What a dispute notification contains
- The transaction: date, amount, card scheme and reference numbers
- The stage: inquiry, alert, chargeback, pre-arbitration or arbitration
- The reason code or dispute condition the issuer chose
- The disputed amount, which can be part of the payment
- The date by which the merchant has to answer
- What has happened to the money: debited, held or unchanged
Providers deliver it by webhook, by email and as a dashboard entry. The merchant's deadline is shorter than the scheme's, because the provider needs time to pass the response on.
The stages that send a notification
Before a chargeback, an issuer's inquiry or a pre-dispute alert reaches the merchant through networks such as Verifi and Ethoca, and a refund at that point can end the matter. Once the issuer files, the acquirer sends a chargeback notification. Further notices follow if the case goes to pre-arbitration or arbitration, and when it closes.
A separate message, the fraud notification, reports that an issuer has marked a transaction as fraud. It may arrive with a dispute or without one.
Why dispute notifications matter to a payment platform
Deadlines run from the scheme's date, not from when the merchant reads the message, so a lost notification is usually a lost case. A platform that serves merchants maps each notification to the original payment, posts the debit and the fee to the ledger, starts a timer and records the outcome.
Dispute notification or chargeback notification?
- Chargeback notification
- The notice for one stage: the issuer has filed and the money has moved. Dispute notification is the wider term and includes it.
- Pre-dispute alert
- A notice sent before any chargeback, to give the merchant the chance to refund first.
Where a dispute notification shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- NotificationsEmail, SMS, push and in-app messages in your brand, through the providers you choose.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.