# Chargebacks

* <mark style="color:red;">CHARGEBACK = TXN REVERSAL</mark>
* <mark style="color:red;">DEBIT ACQUIRER (MERCHANT)</mark>
* <mark style="color:red;">CREDIT ISSUER (CUSTOMER)</mark>

Chargebacks occur when a cardholder exercises his or her rights to a&#x20;payment reversal under certain conditions, after efforts to achieve resolution directly with the merchant&#x20;have failed.

A chargeback creates a debit position for the acquirer (merchant) and a credit for the issuer\
(cardholder) is a chargeback.

***

For acquiring banks, most of their merchants’ activity will be credit transactions; i.e., they will&#x20;generate an incoming flow of funds through the settlement process. But merchants will also conduct&#x20;transactions, such as refunds and returns, which create debits to the merchant (but credits to the&#x20;cardholder, as explained in the previous paragraph). These debits will be deducted from the total of funds&#x20;owed to the acquirer, and the net amount will be deposited to the acquiring bank’s account through&#x20;settlement.

Another activity that creates a debit position for the acquirer (merchant) and a credit for the issuer\
(cardholder) is a chargeback. Chargebacks occur when a cardholder exercises his or her rights to a&#x20;payment reversal under certain conditions, after efforts to achieve resolution directly with the merchant&#x20;have failed. There are time limits for exercising these rights, and not every cause of dissatisfaction is an&#x20;allowable reason for entering a dispute. Some of the permissible reasons include duplicate processing,&#x20;i.e., the merchant processed the same transaction more than once; the merchandise was defective or not as&#x20;described; the goods or services were not received; or a biller continues to submit drafts for a canceled&#x20;recurring payment.

The network plays an intermediary role in chargeback processing. Disputes are submitted to the\
network by the cardholder’s issuing bank and routed to the merchant’s acquiring bank. There are rules&#x20;and time frames established for both parties to the dispute, which are mediated by the network. The&#x20;merchant may have the ability to re-present the chargeback to the network through its acquiring bank. If&#x20;the chargeback is resolved in the merchant’s favor, no settlement activity is required. However, if the&#x20;chargeback is resolved in the cardholder’s favor, the network will debit the amount of the transaction&#x20;from the acquirer’s net settlement and process a credit of the same amount to the issuer’s net settlement.

***

RESOURCES

<https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/consumer-finance/discussion-papers/d-2013-october-clearing-settlement.pdf?la=en&hash=CB5785393686C300C316A43A2620E904>


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