Chargeback
reason codes
Protect your payment processor from costly credit card 
chargebacks with Chargeback's prevention solutions.
General Information about Reason Codes
Reason codes are essential annotations used by credit card companies, banks, and other financial institutions. They explain why transactions don't go through, why chargebacks happen, or why payments are adjusted. Think of reason codes as quick, standardized notes that clarify the cause of these financial adjustments—anything from suspected fraud to a simple typo.
What is a Reason Code?
A reason code could be a number or a mix of letters and numbers that credit card networks or banks use to pinpoint why a transaction was declined, a chargeback filed, or a payment adjusted. Each code stands for a specific issue—maybe there weren't enough funds, there was suspected fraud, or a processing error occurred. 


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These codes are crucial not just for resolving payment disputes but also for analytics and reporting in financial operations. Knowing these codes helps businesses apply the right fixes, ensuring they stick to card network rules and improve their transaction success rates.
Reason codes on major card networks
Understanding the reason codes across top card networks like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover is vital for effective dispute management. Each network uses its own unique system designed for specific transaction issues, which significantly affects how businesses handle disputes and chargebacks.
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By deeply understanding these systems, businesses are equipped to manage and prevent chargebacks effectively. Using advanced analytics and tailored strategies not only improves understanding and adapts procedures.
Visa categorizes its reason codes into areas like processing errors, authorization errors, fraud, and customer disputes as part of its Visa Claims Resolution initiative. This organization helps merchants quickly spot and address disputes.
10.1
Visa Chargeback reason code 10.1: EMV liability shift counterfeit fraud
10.2
Visa Chargeback reason code 10.3: Other fraud: Card-present environment/condition
Similar to Visa but with an added 'Miscellaneous' category, American Express uses both letters and numbers to clearly outline specific disputes, aiding in effective management and resolution.
Visa categorizes its reason codes into areas like processing errors, authorization errors, fraud, and customer disputes as part of its Visa Claims Resolution initiative. This organization helps merchants quickly spot and address disputes.
Discover uses an alphabetical system for its reason codes, like 'DP' for duplicate processing and 'RM' for quality issues. This clear categorization assists merchants in resolving disputes swiftly.
Frequently asked questions
Here are the most frequently asked questions we get about Chargeback.
Yes. Chargeback alerts are the best way to keep your processor happy. Lowering your chargeback rate helps you avoid money holds, fines, rolling reserves, and even getting shut down.
Chargeback is a chargeback prevention service designed to do exactly what its name suggests—prevent chargebacks.
We achieve this by alerting you about transactions in which the customer has just requested a chargeback. We will then automatically refund these transactions before they escalate into chargebacks.
This helps reduce your chargeback rate, lower fees, and minimize potential payment processor issues.
Currently, we support Stripe, Shopify Payments, Braintree, Chargebee, and Recurly. We also plan to expand our integration to include Authorize.net and Airwallex.
You're only charged when we provide an alert. And every alert is a chargeback stopped. For a more detailed overview, please visit our pricing page.
We have no onboarding fees, no contracts, or monthly minimums. Chargeback is free to start, and we only charge per alert.
A chargeback alert notifies you of incoming chargebacks 24-72 hours before they're officially filed.
This allows you to automatically issue a refund to avoid the chargeback. Reducing your chargeback rate, lowering fees, and minimizing potential payment processor issues.
Integration with your payment processor typically takes a few minutes. Depending on the system you activate, we aim to have you live within 12 hours.
Yes, you can cancel our service at any time.
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