Dispute categories
Learn more about the reasons for disputes and how to respond to each.
Each card network defines hundreds of codes representing very specific reasons for dispute claims, many of which overlap across all the networks that Stripe does business with. Stripe maps each network code into one of eight categories, based on the general claim and the evidence you need to submit to effectively challenge that type of claim.
Dispute network reason codes categorization
The following tables show the Stripe categories for each card network’s dispute reason codes. Network reason code is available on the dispute object.
General evidence for all dispute categories
While each dispute reason requires specific types of evidence to show why the payment should stand, some types of evidence are universal for all dispute responses.
Evidence file size limits
Submit as much relevant evidence as possible while keeping the size and length of the final file within card issuer maximums:
- 4.5 MB for all networks
- 19 pages for Mastercard. See Limit evidence file length for recommendations.
Discrediting evidence
Providing evidence of one of the following has a high likelihood of proving a dispute invalid and overturning the chargeback:
Evidence | Dashboard Evidence Category | API Evidence Parameter |
---|---|---|
Any documentation of the account owner withdrawing the dispute. | Customer communication | customer_ |
Proof that you already compensated the customer before they initiated the dispute (either within Stripe or using some other method). | Customer communication | refund_ |
Background evidence
The following types of evidence are relevant for most dispute types. Include them in every dispute response when possible. In the API, all of these data points are attributes of the dispute evidence object. In the Dashboard, many of them are fields of information separate from the Supporting evidence section of the response form.
When your integration supports it, Stripe automatically captures most of the data for background evidence and pre-populates both the API evidence object attributes and the form fields in the Dashboard. The more information your integration collects and passes to Stripe when your customer makes a payment, the better your ability to prevent disputes and fraud from occurring, and challenge them effectively when they do.
Evidence | Dashboard Evidence Category | API Evidence Parameter |
---|---|---|
The billing address provided by the customer (if the AVS check was successful). This field is automatically filled when possible. | Billing address | billing_ |
The name of the customer. This field is automatically filled when possible. | Customer name | customer_ |
The email address of the customer. This field is automatically filled when possible. | customer_ | |
The IP address that the customer used when making the purchase. When possible, Stripe captures this data in the response and expands it to include geographical data. | Other | customer_ |
A relevant document or contract showing the customer’s signature. | Customer signature | customer_ |
Any communication with the customer that you feel is relevant to your case (for example, emails proving that they received the product or service, or demonstrating their use of or satisfaction with the product or service). If you have multiple items of this type, consolidate them into a single file. | Customer communication | customer_ |
Any receipt or message sent to the customer notifying them of the charge. This field is automatically filled with a Stripe generated email receipt if any such receipt was sent. | Receipt | receipt |
A description of the product or service and any relevant details on how this was presented to the customer at the time of purchase. | Product or service details Description | product_ |
Compelling evidence for Visa disputes
The Visa network has a technical specification for the evidence required to overturn disputes with a reason of fraudulent, which they call Compelling Evidence.
You must provide at least one item (more is always better) that satisfies Visa’s Compelling Evidence specification for fraud disputes. Examples of evidence that meet Visa’s specification are labeled as Compelling Evidence
in the Dashboard and in the fraudulent dispute type documentation.
If you don’t submit Compelling Evidence, your likelihood of overturning a Visa fraud dispute is very low, and while Visa is the only card network that designates this specification, Stripe recommends you apply the practice to all disputes.
Visa CE 3.0
Visa Compelling Evidence 3.0 (CE 3.0) introduced new qualifying criteria that allows businesses to show prior non-fraudulent history with the cardholder to combat friendly fraud. Submitting qualifying evidence for Visa CE 3.0 eligible disputes significantly increases the likelihood of an issuer overturning friendly fraud disputes in favor of the business. Stripe supports this feature by:
- Flagging disputes that are eligible for Visa CE 3.0 by searching your history for prior qualifying transactions
- Notifying you in the dispute email and in the Dispute details page that the dispute qualifies for a Visa CE 3.0 counter response.
- Automatically adding qualifying transactions to your dispute evidence.
- Identifying required elements in the evidence form with Required for Visa CE 3.0 badge.
- Pre-populating required information from qualifying transactions, when available.
If you get a dispute that qualifies for a Visa CE 3.0 counter response, we recommend that you submit evidence.
Read more about Visa CE 3.0 in our Support FAQ.
Dispute category types
Use the selector to choose the category that matches the reason given for your dispute to see guidelines for responding.