Included free with every AcceptCard introduction

Chargeback and dispute help

UK chargebacks cost £15 to £35 per case regardless of outcome and 60-80% are friendly fraud that you can win with the right evidence. AcceptCard drafts the merchant response, gathers the evidence pack (SCA logs, delivery proof, customer correspondence) and escalates where your acquirer drags its feet. Included free for the life of the merchant agreement.

The 6-step dispute workflow

  1. 01

    Chargeback alert lands

    Your acquirer notifies you (usually email) within 24-48 hours of the customer filing the dispute. You forward the alert to your AcceptCard account manager. We log the deadline (typically 7-21 days to respond depending on reason code).

  2. 02

    We draft the merchant response

    Within the same business day. We use the dispute reason code to identify the strongest evidence: SCA / 3DS2 authentication log (wins most "I did not authorise" disputes via liability shift), delivery proof with signature, customer correspondence showing service delivered, IP/geo match between billing and shipping, signed terms-and-conditions agreement. We assemble the rebuttal narrative.

  3. 03

    We gather the evidence pack

    Screenshots from your gateway, delivery tracking from your courier, email chains with the customer, refund policy text the customer agreed to, EMV chip-read log (for in-person disputes), POS authorisation log. We work directly with your tools so you don't spend hours hunting.

  4. 04

    We submit through your acquirer dashboard

    Most acquirers (Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay) accept evidence via the merchant portal. We submit on your behalf, save the timestamp, and confirm submission with you. If the acquirer requires a wet signature we coordinate.

  5. 05

    We track the verdict

    Acquirer reviews evidence and either accepts (merchant loses, funds stay with issuer) or represents (challenges back). Typical decision in 14-30 days. We chase the acquirer if they go quiet.

  6. 06

    We escalate if needed

    If the acquirer rules against you on weak grounds we escalate to pre-arbitration with Visa or Mastercard via the acquirer channel. Director-level (Oliver Mackman) escalation available for unresolved disputes after 5 business days.

Win rate matters

Structured evidence packs win 60-70% of friendly-fraud disputes.

Dashboard-only submissions without a broker channel typically win 30-40%. The difference is the structured rebuttal narrative tied to the dispute reason code and the strongest available evidence. We win disputes that look unwinnable when filed unsupported.

Get matched + dispute help

FAQs

How much does AcceptCard chargeback help cost?

Nothing on top of the acquirer fees. Included for the life of the merchant agreement. Acquirers pay our commission on completed introductions; the ongoing dispute-handling service is built into that relationship.

How often does AcceptCard win chargeback disputes?

Across UK card-not-present disputes where SCA / 3DS2 was completed, the liability-shift to the issuer usually wins. Across friendly-fraud disputes (customer disputes a legitimate purchase), the evidence pack we assemble wins around 60-70% on first submission. Acquirer dashboard-only submissions without a broker channel typically win around 30-40%; structured evidence makes the difference.

Can AcceptCard prevent chargebacks before they happen?

Partly. We can configure pre-emptive refund policies, clear billing descriptors (so customers recognise the transaction on their statement), proactive customer-service workflows (email confirmation, dispatch notification, delivery confirmation) and fraud-prevention tools (Stripe Radar, Adyen RevenueProtect, Sift). SCA enforcement removes most "I did not authorise" disputes. We can also flag merchant-monitoring threshold approach if your chargeback ratio creeps up.

What if my chargeback ratio crosses the Visa or Mastercard monitoring threshold?

Visa monitors merchants exceeding 0.9% chargeback ratio or 100 chargebacks per month. Mastercard monitors at 1.5% or 100 monthly. Above the threshold you face higher per-chargeback fines (£25 to £100 per case) and mandatory remediation. We work alongside you on the remediation plan: identifying the dispute clusters, rolling out fraud tools, tightening refund policy, sometimes recommending a switch to a high-risk-specialist acquirer who will tolerate the ratio.

Does AcceptCard work with high-risk verticals?

Yes. Online gambling, crypto, dating, subscription billing, adult, CBD, vape, firearms, travel and pawnbroking are all on our specialist-acquirer panel. High-risk verticals face higher chargeback volumes and tighter monitoring thresholds; the dispute work is the most valuable service we provide to merchants in these verticals.

What if AcceptCard cannot win a dispute?

We say so up front. Some disputes are unwinnable (no SCA, no delivery proof, no signed terms). In those cases we draft a partial-refund proposal to the customer, often cheaper than the chargeback fee plus the lost transaction. We never run a no-hope submission just to look busy.

Related reading

Reviewed by Oliver Mackman. Last reviewed: 2026-05-11.