent chargebacks and to effectively fight any chargebacks you do receive. However, to do so you must follow some proven chargeback and payments recommendations.
Always refer to the documentation provided to you by credit card associations. Companies such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover have very detailed rules and regulations regarding chargebacks best-practices.
What Is a Chargeback?
Chargebacks happen when a customer contacts their credit card company and asks for a reversal of a charge on their credit card. Credit card chargebacks were initially introduced as a method of consumer protection. This was a result of concern over the ease of credit card theft and fraud.
Now, chargebacks have become more than simply a way to protect consumers from fraud and theft. In fact, the tables have turned and many people have learned to use the chargeback process to their advantage and commit fraud and theft against you, the merchant.
How to Build a Chargeback Representment Case
Knowing how to fight a chargeback is a huge advantage when it comes to standing up to fraudsters and protecting your business. When fighting chargebacks and building your chargeback representment case, keep in mind these tips:

  • Speed matters. The more quickly you can respond to the chargeback the better. Responding quickly depends on having ease of access to purchase and customer details.
  • Be proactive. By monitoring your customer and purchase activity, you can see patterns in returns, sales numbers, and issuer charges. This gives you some insight into areas for risks and allows you to prevent chargebacks before they happen.
  • Know the facts. To successfully fight a chargeback, you must be mistake-free with your chargeback rebuttal letter or with the compelling evidence. Remember, you don’t have a lot of time to build your representment case, so you must have easy access to the required evidence.
  • Know the reason code. The reason code should tell you everything you need to know about the chargeback. This code provides details on the evidence required, the timeline you have to prepare the evidence, the reason for the chargeback, and additional details. Make sure you have easy access to the reason code documentation for each of your credit card issuers.
  • Communicate. Most chargebacks can be prevented when the lines of communication between the merchant and the customer are opened. Often, the chargeback is the result of confusion or questions about the credit card charge. Also, remember to communicate with your acquirer while building your representment case.

When deciding if you’re going to fight a chargeback or not, it’s important to understand what you’re getting into. Many merchants rush into the dispute process without being fully prepared, which ends up costing more money, time, and resources.
We want you to know the facts on the chargeback dispute process and to be fully prepared. This comes down to having quick access to information about the disputed purchase including, cardholder details, delivery information, receipts, proof of authorization, refund/return policy details, and product/service descriptions. This is important information to build your representment case.
You can fight chargebacks and win. It just takes some up-front preparation and access to the right information and knowledge. Many merchants rely on payments experts to help them prevent and fight chargebacks.
Learning More About Preventing Chargebacks
These Verifi resources provide you with more information about how to fight chargebacks and chargebacks in general. You can contact us with any questions about chargebacks, we are your trusted chargeback team.

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