How a retrieval request works
The cardholder queries a charge. The issuer sends a request with a reason, the acquirer passes it to the merchant, and the merchant returns the receipt or order record by the acquirer's deadline, a step called fulfilment.
The issuer shows the record to the cardholder. Either the purchase is recognised and the matter ends, or the issuer raises a chargeback.
Where retrieval requests still exist
The two largest schemes have moved away from the step. The Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 describe a dispute cycle that opens with the dispute itself, and have no retrieval request in it.
Mastercard's Chargeback Guide of 13 December 2018 still had rules for retrieval requests. The Merchant Edition of 13 May 2025 does not mention one: its cycle starts with the chargeback.
The question a retrieval request asked is now answered by data services that show order details to the issuer in real time, Order Insight for Visa and Consumer Clarity for Mastercard. Some other card networks keep an inquiry step, and the term still appears in acquirers' reports and merchant agreements.
Why a retrieval request matters to a merchant
Any inquiry from an issuer is an early warning. A fast, readable answer can stop a chargeback, and a billing descriptor the customer recognises can stop the question being asked at all.
Retrieval request or chargeback?
- Chargeback
- Takes the money back from the merchant and starts a formal dispute. A retrieval request only asks for a record.
- Issuer inquiry
- The general term for an issuer asking about a transaction, by whatever channel. A retrieval request is the scheme message built for it.
Where a retrieval request 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.
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.
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: section 11.2
- Mastercard, Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition, 13 May 2025
- Mastercard, Chargeback Guide, 13 December 2018
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.