Chargebacks & Risk

Chargeback

A forced reversal of a card payment initiated by the cardholder's bank, usually after a dispute over fraud, a product issue, or a billing complaint. Chargebacks return funds to the customer and often add a fee for the merchant.

Every chargeback is both a lost sale and a risk signal. Too many, too fast, and a merchant can enter a monitoring program or lose their account — which is why prevention and disciplined disputing matter so much.

Go deeper

Related terms

Chargebacks & Risk

Chargeback Ratio

The percentage of a merchant's transactions that become chargebacks, typically measured monthly. Card networks set thresholds — commonly around 1% — above which a merchant faces monitoring programs, higher costs, or termination.

Read

Chargebacks & Risk

Representment

The process of disputing a chargeback by re-presenting the transaction with evidence that the charge was valid. A well-built representment package — proof of delivery, authorization, and policy acceptance — can recover the funds and the sale.

Read

Chargebacks & Risk

Friendly Fraud

A chargeback filed by a legitimate customer who actually received the product or service — sometimes from confusion over a billing descriptor, sometimes deliberately. It is one of the most common and preventable chargeback types.

Read

Chargebacks & Risk

Reason Code

The card-network code that states why a chargeback was filed — such as fraud, product not received, or duplicate billing. The reason code determines what evidence a merchant must supply to dispute it successfully.

Read

Ready to get approved?

Tell us about your business. A high-risk specialist will map the fastest path to live payments.

Start my application apply@spectrumepay.com