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Chargebacks

Prevent, fight, and understand chargebacks and disputes

Chargebacks, also known as disputes, occur when a customer challenges a transaction with their issuing bank. Common reasons include:

  • Customer was charged twice
  • Customer was charged but did not receive goods or services
  • Unauthorized use of a card (lost or stolen card)
  • Friendly fraud (customer disputes a legitimate transaction)

Safepay has no control over customers lodging chargebacks

Understanding Chargebacks and Disputes

Safepay actively supports merchants throughout the chargeback and dispute resolution process. Below is a high-level overview of how the chargeback cycle works.

sequenceDiagram participant Customer participant IssuingBank as Issuing Bank participant AcquiringBank as Acquiring Bank participant Safepay participant Merchant Customer->>IssuingBank: Files a dispute / chargeback IssuingBank->>AcquiringBank: Notifies chargeback request AcquiringBank->>Safepay: Forwards chargeback details Safepay->>Merchant: Informs merchant of the chargeback Merchant->>Safepay: Accepts or disputes the chargeback Merchant->>Safepay: Provides supporting evidence Safepay->>AcquiringBank: Shares evidence for review AcquiringBank->>IssuingBank: Passes evidence for review IssuingBank->>AcquiringBank: Makes a decision IssuingBank->>Customer: Informs them of the decision AcquiringBank->>Safepay: Forwards chargeback details Safepay->>Merchant: Marks dispute as Won or Lost

The high level flow above shows the First Chargeback stage. A dispute follows 3 stages:

  • First Chargeback
  • Pre-aribtration
  • Aribtration

Most cases are resolved within the First Chargeback cycle. If a case moves on to Pre-Arbitration, the merchant will get a chance to submit more evidence. If a decision is still not made, then the case moves to the Aribtration stage where the schemes get involved, they review the evidence and make their final decision.

In the final stage of Arbitration, the schemes get involved and make the final decision and the losing party has to pay a penalty of $500.

As a merchant, if you receive a chargeback/dispute, Safepay will first inform you by email. You can also see any pending disputes on your Safepay Merchant Dashboard.

1

Open Payments 2.0 and click on disputes on the left menu

View your Disputes

2

Click on any dispute to see its details

View the details of the Dispute

3

Decide whether to accept the dispute or submit evidence to fight the dispute.

Accept the dispute by clicking the button
Fight the dispute by submitting evidence

4

If you choose to fight the dispute, submit evidence

Submit Evidence to fight the dispute