‘Chargeback‘ is a financial term, referring to the process of returning funds to a consumer, reversing an outgoing transfer from their credit or debit card – effectively, a refund. They usually relate to transactions which are suspected to be fraudulent or unfair: if a consumer purchases goods or services using a credit or debit card and the seller fails to comply with the terms specified, the consumer may request one from their credit or debit card issuer.

Chargebacks and Merchant Accounts

Many businesses and retailers choose to set up a merchant account with an online merchant account service, which enables them to accept credit and debit card payments for online transactions. All major credit cards can be used. Liability for chargebacks falls upon the credit card issuer, which means that all merchant service providers are closely examined to ensure that they will not carry out fraudulent activity, which would be potentially costly. Merchant account service providers are expected to respond promptly to requests for chargebacks.

When are Chargebacks Requested?

The main reasons for requesting one are that the goods purchased never arrived, the goods were significantly different than described, or that the transaction was carried out without the cardholder’s permission. Chargebacks (more…)