How chargeback reason codes are organised
Every scheme has its own list, but the grounds fall into the same four families:
- Fraud: the cardholder did not make or approve the payment
- Authorisation: the payment was not properly authorised
- Processing errors: wrong amount, wrong currency, duplicate
- Consumer disputes: not received, not as described, cancelled, refund missing
Visa and Mastercard reason codes
In the Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 the four families are dispute categories 10 to 13, with numbered conditions inside each: 10.4 is fraud in a card-absent environment, and 13.1 is merchandise or services not received.
Mastercard's Chargeback Guide of 13 May 2025 uses four-digit codes: 4837 for no cardholder authorisation, 4853 for cardholder disputes, 4834 for point-of-interaction errors and 4808 for authorisation-related chargebacks.
What a chargeback reason code decides
The code sets the issuer's time limit and the evidence the acquirer may send back. Proof of delivery answers a claim that goods were not received, but does nothing against a fraud code, where the question is whether the cardholder took part.
A provider that maps each scheme's codes to plain categories can tell a merchant what to send, and can report where disputes come from. A rise in fraud codes points to checkout controls, and a rise in consumer dispute codes to delivery, descriptors or refunds.
Where a chargeback reason code 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.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.
- Analytics & monitoringProduct analytics, attribution, engagement and crash reports, on a tracking plan you control.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 18 April 2026 (Visa)
- Mastercard Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition, 13 May 2025 (Mastercard)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.