A chargeback happens when a customer disputes a charge with their bank and the bank reverses it. Chargebacks come with fees and count against your merchant account. Chargeback alerts give you a chance to resolve the dispute before it becomes a chargeback.
How alerts work
When a customer contacts their bank about a charge, the bank can check with an alert network first. If you are enrolled, you receive an alert with the transaction details. If you refund the order in time, the dispute is usually closed without a chargeback.
The alert networks
- RDR (Visa Rapid Dispute Resolution) can refund eligible disputes automatically based on rules you set.
- Ethoca (Mastercard) sends an alert so you can refund the order.
- CDRN (Verifi) sends an alert so you can refund the order.
Different banks use different networks, so many merchants use more than one.
Handling an alert
- Find the matching order.
- Refund it within the alert window.
- Stop any upcoming charges or shipments for that order.
Reducing disputes in the first place
- Use a billing descriptor customers will recognise.
- Make it easy for customers to contact you and to cancel.
- Send a clear order confirmation.
In PayLoop
Alerts from RDR, Ethoca and CDRN are matched to their orders automatically, and each dispute is tracked with its cost and outcome in the dashboard.