Transaction disputes are truly challenging situations for sellers, especially those working in eCommerce. As a rule, a dispute happens when a cardholder contacts their bank and demands to have their money returned. Sometimes they have a good reason, and sometimes just want to make money in bad faith.
All in all, these disputes play an important role in the payments ecosystem. So let’s take a closer look at transaction disputes. In this article, we’ll examine when and why this mechanism should be used, as well as how you can stop the next dispute before your customer calls the bank.
What Are Transaction Disputes?
A consumer dispute involving a credit or debit card purchase is known as a transaction dispute. The most frequent reasons for disputes about transactions are fraud (unauthorized purchases) and a lack of merchant follow-through.
The money that was initially given to your company when a transaction was contested can now be taken back and given to the cardholder. Moreover, the dispute’s reputational harm may make it more difficult for you to handle future transactions.
How do transaction disputes usually happen?
#1. The cardholder has a complaint about a certain transaction
There are many different grounds for disputing a transaction. For instance:
- The deal was not authorized.
- The merchant broke their commitments and didn’t deliver what was promised.
- Perhaps no reimbursement was given, or the services weren’t accurately stated.
- While processing the transactions, an error was made.
#2. The cardholder contacts the issuing bank
The cardholder has three different communication options: phone, email, and postal mail. There’s a chance the issuer has a dispute function in their online banking platform.
#3. The issuer examines the situation and chooses the best line of action
The issuer may dismiss the claim and charge the cardholder for the transaction if the dispute is found to be invalid.
However, the issuer is required by law to compensate the cardholder if the dispute is legitimate. There are two possible sources for money. Either the issuer experiences financial loss and accepts it. The money may also be taken away from the merchant and given back to the cardholder by the issuer via the dispute procedures offered by the card brand.
#4. If the merchant is linked to an order validation platform, the issuer verifies that connection
Chargeback management systems for order validation, such as Consumer Clarity and Order Insight, assist the issuer in determining whether or not the cardholder’s dispute claim is legitimate.
If the merchant uses order validation, the issuer will ask for details to shed light on the transaction and, ideally, prevent the case from progressing further. If the merchant doesn’t employ order validation, the issuer moves the dispute to the following stage.
#5. The issuer determines if the merchant has a connection to a platform for preventative warnings
Chargeback prevention methods include prevention notifications. They aid in securing an uncontested return for the cardholder.
The issuer tells the merchant about the disagreement if the merchant uses preventive alerts. To prevent the lawsuit from progressing further, the retailer returns the purchase. The issuer moves the dispute to the following stage if the merchant doesn’t employ preventative alerts.
#6. Chargebacks are started by issuers
The issuer sends the chargeback to the merchant via the acquirer (merchant’s bank) via the card brand platform.
Chargebacks are typically the last option available to the issuer. The chargeback procedure is only used as a last resort when other dispute resolution methods have failed.
How Are Card Users Misusing The Dispute Resolution Procedure?
It’s a common case that transaction disputes are tools for protecting clients’ rights. However, many card users are using this instrument improperly.
Each time an account holder applies to a transaction dispute without a right reason, you risk losing sales earnings and products. You will also have extra charges and costs, as well as increased operating expenses. In the long-term perspective, you may lose your ability to manage operations with cards entirely.
Payment conflicts are also pretty time-consuming procedures. A transaction dispute may go on for months before it is resolved. Your funds are locked up and unavailable to you or your client during that period.
According to recent research, just 14% of customers reach a seller before actually submitting a refund. Some other research discovered that approximately 81% of refunds are submitted for the sake of comfort – purchasers thought that a client conflict with the financial institution would be a simpler way. This is referred to as friendly fraud.
There are a lot of funds on the line for all the sellers. Straightforward refund risks are predicted to exceed 80$ billion annually by 2023, with 60-80% of chargebacks being incidents of friendly fraud.
The Best Way To Put An End To Disputes
What is the main reason for friendly fraud to be so prevalent? What is the reason for such a large number of clients taking advantage of payment conflicts? The reality is that most card users are unaware that they are engaging in illegal behavior.
The refund procedure has not managed to keep up with the latest technological breakthroughs. We are using a system that was created before the web. As a consequence, clients feel free and even motivated to submit complaints without ever having to deal with the consequences of such acts:
- Because of the increasing number of situations, financial institutions find it extremely complicated to conduct the required due thoroughness for each client conflict. This inspires more controversies, and the process repeats.
- If a user’s claim is legitimate, it will most probably be assigned to the account holder. Financial institutions do not want to endanger their clients’ trust.
- Card networks frequently fail to vigorously impose their regulatory requirements or correctly discipline those who violate them.
- Sellers frequently do not pursue incorrect client conflicts, viewing them as an inescapable expense of conducting business.
- Clients who have poorly informed mistake a chargeback for a refund.
- Clients who effectively submit a dispute will probably engage in the same actions in the future.
Financial institutions should register a payment complaint only in case of criminal actions or seller misbehavior. This implies you have the ability to avoid lawful conflicts.
The optimal tactic is implementing a chargeback reduction plan incorporating 1) methods for preventing fraud and 2) error-reduction strategies. When these dangers have been eliminated, all the rest chargebacks ought to be incidents of friendly fraud that you may exploit tactical representation.
There is no fast or simple way to avoid payment disputes. However, with the correct tactics, you will be able to safeguard your company.
