A chargeback is the process of requesting that an amount paid by credit card be refunded to the card, either because the goods or services that should have been received in return were not received, or because a transaction is identified that was not carried out by the cardholder. In Turkish, this is referred to as "ters ibraz."
Banks are required to comply with the spending-dispute rules set by Visa/Mastercard, Troy, and American Express when handling chargeback requests.
In complying with these rules, agreement is reached through the chargeback reason codes determined by the payment schemes.
The chargeback reason codes used in the chargeback process are managed under four main headings:
- Authorization Chargebacks
- Consumer Disputes
- Fraud
- Processing Errors
Authorization Chargebacks:
Authorization chargebacks represent disputes related to authorization. For example, transactions in which authorization was required but could not be obtained are an example of this. They also represent disputes that arise when, during an authorization request, a decline or capture-the-card response was received, yet the merchant completed the transaction anyway.
The chargeback reason codes and explanations by payment scheme related to authorization errors are below:
| American Express | Discover | MasterCard | Visa |
| A01 Charge Amount Exceeds Authorization Amount | AT Authorization Noncompliance | 4807 Warning Bulletin File | 11.1 Card Recovery Bulletin or Exception File |
| A02 No Valid Authorization | 4808 Authorization-Related Chargeback | 11.2 Declined Authorization | |
| A08 Authorization Approval Expired | 4812 Account Number Not On File | 11.3 No Authorization |
Consumer Disputes
Consumer disputes include chargeback transactions initiated by the cardholder regarding issues related to the product, service, or merchant. Consumer disputes are also referred to as cardholder disputes, card member disputes, and service chargebacks.
The chargeback reason codes and explanations by payment scheme related to consumer disputes are below:
| American Express | Discover | MasterCard | Visa |
| C02 Credit Not Processed | 05 Good Faith Investigation | 4853 Cardholder Dispute | 13.1 Merchandise/ Services Not Received |
| C04 Goods/Services Returned or Refused | AA Does Not Recognize | 4841 Canceled Recurring or Digital Goods Transactions | 13.2 Cancelled Recurring |
| C05 Goods/Services Canceled | AP Recurring Payments | 4854 Cardholder Dispute—Not Elsewhere Classified (U.S. Region Only) | 13.3 Not as Described or Defective Merchandise/ Services |
| C08 Goods/Services Not Received or Only Partially Received | AW Altered Amount | 4855 Goods or Services Not Provided | 13.4 Counterfeit Merchandise |
| C14 Paid by Other Means | CD Credit/Debit Posted Incorrectly | 4859 Addendum, No-show, or ATM Dispute | 13.5 Misrepresentation |
| C18 “No Show” or CARDeposit Canceled | DP Duplicate Processing | 4860 Credit Not Processed | 13.6 Credit Not Processed |
| C28 Canceled Recurring Billing | NF Non-Receipt of Cash from ATM | 13.7 Cancelled Merchandise/ Services | |
| C31 Goods/Services Not As Described | PM Paid by Other Means | 13.8 Original Credit Transaction Not Accepted | |
| C32 Goods/Services Damaged or Defective | RG Non-Receipt of Goods, Services, or Cash | 13.9 Non-Receipt of Cash or Load Transaction Value | |
| M10 Vehicle Rental – Capital Damages | RM Cardholder Disputes Quality of Goods or Services | ||
| M49 Vehicle Rental – Theft or Loss of Use | RN2 Credit Not Processed |
Fraud
The Fraud category is used for reason codes related to fraudulent transactions. Within the fraud category, reason codes such as No Cardholder Authorization, Card Present, and Card Not Present (CNP) can be considered fraud-related reason codes.
The chargeback reason codes and explanations by payment scheme related to fraud errors are below:
| American Express | Discover | MasterCard | Visa |
| F10 Missing Imprint | UA01 Fraud – Card Present Transaction | 4837 No Cardholder Authorization | 10.1 EMV Liability Shift Counterfeit Fraud |
| F14 Missing Signature | UA02 Fraud – Card Not Present Transaction | 4840 Fraudulent Processing of Transactions | 10.2 EMV Liability Shift Non-Counterfeit Fraud |
| F24 No Card Member Authorization | UA05 Fraud – Chip Counterfeit Transaction | 4849 Questionable Merchant Activity | 10.3 Fraud – Card-Present Environment |
| F29 Card Not Present | UA06 Fraud – Chip and PIN Transaction | 4863 Cardholder Does Not Recognize—Potential Fraud | 10.4 Fraud – Card-Absent Environment |
| F30 EMV Counterfeit | 4870 Chip Liability Shift | 10.5 Visa Fraud Monitoring Program | |
| F31 EMV Lost/Stolen/Non-Received | 4871 Chip/PIN Liability Shift |
Processing Errors
Processing errors are also referred to as point-of-interaction errors. They include disputes such as duplicate transactions, late presentment, credits processed as charges, invalid card numbers, additional charge/“no-show” disputes, incorrect charge reflection, and similar issues.
The chargeback reason codes and explanations by payment scheme related to processing errors are below:
| American Express | Discover | MasterCard | Visa |
| P01 Unassigned Card Number | IN Invalid Card Number | 4834 Point-of-Interaction Error | 12.1 Late Presentment |
| P03 Credit Processed as Charge | LP Late Presentation | 4831 Transaction Amount Differs | 12.2 Incorrect Transaction Code |
| P04 Charge Processed as Credit | 4842 Late Presentment | 12.3 Incorrect Currency | |
| P05 Incorrect Charge Amount | 4846 Correct Transaction Currency Code Not Provided | 12.4 Incorrect Account Number | |
| P07 Late Submission | 4850 Installment Billing Dispute | 12.5 Incorrect Amount | |
| P08 Duplicate Charge | 4999 Domestic Chargeback Dispute (Europe Region Only) | 12.6 Duplicate Processing/ Paid By Other Means | |
| P22 Non-Matching Card Number | 12.7 Invalid Data | ||
| P23 Currency Discrepancy |
