Chargeback guide — ChargeSecured

The cardholder files

up to 120 days

after the transaction or the expected delivery, with their issuer. Some authorization codes carry shorter windows. The issuer usually credits the cardholder provisionally the same day.

The merchant answers

20 to 45 days

through the acquirer, inside the network's window: Visa 30, Mastercard 45, American Express 20, Discover 30. Processors set shorter internal deadlines, often 5 to 10 days.

The issuer decides

then the network

The issuer reviews the response and decides. Either side can escalate to pre-arbitration and then arbitration under network rules. ChargeSecured prevents and deters at the sale and files the response; issuers decide.

Lifecycle

Sale to decision, and the windows in between.

Deadlines by network.

Network rules as published in September 2026. Your acquirer's deadline is the one that counts, and it is shorter.

Network	Cardholder window	Merchant response	Escalation	Notes
Visa	Up to 120 days for most codes; 75 days for some authorization codes	30 days	Issuer has 30 days to open pre-arbitration; merchant 30 days to respond; issuer 10 days to pursue arbitration	Compelling Evidence 3.0 applies to 10.4. Rapid Dispute Resolution resolves eligible disputes by pre-approved refund before a chargeback posts.
Mastercard	Up to 120 days for most codes; shorter for some authorization and point-of-interaction codes	45 days	Issuer has 30 days from representment to open pre-arbitration; merchant 30 days to accept or reject; issuer 15 days to escalate	Cardholder Dispute (4853) is the broad consumer code; No Cardholder Authorization (4837) the broad fraud code.
American Express	120 days from the transaction, or from expected delivery	20 days at each stage	No arbitration process	Issuer and network in one. Many chargebacks begin as inquiries; an unanswered inquiry becomes a chargeback.
Discover	120 calendar days from processing	30 calendar days	10 calendar days to initiate arbitration	Issuer and network in one. A ticket retrieval request often precedes the chargeback.

Four families of claim. Four kinds of proof.

Every reason code on every network falls into one of these. What answers each is known before the dispute exists, which is why the record is built at the sale.

Family	What is claimed	What answers it	Where the record holds it
Fraud	Not me. I didn't authorize it. I don't recognize it.	Proof of identity and presence: chip read and authorization, signature or PIN, ID match or photo at step-up in person; AVS and security-code match, 3-D Secure, device and IP, delivery to the verified address online.	Cardholder and Recipient
Authorization	No authorization, a declined one, or an amount above what was approved.	The authorization record: approval code, date, amount. Without one there is nothing to defend; fix the process.	Cardholder
Processing error	Charged twice. Wrong amount. Wrong currency. Paid another way. Presented late.	Itemized receipts with timestamps, the amount and currency acknowledged, or the credit already issued.	Purchase and Understanding
Consumer dispute	Never received. Not as described. Cancelled. Refund never came.	Delivery or service confirmation, the terms and description shown and acknowledged at the sale, the refund and cancellation policy disclosed, correspondence.	Understanding and Fulfillment

The monitoring programs.

Chargebacks cost money one at a time. Ratios cost the ability to accept cards. These are the network thresholds; acquirers apply stricter ones of their own and can reprice or terminate before the network acts.

Visa · Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP)

1.5% since April 2026.

Ratio: TC40 fraud reports plus TC15 non-fraud disputes, divided by settled card-not-present transactions. A fraud report counts even when no chargeback follows.
Merchant "Excessive" threshold: 2.2% during 2025 (enforced from October 1, 2025), 1.5% from April 1, 2026.
In scope from 1,500 combined disputes and fraud reports a month.
Enumeration ratio of 20% for card-testing attacks.
Enforcement: $8 per disputed or fraudulent transaction at Excessive, after a grace period on first identification.
Rapid Dispute Resolution removes the dispute from the count; the fraud report still counts.

Mastercard · Excessive Chargeback Program

100 chargebacks and 1.5%.

Ratio: this month's chargebacks divided by last month's sales count.
Excessive Chargeback Merchant: 100 to 299 chargebacks and a 1.50% to 2.99% ratio in a month. Both must be met.
High Excessive Chargeback Merchant: 300 or more chargebacks and 3.00% or more.
Fees start at $1,000 in the second month and rise to $100,000 a month (ECM) or $200,000 (HECM) after 18 months, plus $5 per chargeback above 300 for HECM.
Beyond fees: MATCH listing, which follows the business to its next processor.

Sources: Chargeback Gurus and Forter on Visa's revised VAMP thresholds; PayPal Braintree's Mastercard Excessive Chargeback Program page. Re-verify before relying on a figure; Visa revised VAMP once already in 2025.

What to have before any dispute exists.

The evidence is either built at the sale or reconstructed after the money is gone. This is the list, in the order issuers read it.

1The itemized receipt, with your name as it appears on the cardholder's statement.
2The authorization record: approval code, date, amount, chip or 3-D Secure data.
3The terms as shown at the sale, and the cardholder's timestamped acknowledgement.
4Delivery, pickup, or service confirmation tied to the order, with who received it.
5The refund and cancellation policy as disclosed, and any credit already issued.
6Step-up records where they fired: signature, ID match, photo under posted notice, passcode.
7Correspondence with the cardholder, in order.
8A timeline, from order to dispute, in one page.

ChargeSecured records items 1 to 6 on every protected sale as five pillars: cardholder, purchase, understanding, fulfillment, recipient. How the record is built.

Glossary.

ChargebackA reversal of a card sale initiated by the cardholder's issuer, with the amount debited from the merchant.
RepresentmentThe merchant's response, sent through the acquirer, presenting the transaction again with evidence.
Reason codeThe network code the issuer attaches to a dispute, naming the claim. Each code has its own evidence requirements.
Provisional creditThe refund the issuer gives the cardholder while the dispute is open, usually immediately.
TC40 / SAFEFraud reports issuers file with Visa (TC40) and Mastercard (SAFE). They count toward monitoring ratios even without a chargeback.
TC15Visa's dispute record; the non-fraud half of the VAMP numerator.
RDRRapid Dispute Resolution: Visa disputes settled by a pre-approved refund rule before a chargeback posts.
CDRNCardholder Dispute Resolution Network, an alert service that lets a merchant refund before a chargeback is filed.
Compelling Evidence 3.0Visa's rule shifting liability on 10.4 disputes when two prior undisputed transactions, 120 to 365 days old, match the disputed one on IP address or device plus one more element.
Pre-arbitrationThe step after a lost representment where either side asks the other to accept liability before the network rules.
ArbitrationThe network's decision on a dispute neither side will accept, with fees to the losing party.
Dispute ratioDisputes divided by transactions over a period. Each network computes it differently; each monitoring program has its own threshold.
First-party misuseA cardholder disputing a charge they made and received value for. Also called friendly fraud.
MIDMerchant identification number, the account your acquirer processes under. Excessive ratios put it at risk.
MATCH listMastercard's Member Alert to Control High-risk Merchants: a list of terminated merchants that acquirers check before onboarding.

How a chargeback works, and what to have ready.