Items Like Screenshots And Dates Are Vital Info Under the New Visa Claims Resolution Program

E-commerce merchants are beginning to learn efficient ways to navigate the newly launched Visa Claims Resolution program for managing chargebacks.

With the increasing emphasis among consumers and merchants on making more of their transactions in the digital realm, Visa Inc. launched in April its new chargeback-resolution program that includes shortened timeframes, streamlined reason codes, and online management for merchants and issuers.

Already, though, some merchants are sharing what they’ve learned about the nascent tool. What Dawn Doner, senior manager of fraud and investigations at HSN Inc., a unit of Qurate Retail Group, West Chester, Pa., has learned so far is to build a solid case with as much information as possible when disputing a chargeback claim.

“The bank has the ability now to reject your response,” Doner told attendees at the CNP Expo in Orlando, Fla., sponsored by Cardnotpresent.com. “If you’re responding to disputes, you have to have some threat of some type of support.” 

For example, if it’s a mobile order, include the device and Internet protocol identification for the shopper, she said. “Make sure to include screenshots in disputes.” But, when doing so, add a caption to explain what the image represents so that a reviewer at the card issuer doesn’t have to interpret what the image is showing, she says.

Another tip is to include dates for each step of the transaction or when the consumer contacted the merchant about the transaction. That is vital because it can act as a check on what the consumer tells the issuer, for example, in instances when the consumer says she called the merchant, but there is no evidence of this. 

The dates also are important because they are yet another piece of information that a merchant can ensure the issuer is aware of, Doner said. It’s also important to verify the issuer has included these dates in future communications about the disputed transaction.

HSN, which is a corporate sibling to the QVC and Zulily brands, also found that, as envisioned with the advent of Visa Claims Resolution, the quantity of disputes is much lower—more than 600—than it was the same time a year ago (approximately 1,300), under the former chargeback-resolution program, Doner said. Yet, the average amount of a disputed Visa transaction has doubled, from $17 to $35, she says. The increase is because the merchant, which under the former system received a credit for certain disputed transactions at the time of contesting it, now receives it at the end of the process.

Some disputed transactions are not worth contesting, Doner said. HSN usually re-presents approximately 65% of its chargebacks. Sometimes it’s better to sit on disputed transactions in the interest of keeping the merchant’s cost down and not insulting the customer, she noted.