📍 Bolt Help / Fraud & Risk / Chargebacks & Disputes

Chargebacks & Disputes

Learn about chargebacks and understand what to expect when representing a dispute.

Chargebacks exist to help cardholders in the following ways:

Keep consumers financially secure
Stop criminal fraud
Encourage transparent business practices and excellent customer service

INFO

Chargeback: A cardholder-forced reversal of a transaction, usually due to claims of fraud or complaints about the order or merchant.

While many chargebacks are initiated for valid reasons, cardholders sometimes dispute legitimate purchases for invalid reasons including buyer’s remorse, friendly fraud, avoiding return fees, or attempting to receive an item for free.

No matter the reason, we’ll help you understand how to proceed.

Cycles

Cycle	Description
Retrieval request	Sometimes the first step of a chargeback. This is a request from the issuing bank for more information about the transaction. This is your opportunity to collaborate with the issuing bank and, possibly, avoid the dispute process altogether. You’ll need to respond in a timely fashion and provide documentation.
First chargeback	Notification from the issuing bank on behalf of the cardholder, who intends to recover funds. The contested funds are debited from your account upon notification. You can accept the chargeback to assume liability, or if you disagree with the chargeback reason, you can enter into a dispute with the cardholder.
Dispute outcome	The issuing bank reviews your evidence and renders a decision. If you win, the funds are credited back to your account.
Pre-arbitration or Arbitration	Any involved party can re-open a chargeback if they disagree with the initial decision. During arbitration the bank involves a neutral party to decide the case, which is often the card network. The reason code might change, and you may need to submit additional evidence. Each card network has their own rules for how arbitration cycles work.

Involved Parties

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Party	Description
Cardholder	The shopper who made the purchase.
Issuing bank	The bank that houses the account funding this purchase. Generally sides with the cardholder.
Card network	The network that the shopper’s card belongs to. Generally a neutral party who does not stand to benefit from either resolution.
Payment processor	The service responsible for processing the payment and transferring funds. This may alternatively be a payment gateway, a payment facilitator, or Bolt Payments. Generally sides with the merchant.
Merchant	You’ll decide how to respond to a chargeback and provide documentation if you want to dispute it.
Bolt’s chargebacks team	A team of highly skilled risk and fraud analysts who are ready to help you represent transactions and win disputes.

Terminology

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Term	Description
Fraudulent chargeback	A chargeback where the cardholder claims fraudulent or unauthorized use of their card.
Dispute	You’ll provide the appropriate evidence to refute the cardholder’s claims. If you win, you’ll retain the funds. Disputes are communicated using a combination of dispute codes and dispute statuses to track why a dispute occurred and whether a dispute has been won or lost.
Indemnification	For users of Fraud Protection, Bolt’s guarantee that if a transaction we approve results in a fraudulent chargeback, we will bear the cost and responsibility of disputing and/or refunding the customer.

What to Expect

How to handle chargebacks depends which payment processing model you use and whether you have Bolt’s Fraud Protection.

Liability

For users of Fraud Protection, fraudulent chargebacks that meet certain criteria are indemnified by Bolt, meaning we’ll reimburse you for the disputed funds. Learn more at Determining Liability

Representment

Bolt’s chargebacks team can help qualifying merchants win disputes. You’ll submit evidence via email, and we’ll represent your case.

Bolt’s dispute representment is available to the following users:

Payment processing model	With Fraud Protection	Not protected
Bolt Payments	Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment	Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment
Gateway processing	Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment	Go to your payment processor dashboard and follow their dispute representment process.