What is a Chargeback? | Definition and Examples


Chargeback simply means that the bank will charge back the amount of the disputed transaction from the merchant. The bank will repay the money to the cardholders without any approval from merchants. 

Chargeback in a nutshell

  • If chargebacks are made, banks refund money to cardholders without the merchant’s authorization, which compromises consumer protection in payment transactions.
  • Chargeback Types: True fraud, friendly fraud, and merchant errors are three chargeback types, each requiring different approaches.
  • Chargeback vs. Refund: Cardholders contact the banks for chargebacks, unlike refunds, which are initiated by customers directly with the merchants.
  • Binary Options Chargeback: Chargebacks provide an effective means of recovering money from binary options scammers, however, they must be initiated within 120 days of a specific procedure.

Impact of chargebacks on consumer protection

Chargebacks are very significant for the protection of public confidence, especially in payment transactions. It increases the security of customers in debit and credit card payments. Especially when the consumers have to deal with online transactions, chargebacks might be applicable.

Specifically, suppose a customer can make a dispute complaint against a purchased product on the account statement or the transaction reports. In that case, he or she will obtain a returned payment to the cards. These returned charges are known as chargebacks. However, the chargebacks can be a headache for the merchants. 

Banks’ Role in Chargeback Resolution

Banks review the transactions while a cardholder raises a disputed charge. If the dispute reason is to some extent valid, the bank provides a provisional credit to the accounts of customers after the chargeback claim is solved.  

The merchants pay for the dispute claims. The cardholders initiate chargebacks, which the banks assess. Therefore, a single chargeback might take some months to a year for completion. 

Often, banks also file chargebacks for authorization or any processing errors, but most of the chargebacks occur with a customer’s complaint. In most cases, the consumers think of a fraudulent charge that has occurred to the accounts. Usually, customers assume that they did not get the proper product as per the price. On the other hand, merchants refuse to work on these kinds of subjective complaints to resolve disputes.

Examples of a Chargeback

Once the process of chargebacks initiates, it goes back and forth among the customers and merchants until one of the parties accepts the liability or the card network finds the reason for the dispute and declares it as a resolved case.

There are three types of chargebacks such as true or criminal, friendly fraud, and merchant errors. Every kind of chargeback could occur due to different circumstances, and each of them needs to be handled in different ways. 

True fraud chargebacks

  • These chargebacks are unauthorized charges against a card (credit) by an identity thief or scammer. Therefore, in those cases, merchants are strongly advised not to dispute the chargebacks to waste time and resources. 

Friendly fraud chargebacks

  • When customers raise a dispute or report reasonable charges as fraudulent for getting a reversed pay, the friendly fraud chargebacks occur. Sometimes they do it consciously with criminal or malicious intentions, but in many cases, they claim the charge due to a lack of knowledge and patience. Therefore, true frauds are often misinterpreted as friendly frauds or vice versa. 

Merchant error chargebacks

  • This chargeback occurs when a merchant makes an error while delivering the products or services. The errors include shipping or wrong products, errors in the quality of products, and others. Merchant error chargebacks can be prevented by developing better quality business operations such as helpful customer services, easily available support services, or even a proper refund policy. 

Many people messed up the idea of chargebacks with refunds, but these two are very different. A cardholder contacts banks to issue or force a reversal of the transaction. On the other hand, in refunds, a customer asks the merchant first, and the latter will initiate the process. 

Can you do a Chargeback on Binary Options scams?

The easiest way to get your money back in the case of binary options scams fraud is a chargeback. A chargeback allows you to claim your money back directly via your card issuer or bank, which is very effective in most cases.

A chargeback should be made within 120 days of discovering the scam to maximize success. Visa allows a chargeback period of 540 days from the date you originally sent the money. Send a detailed letter to your card issuer stating the fraudulent charges, the date, the total amount and the name of the fraudulent platform or broker. Providing evidence, such as communication attempts, will strengthen your case.

The Chargeback on Binary Options Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

  • Find Your Card Company’s Address: Start the chargeback process by finding the address of your credit or debit card company.
  • Provide payment information: Give important payment details, such as proof of income, total amount paid, the name of the company and the date of payment. Providing detailed information in a timely manner will speed up the chargeback process.
  • Craft a Comprehensive Letter: Write a detailed letter containing all the important information and send it immediately. This message will start the dialogue between your card issuer and the fraudulent company.
  • Follow-Up Measures: If your cardholder fails to respond within 60 days, follow up proactively to ensure that the process continues.

About the author

Percival Knight
Percival Knight is an experienced Binary Options trader for more than ten years. Mainly, he trades 60-second trades at a very high hit rate. My favorite strategies is by using candlesticks and fake-breakouts

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