How an arbitration fee is charged
The scheme bills its member, the issuer or the acquirer, never the cardholder or the merchant. In the Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 the charge is called a review fee, and Visa collects it from the member found responsible once the case is decided.
Visa also keeps the review fee when it rejects a case as invalid, and collects it when a case is withdrawn. Either member may in addition face an assessment for each technical breach of the rules that the case brings to light.
Visa's public rules do not print the amount, which sits in the fee guides that members receive.
Who ends up paying an arbitration fee
An acquirer that loses recovers the fee from the merchant under the merchant agreement, often with a handling charge of its own. The total can exceed the value of a small order, which is why low-value disputes rarely go to arbitration.
A payment facilitator stands in the acquirer's place towards its sub-merchants. Its own terms set whether the fee is recovered from the merchant's balance or from a reserve.
Arbitration fee or chargeback fee?
- Chargeback fee
- Charged by the acquirer to the merchant for every chargeback received, usually whatever the outcome. An arbitration fee arises only in the few cases that reach the scheme, and falls on the loser.
- Disputed amount
- The value of the transaction in dispute. The arbitration fee comes on top of it.
Where an arbitration fee shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- Merchant onboardingBusiness sign-up, verification and underwriting, from application to first payment.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.