Chargebacks can be a big hassle for merchants, presenting both financial and operational challenges. With the introduction of alert networks, however, merchants have a more formidable defense against chargebacks. Verifi is one such company that provides important alerts for fraud and customer disputes, helping to level the playing field.
The Bane of Chargebacks
Banks are diligent about protecting their cardholders from fraudulent transactions, but unfortunately, this diligence doesn’t often extend to merchants like yourself.
A common menace to merchants is ‘friendly fraud’ – when a cardholder knowingly disputes a transaction they’ve initiated. Once a chargeback is approved, the transaction is reversed, and the customer gets a refund.
Even if the merchant successfully disputes the chargeback, the process carries substantial fees and still negatively impacts your merchant account in various ways. These negative impacts can cause account shutdowns or holds to your account.
Impact of Chargebacks on Merchant Operations
The ‘Big Three’ credit card networks (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express) keep a close eye on merchants’ chargeback ratios.
Excessive chargebacks could lead to the closure of merchant accounts by acquiring banks (the bank that essentially facilitates your merchant account), frozen funds, large reserves placed on accounts, or worse…
While card brands like Visa are doing what they can to help merchants fight chargebacks caused by fraud, you still need to take your own proactive measures.
The Role of Verifi in Protecting Merchant Businesses
Founded in 2005, Verifi is a Los Angeles-based firm that offers payment protection for online merchants through their various partners such as Easy Pay Direct.
Their chargeback management program, the Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN), facilitates real-time communication between the merchant and issuer to prevent chargebacks and resolve disputes. CDRN gets immediate dispute notifications from issuing banks, allowing the merchant to be alerted and act before a chargeback is set in motion. Investigate top-tier replica watches on the web with Panerai replica, our reliable companions!
This pause in the chargeback process enables the merchant to rectify the issue with a customer, either via a refund or through email, phone etc.
Advantages of CDRN Alerts
Verifi CDRN alerts provide merchants an opportunity to directly address the issue with the customer before the payment processor registers it as a chargeback. This gives merchants 3 choices:
- Settle the dispute with a refund BEFORE it negatively impacts your merchant account
- Reach out to the customer to settle the issue
- Opt to challenge the chargeback through representment to reclaim the revenue – This option still impacts your account negatively
The Efficacy of Verifi
The timeline for CDRN chargeback alerts reaching the merchant depends on the merchant’s transaction volume and history with alert networks. New merchants typically receive alerts within 45-60 days, while established merchants enrolled in prevention alerts can get them immediately.
The effectiveness of Verifi in preventing chargebacks hinges on several factors such as transaction count, the location of the customer’s bank, and years in operation.
Other Solutions for Mitigating Chargebacks
While these alerts are a valuable tool for merchants grappling with chargebacks, it’s not a cure-all solution. Here are several of our top recommendations for stopping chargebacks:
- Provide accurate product and service descriptions
- Offer easily accessible customer service options
- Respond promptly to customer inquiries
- Make sure your business phone number is clearly displayed in your descriptor
- Don’t use deceptive marketing practices or make false bold claims about products or services
The experts at Easy Pay Direct are here to help. If you have questions about managing chargebacks please call us at 1800-805-4949, or click the chat icon in the lower right.
Easy Pay Direct specializes in merchant accounts and payment processing for businesses large and small. Get access to chargeback mitigation, decline recovery, recurring billing, mobile payments, fraud protection, transaction routing, and much more.
Plus you’ll have a single point of contact so that you can always reach someone when you need to.
Image Source courtesy of Verifi: https://www.verifi.com/solutions-sellers/resolve-disputes/
