How chargeback prevention works
- 3-D Secure authentication at checkout
- Fraud scoring, AVS and security code checks before authorisation
- A billing descriptor the customer recognises on the statement
- Clear terms, delivery tracking, easy cancellation and prompt refunds
- Reminders before a subscription renews
- Pre-dispute alerts and automatic resolution: Ethoca alerts, CDRN, RDR
The first two target true fraud, the next three target disputes from confused or unhappy customers, and the last catches cases that are already with the issuer.
What chargeback prevention can and cannot do
Prevention lowers the count of chargebacks, which is the number the schemes monitor. Visa's 2025 fact sheet on its acquirer monitoring programme says the programme's ratio leaves out disputes resolved through pre-dispute solutions.
A refund made through an alert still costs the sale and a fee, so alerts treat the symptom. Friendly fraud, where a genuine customer disputes a valid purchase, is mostly answered with evidence afterwards.
Why chargeback prevention matters to a PSP or gateway
A provider's standing with its acquirer and the schemes rests on the combined record of its merchants. Offering these tools inside the gateway, and reporting each merchant's ratio, is how a PSP keeps its portfolio below the thresholds.
Where chargeback prevention shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- CheckoutA hosted checkout for cards, wallets, bank payments and crypto, routed to the best provider.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- NotificationsEmail, SMS, push and in-app messages in your brand, through the providers you choose.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
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.