Issuing disputes
The purpose of a dispute is to recover funds for captured transactions. Disputes are often used to correct fraudulent transactions or problems with the quality or delivery of the product.
Stripe offers a guided Dashboard process and an API to submit disputes and monitor them through to resolution. This process typically takes between 30 and 90 days. If you only manage occasional disputes, we recommend using the Dashboard. If you manage a high volume of disputes, we recommend programmatically managing disputes using the API.
If you think a card has been compromised, cancel and replace it using the Dashboard or the API before continuing with the dispute process.
Considerations before initiating a dispute
Check the transaction’s dispute eligibility.
The transaction must be a capture and not a refund.
The transaction isn’t a mobile push payment transaction.
Fewer than 110 days have passed since the business captured the transaction.
- However, if you plan to file an Authorization dispute, this deadline is shorter:
- For Visa, the transaction was captured fewer than 65 days ago.
- For Mastercard, the transaction was captured fewer than 80 days ago.
- However, if you plan to file an Authorization dispute, this deadline is shorter:
If you plan to file a fraud dispute, ensure that:
- For Visa card-not-present fraud: Fewer than 35 fraud disputes have been filed on the card in the last 120 days.
- For any type of Mastercard fraud: Fewer than 35 fraud disputes have been filed over the card’s lifespan.
Stripe attempts to block disputes on ineligible transactions. In the Dashboard, the Dispute transaction button is only enabled for eligible transactions. In the API, attempting to dispute an ineligible transaction results in an error.
Next, ensure that the cardholder has exhausted other means of resolving the issue. They must attempt to return any products they received, cancel any ongoing services, and seek a refund directly from the business. Collect documentation of these attempts to use as evidence when filing the dispute.
Lifecycle
Merchant terminology
In the above diagram, merchant refers to the acquiring merchant, the business receiving the payment.
Newly-created disputes begin in an unsubmitted
status. At this point, you can update their evidence and metadata. After you’ve added all the required evidence, you can then submit the dispute. If you don’t submit a dispute within 110 days of the transaction clearing, its status becomes expired
.
Stripe and card networks process disputes that have a status of submitted
. As such, you can’t update dispute evidence, but you can still update their metadata
. Submitted disputes enter into a multi-step process defined by card networks and participating banks. After a dispute is resolved, Stripe transitions it to either the terminal won
or lost
status.
Creation
Fill out the Dispute Amount field to indicate the disputed amount (full or partial). The field’s initial value is the transaction amount. Submissions that have empty Dispute Amount fields create disputes with the full transaction amount.
Dispute Amount field on the Issuing dispute creation page
Update
Submission
Resolution
Testing
Webhooks
To be notified of changes to your disputes, you can listen for Issuing dispute webhook events. All Issuing dispute events contain the updated Dispute object.
Webhook events | Trigger |
---|---|
issuing_dispute.created | Dispute created. |
issuing_dispute.updated | Dispute updated. |
issuing_dispute.submitted | Dispute submitted. |
issuing_dispute.funds_reinstated | Funds transferred to your Issuing balance (usually associated with won dispute status). |
issuing_dispute.closed | Dispute transitioned into a won , lost , or expired status. |
Dispute reasons and evidence
You must submit supporting documentation with a dispute. The quality of this documentation directly influences your chances of winning and the strongest disputes have clear, descriptive documentation.
The type of documentation required depends on the reason for the dispute. Because of this, it’s important to choose the correct reason.
Disputes can be submitted with one of these reasons:
- Canceled: Cardholder canceled or returned merchandise or canceled services, and the merchant didn’t process a credit or void a transaction receipt.
- Duplicate: Covers processing error dispute types, including duplicate transaction, incorrect amount, paid by other means, and so on.
- Fraudulent: The cardholder’s details were compromised and the transaction wasn’t authorized by them.
- Merchandise not as described: Cardholder received the merchandise, but it didn’t match what was presented at time of purchase, or it was damaged or defective.
- Not received: Cardholder participated in the transaction but didn’t receive the merchandise or service.
- No valid authorization: (API only) The merchant processed a transaction without a valid authorization.
- Service not as described: Cardholder received the service, but it didn’t match what was presented at time of purchase.
- Other: A dispute scenario that doesn’t clearly qualify as any other dispute reason. Authorization disputes might have this reason (for example, if filed through the Dashboard).
In the Dashboard, “Merchandise not as described” and “Service not as described” are consolidated under “Not as described”.
Each reason requires a different set of evidence:
Fraud disputes
You can dispute a transaction for fraud if the cardholder’s card details were compromised and they didn’t authorize the transaction.
Before filing a dispute:
- Confirm with the cardholder that they didn’t make the transaction in error, and that it wasn’t made by someone known to them. Transactions made by a friend or family member, for example, don’t constitute fraud for dispute purposes.
- Cancel the affected card.
In certain situations, you can lose fraud dispute rights for a transaction:
- For card-present transactions: A card network might automatically reject a fraud dispute because liability defaults to the issuer.
- For card-not-present transactions: A card network might automatically reject a fraud dispute if the cardholder was authenticated during the transaction. That often happens when 3D Secure was requested or a secured payment method like Apple Pay was used.
Authorization disputes
Each time an acquiring merchant processes a transaction, they must first request an authorization from the issuer. If a merchant captures a payment without a valid authorization, you can dispute the transaction. The reason you should choose depends on the surface used to submit the dispute:
- Filing dispute via API: File the dispute under the
no_valid_authorization
reason. - Filing dispute via Dashboard: File the dispute under the
other
reason and specify in theexplanation
field that the merchant didn’t get a valid authorization.
Authorization disputes are distinct from fraud disputes:
- File a fraud dispute when the cardholder didn’t participate in the transaction. For example, a thief stole their card and used it.
- File an authorization dispute when the merchant didn’t have a valid authorization for the transaction. For example, they captured a payment two days after its authorization expired.
A common reason for an authorization dispute is an overcapture. An overcapture occurs when the captured amount exceeds the authorized amount. When you submit an authorization dispute for an overcapture, you must adjust the dispute amount to include only the amount that exceeded the authorization.
Note
Some Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) allow overcaptures of certain amounts or disallow authorization disputes. For details, refer to the current card network rules for your region.
A card network can reject an authorization dispute if the transaction had a valid authorization. In the case of an overcapture, it can reject the dispute if the disputed amount doesn’t take into account the allowed overcapture amount for the associated MCC.
Withdrawing
Stripe can only withdraw a dispute within one day of its submission to the card network. If you want to withdraw a dispute, contact Stripe Support immediately.
Liability for fraud (platforms in the USA)
Most aspects of Regulation Z don’t apply to business-purpose cards, but Regulation Z does protect users of business-purpose cards from fraud and other types of “unauthorized card use," which means the use of a charge card by a person who doesn’t have the authority to use it. In most cases, an accountholder can’t be held responsible for unauthorized use of cards linked to their account unless a reasonable investigation into the fraud is conducted. However, if the account holder has 10 or more employee authorized users, they might not qualify for this protection.
When one of your users disputes a transaction because the user believes it was unauthorized, Stripe sends the dispute to the card network for adjudication (as with any other type of disputed transaction). Stripe or the card network determines who must pay for the fraud: you or the merchant.
If Stripe or the card network determines the merchant is liable for the fraud, then neither you nor your user are responsible for the disputed transactions.
If Stripe or the card network determines that you’re liable for the fraud, then you might be required to pay for the disputed transaction. Stripe performs a reasonable investigation into the dispute to determine whether fraud actually occurred or whether the user doesn’t qualify for protection under Regulation Z. If the investigation uncovers that unauthorized card use actually occurred and that the user qualifies for protection, then you remain liable for the unauthorized transactions. Alternatively, if the investigation uncovers that unauthorized card use didn’t occur or that the user doesn’t qualify for protection, then we hold the accountholder responsible for the disputed charges.
Emailing connect accounts
Issuing platforms must send regulated notice emails to connected accounts when a dispute is submitted, and again when a dispute is won or lost. Learn more about regulated notices.
Use with Stripe Treasury
Disputes of ReceivedDebits
on FinancialAccounts
have a corresponding DebitReversal once the dispute is submitted.