What is a chargeback?¶

A chargeback is a card-scheme dispute process through which an issuer may recover funds from a merchant route. Its existence or outcome does not determine whether an offence occurred.

A dispute creates a new record trail¶

Claims can concern unauthorised use, non-delivery, duplication, amount, goods or missing refunds. Records may include reason codes, claimant account, supporting documents, merchant response, provisional credit, scheme decision and later reversal.

A successful claim may reflect scheme rules or absent merchant evidence; an unsuccessful one may reflect procedural thresholds rather than legitimacy. False disputes, genuine victim claims and misunderstandings can look similar at summary level.

Assess claim and transaction separately¶

Preserve the original payment, complete dispute file, references, dates, amounts and communications. Establish who raised it, what they asserted, evidence supplied and whether the merchant challenged it. Compare devices, orders, delivery and communications.

Describe the chargeback as evidence of a dispute and outcome, not automatic proof that the original payment was fraudulent or genuine.