Disputes and fraud

Learn what disputes are, how the process works, and how to prevent them from happening.

In response to the elevated disputes faced by many merchants in the travel and entertainment industries due to COVID-19, Visa and Mastercard have issued guidelines for resolving them. These guidelines relate specifically to goods and services canceled directly due to a government order or prohibition. If your business is receiving disputes that fall into this category and you need to submit dispute evidence before the submission date, please proceed to this guide.

For all industries, the best actions you can take are to proactively communicate with your customers and issue refunds where appropriate, especially when requested.

A dispute (also known as a chargeback, inquiry, or retrieval) occurs when a cardholder questions your payment with their card issuer. An inquiry or retrieval is nothing more than a request for more information about the charge, which may escalate to a chargeback. To process a chargeback, the issuer creates a formal dispute, which immediately reverses the payment. The payment amount, along with a separate 15 USD dispute fee (United States), is then deducted from your account balance.

To help our users submit the best possible response, Stripe provides a guided process within the Dashboard. This allows you to provide all of the necessary text and images you feel are appropriate.