Chargeback notification
What is chargeback notification?
Chargeback notifications are alerts sent to merchants by their or , informing them that a has disputed a transaction and initiated a process. These notifications inform merchants about the , providing details such as the reason for the chargeback, the associated , and the actions required for a response.
A notification is the first formal signal that the money has already moved. By the time it reaches the merchant, the has filed the case with the card network, the network has debited the acquirer, and the acquirer has passed that debit through. That's what separates it from a pre-dispute alert, which reaches the merchant before a chargeback exists at all.
Key facts
- Also known as: chargeback alert,
- Sent by: the acquiring bank, payment processor, or gateway holding the
- Triggered by: an issuer filing a chargeback on a cardholder's behalf
- Typical contents: , amount, chargeback reason code, response deadline, and the evidence the issuer expects
- Response window: set by scheme rules and varies by scheme and reason code; acquirers commonly set an internal cutoff ahead of the scheme deadline
- Delivery channels: processor dashboard, email, or webhook into the merchant's own systems
How it works
- The cardholder disputes the charge. They contact the issuer about a transaction on their statement, claiming fraud, a service that wasn't delivered, or a billing error.
- The issuer files a chargeback. It assigns a , such as Visa 10.4 for fraud in a card-absent environment or Mastercard 4837 for a transaction the cardholder says they never authorized, and sends the case to the card network.
- The network debits the acquirer. The disputed amount moves back toward the issuer, and the acquirer passes both the debit and the case on to the merchant.
- The acquirer sends the chargeback notification. Case details and a response deadline land in the processor dashboard, in an email, or in a webhook payload.
- The merchant reviews and responds. Matching the case against the original order shows whether the charge was legitimate, and submitting before the deadline opens representment.
- The case closes or escalates. An unanswered notification closes in the cardholder's favor. A defended case can return as a and move on to .
Why it matters
- The deadline in the notification is binding. A case nobody answers before the cutoff closes in the cardholder's favor regardless of the underlying facts.
- The reason code determines which evidence the issuer will accept. Delivery confirmation answers a "goods not received" code and does nothing for a fraud code.
- A chargeback counts toward the merchant's when it's filed, not when it's resolved, so notifications are the running count between monthly acquirer reports.
- A rate that crosses scheme thresholds puts the merchant into a , which adds per-case fees and a remediation plan the acquirer enforces.
Common issues
- Notifications reaching an unmonitored inbox. When alerts route to a shared billing address nobody opens, the deadline passes before anyone sees the case.
- Two cases for one order. A or an on the same transaction can arrive before the chargeback notification, so one order surfaces as two open items.
- Evidence built against the wrong code. The code the issuer assigns doesn't always match what the cardholder described, and a response aimed at the wrong code gets rejected.
- Treating a won case as closed. The issuer can file a second chargeback on the same transaction, and a fresh notification follows it.
Three other dispute signals arrive through the same channels, and only a chargeback notification means the amount has already been debited.
| Signal | What triggers it | Amount debited |
| Chargeback notification | Issuer files a chargeback | Yes, before the merchant sees the case |
| or other alert | Issuer flags an intent to dispute before filing | No, a refund can stop the chargeback |
| Issuer asks for documentation on the transaction | No | |
| Issuer reports the transaction to Visa as fraud | No, but it feeds fraud-ratio monitoring |
