If you aren't receiving chargeback alerts, it might be due to one of the following reasons:
The chargeback was not covered by any enrollments.
A payment gateway prevented alert detection.
Your alerts aren't fully set up.
The customer filed a chargeback before alerts activated.
Your billing descriptor doesn't match.
You missed the response window.
Below is a detailed explanation of each issue and potential solutions.
⚠️ READ FIRST:
If you have RDR enabled.
Visa chargebacks may show up as 'lost' in your payment processor. Moreover, the payment processor may not have let you submit evidence for this chargeback.
This may have been an RDR alert. It will not contribute to your chargeback rate.
Note that it can take RDR alerts up to 3 days to appear in your Chargeback.io dashboard. Keep an eye on your dashboard a few days after receiving this chargeback.
See this guide for more information on RDR alerts.
1. Not Covered
The most common reason is that the transaction isn't covered by any of your alert enrollments.
Here's the current coverage among all chargeback alert enrollments:
| Ethoca | RDR | CDRN |
Mastercard | 95% | 0% | 5% |
Visa | 50% | 97% | 95% |
Other Networks | ~50% | 0% | ~30% |
Notes:
CDRN applies only to cards issued in the United States.
Other Networks include Discover and American Express. Exact percentages for these networks aren't published or disclosed by Ethoca or Verifi.
Some banks and issuers don't participate in Ethoca and Verifi's programs. Meaning, there's no possibility of receiving an alert in these scenarios.
Additionally:
Some banks or issuers don’t participate in Ethoca or Verifi's programs, making alerts impossible for transactions involving those banks. While Ethoca partners with around 5,000 banks, this doesn't include all global financial institutions.
Smaller or international banks often aren't enrolled, leaving coverage gaps.
Potential Solutions
Potential Solutions
Unfortunately, there's no immediate action you can take through Chargeback.io or other alert providers. However, coverage may expand as more banks enroll in Ethoca and Verifi over time.
2. Payment Gateway
Gateways like PayPal, Link, and Cash App Pay may block Verifi and Ethoca from accessing transaction data. Without this information, alerts cannot happen.
Potential Solutions
Potential Solutions
If your chargeback rate is nearing 0.6% — or, if you have a warning from your payment processor — consider disabling these gateways until you see your rates decrease.
Or you may want to try other chargeback prevention strategies.
3. Your Alerts Are Not Fully Set Up
Many businesses sign up for chargeback alerts but fail to add ARNs, preventing connection to RDR. This oversight could affect up to 97% of your Visa coverage.
Issues may also occur connecting to CDRN or Ethoca.
Potential Solutions
Potential Solutions
Verify your dashboard to ensure all enrollments are active.
Complete your enrollments by following integration guides for:
These guides can also help you connect to RDR if you haven't generated refunds with ARNs.
Activation timeframe:
CDRN and Ethoca: up to 12 hours
RDR: up to 3 business days
Reach out to our support team to know the status of your connection if that time has passed.
Also, keep an eye on your email inbox.
Sometimes issues happen when trying to connect you to an enrollment. Verifi may request additional information (such as a previous descriptor), and we'll email you directly if needed.
4. Dispute Filed Before Alerts Activated
If a customer files a dispute before your alerts are activated, no alert provider — including Chargeback.io — can capture these disputes.
There is no solution for this point.
5. Mismatched Descriptor
Ethoca and Verifi rely on billing descriptors to match disputed transactions to your account. If your descriptor isn't an exact match or if dynamic billing descriptors are used, alerts may fail to trigger.
Dynamic descriptors vary per transaction, commonly created by processors like Airwallex or Shopify apps. They can disrupt alert matching if not properly configured.
Dynamic billing descriptors allow merchants to customize the text that appears on a customer's statement for each transaction.
Potential Solutions
Potential Solutions
Verify the billing descriptor on your Chargeback.io account and compare it with the descriptor attached to the dispute.
If mismatched, update your descriptors on Chargeback.io to ensure accurate alert matching in the future.
6. You Didn't Respond in Time
Each alert network provides a specific timeframe to respond. Missing this window — due to weekends, holidays, staffing, or technical issues — results in automatic chargeback processing by the issuing bank.
Potential Solutions
Potential Solutions
Change automatic refund thresholds to refund more transactions during periods where you will not have the staff to handle chargeback alerts.
Also consider adding more advanced rules to Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR), like:
Dispute category code
Purchase identifier
Transaction date
You cannot do this through your Chargeback.io dashboard. Please reach out to our support team to assist you with this.
💡 Tip
Need more help? Get support from our representatives at Chargeback.
We’re here to help with any questions you may have.