Chargebacks Explained

A chargeback occurs when a cardholder contacts their bank to dispute a credit or debit card transaction. Chargebacks may be initiated up to 180 days after the original transaction.

Card networks are designed to facilitate transactions between willing parties. If a cardholder believes they were charged incorrectly or that goods or services weren't delivered as described, they're encouraged to work directly with the merchant first. If that's unsuccessful, they may file a chargeback with their bank.

To see your chargebacks, open the Chargebacks tab from your Akute Pay portal menu.

Common chargeback reasons

Reason codes vary by card network but commonly include:

• Goods or services not delivered
• Products not as advertised
• Merchant not following its refund policy
• Charged by mistake
• Fraudulent transactions

In all cases, the cardholder believes they were charged incorrectly and is requesting their money back.

Chargeback categories

All chargebacks fall into four categories:

Fraud: The cardholder doesn't recognize the transaction and believes their card was compromised

Authorization: Proper authorization wasn't completed before the transaction settled

Processing Error: The cardholder was charged incorrectly due to a processing mistake

Consumer Disputes: The cardholder has an issue with the product or service purchased

Each category contains subcategories called chargeback reason codes. Each reason code represents a specific dispute scenario and requires specific types of evidence.

Common reason codes include:

• Fraud
• Service Not Provided or Merchandise Not Received
• Canceled Recurring Transactions
• Not as Described or Defective Merchandise
• Refund Not Processed
• Duplicate Transaction