A dispute occurs when a cardholder questions the validity of a payment, and contacts their issuer to have their money returned. For example, the cardholder may claim that that their card information was used fraudulently. The disputed funds will then be removed from your payable batch.
Many disputed transactions can be defended. If you want to defend a dispute, you need to provide documents to show that the payment was valid, for example a proof that the guest stayed. The required documents depend on the reason for the dispute. If you have successfully defended the dispute, the funds will be added back to your payable batch.
The timeframe to defend a dispute depends on the card scheme. If you don't provide the defense documents within the required timeframe, you will automatically lose the dispute. If you have lost a dispute, Adyen subtracts the funds from your payable batch, and returns them to the cardholder's account.
Whether a payment can be disputed depends on the payment method. Credit card payments are defendable, whereas bank transfers are not.
When a dispute is raised by the issuing bank, Adyen will communicate this to you, and the dispute cycle starts. If you would like to be notified when you receive a dispute, enable the System Messages.
Before you manage disputes, it's important to understand:
- How the dispute process works.
- Which required documents you must provide.
- Chargeback guidelines for issuers.
- The applicable reason code to understand the type of dispute, depending on the payment method.
Once you understand the dispute process, you are ready to manage your disputes.