Disputes and Chargeback FAQS

A dispute (or claim) is made by the cardholder. A request for information is sent to your business to answer the query and needs to be responded to within a strict time frame. The outcome may be a chargeback.

A chargeback is a reversal of a transaction and usually occurs when a cardholder raises a dispute or claim with their financial institution or Issuer. Under the Credit Card Schemes, a cardholder may query a payment from their credit card for any reason.

A chargeback does not mean that your business isn’t entitled to the payments for the goods or services you have supplied, it also doesn’t cancel or change the agreement you have with the payer. It means the payment has failed and a new arrangement will need to be made with the payer to recover the funds.

A chargeback can also occur with no previous request for information when a fraudulent transaction has been made.

1. The card holder queries a payment with their financial institution (also known as the Card Issuer), or the Issuer has reason to think the payment might be unauthorised.
2. The Card Issuer raises a claim, or a chargeback via the scheme rules.
3. eWAY’s sponsor bank is notified and request documentation from the merchant (eWAY) to verify the transaction. There is a set timeframe to respond to these requests (see below)
4. Eway notify your business of the request via email.
5. Business accepts the chargeback and refunds the payment via MyeWAY and responds with proof, or documentation is provided that verifies and supports the payment, which is forwarded to our sponsor bank.
6. If compelling documents are provided, an arbitration case is opened by the bank with the card issuer and the dispute is either resolved in your favour, or the issuer will determine that the dispute is upheld and a chargeback is the result.
7. If the outcome is a chargeback, the payment is reversed to the cardholder and a chargeback fee may be payable.
8. A chargeback can also occur with no previous request for information when a fraudulent transaction has been made.

Disputes are a known risk when accepting payments but you can take steps to reduce or prevent them. They are not always the result of something your business did or did not do. Errors can be made by all parties involved in the processing of a payment.

Following these guidelines will lessen the risk and help to protect your business:

• Ensure payers know the description that will appear on their statement
• Only take payments for goods and/or services your business is providing, if payments are transferred to a third party you are responsible for them if charged back
• Refund only to the card the payment was made from
• Respond to all dispute notifications within the timeframe required
• Be wary of anyone who offers numerous card numbers, asks you to transfer funds to another bank account or third party, or provides elaborate reasons for why you can’t talk to them. Take additional steps to check that the payer is the cardholder
• Do not accept “authorisation” for a payment from a person claiming to be the wife, husband, partner, friend, etc, of the cardholder. Only the actual cardholder can authorise a payment
• Remind payers of an upcoming recurring or auto renewal payment

We also recommend utilising our Fraud Protection to further protect yourself against fraud.

Check the payment is correct

• Check for any errors, duplicate processing, goods not delivered. If there has been a problem and the payment should be returned, see the steps below for refunding a payment after a dispute has been raised.

Contact the payer

• Resolve any issue. This might be an issue with recognising the payment, cancellation requests, confusion over the payment, etc.
• Ask the payer to contact their bank or card Issuer to cancel the dispute and confirm they have given authority for the payment. They should request any temporary credit they have received is returned but their issuer won’t confirm to Eway this has happened.
• Request the payer provide you with an update, if they have received a temporary credit that will not be reversed, or had their card cancelled, their bank may cancel the dispute but continue to pursue a chargeback to recover the funds and a fee of $44.00 per payment is charged.

Respond to the email from Eway

• If no response is received, a chargeback will likely occur. It’s important you send a response to claims@eway.com.au or the bank and Card Issuers may think you are accepting the chargeback.
• Provide supporting documentation if you wish to defend the payment (see below).

Credit card payments are processed in a card not present environment, the Credit Card Scheme regulations allow for the Issuer to chargeback because the nature of the transaction does not require the card to be present for the payment to be made.

A successful payment at the time of the transaction is an indication that sufficient funds are available, and the card has not been cancelled. It does not guarantee that it was authorised by the cardholder.

If you have not already refunded, an attempt to refund the disputed payment should not be made.

The transaction may have already been returned to the customer through the dispute process and you risk losing the funds twice through your refund and a chargeback.

Respond to Eway’s email with confirmation of the refund (see above). We’ll forward the proof to the bank, closing the dispute and avoid the chargeback fee. You will then have the time and space to resolve any issue and organise a new payment.

We recommend the following is sent when defending a payment:

• A clear description of the purchased goods or services
• Documents can mean a copy of any invoices, receipts, documentation showing authorisation was obtained from the cardholder, copy of ID if obtained, delivery and tracking documents, attendance records, order forms, emails, payer records including IP addresses, anything relevant to show the payment was correct, authorised by the cardholder, and goods/services provided.
• A summary of the documents and information you are providing with the relevant pages or sections highlighted
• We’re only asked once for documents, they won’t ask again if it’s not compelling or sufficient.
• The banks will not accept audio or video files, you can provide a transcript of an audio file.

Send everything! We’re not asked a second time, anything you have that shows the payment was authorised by the cardholder and goods or services were provided.

If you’re sending a large contract or agreement, we appreciate if you can outline the relevant page or sections. All documents are sent unedited to the bank but this will assist everyone. A scan of a document is always preferred over a photo as the resolution and size makes it easier to send and receive.

Not necessarily, all information and documents are subject to the cardholders and the card Issuers acceptance. This may mean the result is a chargeback even though all evidence is returned to the bank.

Eway receives the card details, date, and amount, of the disputed transaction. We don’t receive the cardholder name. The names provided on the email were entered by the payer or your business at the time of the transaction.

Please consider that the cardholder may have made a purchase for another person, either as a gift or for a family member.

If you need assistance finding a payment please contact our Support team, you can also find the information reported to you when it was paid to your account on your settlement report.

When a credit card payment is disputed, the Issuer may provide the payer with a temporary credit. This does not mean a chargeback has occurred but does it make it more likely. It does make it harder for the payer to cancel the dispute with their bank if the issue is resolved.

To ensure that a fee is not incurred if the Issuer decides to chargeback the payment, please refund following the above guidelines and reply to our email.

The Issuer may be reluctant to reverse the temporary credit they gave the cardholder because the payment authorisation was questioned.

A new payment arrangement can be made with the payer. To avoid the fee, please follow the refund guidelines above and reply to our email.

Yes, this usually means fraudulent activity is suspected and the Issuer will typically make a decision to chargeback the disputed payment even though the payer may have advised their bank that it is approved.

A new payment arrangement can be made with the payer. To avoid the fee, please follow the refund guidelines above and reply to our email.

Either they are not the account or card holder and the correct holder has raised a dispute. Or the payer has queried the payment with the card issuer not realising it would result in a dispute being sent.

You can check with them that they gave correct bank or card details and can see the payment to your business on their statement.

Hopefully this is an error when the card number was input and not the alternative which is someone else’s card was used knowingly.

No, in most cases the Issuers decision is final and must be accepted by the merchant and business who received the payment. If there is reason to believe an error has been made Eway will advocate on behalf of your business.

The arbitration will not be reopened because you disagree with the outcome, or have new documentation to provide. Please provide all supporting documentation and information when it is requested as we’re only asked once for a response.

No, we will never do this without your approval. The payment has been charged back by the account holders bank or the card Issuer. They are allowed to return the payment in this way, the chargeback is the notification to your business that the payment has been reversed through your Eway payment facility.

Eway are not told if the payer has cancelled the dispute due to privacy restrictions, we can’t confirm this happened.

The Issuer may be reluctant to reverse a temporary credit because the payment authority was questioned and will advise the payer to arrange a new transaction. They will recover the credit by charging back the payment, we recommend any fee incurred due to this action is included in the outstanding amount owed by the payer.

The payment can be processed again as arranged with the payer, please take into account that if it is not approved the payment is likely to be unsuccessful or charged back again.

If an agreement cannot be made, please consider debt recovery and legal actions that can be taken. The outstanding amount may include any fees incurred due to the actions of the payer.

A $44.00 fee is applied for every payment which is charged back, this is a banking system processing fee and not a fee that Eway can waive. The decision to chargeback a payment is made by the payer’s bank or card Issuer.

This reason can mean the payer has told their bank they cancelled the transaction before it was made, a block may have been placed on the account or card at the same time to stop any future payment attempts.

If a chargeback is reversed by the payer’s bank or card Issuer we will receive notification, credit the payment to you, and notify you via email. Unless the bank has made an error they will not reverse the fee as it’s incurred for processing the chargeback.

The fee is payable by the payer to your business as it has only been added due to their actions. Please keep in mind that a chargeback reversal may take months to be received, it is faster and simpler for the payer to arrange to make the payment again.

A successful payment means that there were available funds and the card was not cancelled, authorisation and credit of funds to your business do not guarantee that the transaction is genuine.

No, all businesses using a merchant facility must agree to comply with the Credit Card Scheme chargeback rules and regulations, and the policies of their Sponsor bank.

Eway does not determine the rules and regulations regarding chargebacks, all banks and financial institutions are governed by schemes determined by the card issuers, e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners, etc.

In rare cases the chargeback will occur without an opportunity to provide a response and refute the claim. The chargeback reason is more likely to be “cancelled transaction” but it can also happen if the bank have reason to believe the payment is fraudulent.

Because Eway and your business were not given an opportunity to defend the payment by providing information, Eway will waive the fee and incur it on your behalf.

The payment has now failed the same as when a payment is unsuccessful at the time of the transaction.