This article applies to alert delivery, manual refunds, auto-refunds, and RDR. It does not cover troubleshooting missing alerts or improving alert coverage.
What is Chargeback.io & Their Alerts
Chargeback.io delivers chargeback prevention alerts from Ethoca and Verifi to merchants.
If a customer’s bank participates in a supported alert network and you refund the alert before the deadline, then the pre-dispute ends before it becomes a chargeback, known by Visa as a formal dispute.
If no alert is sent, then Chargeback.io cannot stop that dispute through the alert workflow.
Further reading:
How Does Chargeback.io Know Where to Send Alerts?
Ethoca and Verifi use your billing descriptor to route Ethoca Alerts and CDRN alerts to your business account. For RDR, Verifi also uses one or more acquiring BINs, AKA acquirer BINs, and CAID, or ARNs, with the billing descriptor.
If your billing descriptor is too similar to another business, then an alert can route to the wrong business.
Further reading:
How Refunding Works to Prevent Chargebacks
If a customer disputes a transaction and the customer’s bank participates in Ethoca or Verifi, then the alert appears in your Chargeback.io Dashboard.
If email notifications or Slack are connected, then you also receive the alert there.
If the alert was auto-refunded, then the alert record shows that the refund was completed.
If the alert wasn't auto-refunded, then you must find the transaction in your payment processor dashboard and refund it before the deadline shown in the Dashboard, email, or Slack message.
Attention-status alert deadlines vary by the deadline set by Ethoca or Verifi.
If you can't find the transaction, then follow the transaction-search article for that processor.
In some cases, you may receive a bad alert. If you receive one of these, you can file a credit request and get the alert credited.
Further reading:
1. How Auto-Refunds Work
If you connect a supported integration, then Chargeback.io attempts to match the alert to a transaction in your dashboard based on the auto-refund threshold you set.
If the system finds a matching transaction, then Chargeback.io refunds the transaction for you.
If the system doesn't find a matching transaction, then you must search for the transaction manually and decide whether to refund it before the deadline.
You can freely enable and disable auto-refunds for Ethoca and CDRN.
Further reading:
2. How RDR Works
Verifi Rapid Dispute Resolution, or RDR, refunds or declines pre-disputes based on the rules you set for your account.
If an RDR transaction matches your refund rules, then RDR refunds it automatically.
If an RDR transaction doesn't match your refund rules, then the alert status is Declined and no refund is sent.
Manual refunds are not available for RDR.
RDR and CDRN are different Verifi products. They serve similar prevention goals, but they don't use the same refund workflow.
Further reading:
How Chargeback.io Affects the Chargeback Process
Here’s what happens when you use Chargeback.io:
Customer disputes a purchase with their bank: This is the pre-dispute stage of the chargeback process.
Dispute paused: If the bank participates in an alert network, the dispute is temporarily paused.
Chargeback.io receives a dispute alert: Through our partnerships with Ethoca and Verifi, Chargeback.io gets a notice when a dispute is filed.
You receive the alert: Alerts appear in your Chargeback.io dashboard.
Resolve the dispute: Refund the transaction, manually or automatically.
Dispute ends: If refunded, the dispute ends and doesn't become a chargeback.
Determining whether a bank participates in an alert network is fully automated and doesn't require any action from your end.
If you don't use auto-refunds, then you still receive early notice for supported Ethoca and CDRN alerts. That gives you more time to prepare a dispute response if you choose to fight the dispute.
What Chargeback.io Changes, and What it Doesn't Change
Chargeback.io changes when you learn about supported disputes and how quickly you can refund them. It doesn't guarantee that every dispute will generate an alert.
If an alert is sent and refunded before the deadline, then the dispute ends early.
If an alert is never triggered, then the dispute can still become a chargeback.
For example, tokenized transactions such as Shop Pay can prevent an alert from triggering.
Further reading:
FAQs
Can I Disable Ethoca Alerts for Visa Transactions?
Can I Disable Ethoca Alerts for Visa Transactions?
No. You cannot disable Ethoca Alerts for Visa transactions.
Can Chargeback.io Search for Attention-status Alerts for Me?
Can Chargeback.io Search for Attention-status Alerts for Me?
If an alert has the Attention status, then Chargeback.io cannot manually search your payment processor dashboard or manually refund that transaction for you.
If you have a supported integration connected and the system finds a matching transaction automatically, then the alert can still be auto-refunded.
How Do I Know Whether Alerts are Real?
How Do I Know Whether Alerts are Real?
If you can find the matching transaction in your payment processor dashboard, then the alert is real.
If the alert was auto-refunded through an integration, or is an RDR alert, then treat the alert as real.
💬 Still need help? Contact Chargeback.io support.