A card payment (including wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay) is not a guaranteed transaction. A cardholder can carry out a chargeback via their bank. If your consumer's bank accepts the chargeback, the money will be reclaimed.
In general, if you have serious doubts about a transaction, it is better not to proceed with the order. If the cardholder submits a chargeback, you could lose both the product and the money. We do our best to prevent fraudulent transactions and chargebacks. You can do the same by taking the following steps.
Set clear expectations for your customers
Customers often request a chargeback because they didn’t receive the product or service that they ordered. You can prevent misunderstandings and chargebacks by setting clear expectations before the customer places their order on your website. Some tips are:
- Give as much information as you can about the products or services you offer.
- Make sure to clearly list your terms and conditions, privacy policy and procedure for shipping and returns.
- Keep your customer informed of the status of an order, so they know when to expect it.
Save your documents
Make sure you are able to prove that your customer received their products. You can use delivery services that require a signature from your customer. Your shipping documents, invoice and any contact you may have had with the customer can be shown as proof of delivery if a chargeback arises.
Be available for contact
A customer is more likely to reverse a payment if they cannot contact your company. Make sure you have available contact channels so that your customer can reach you when they have questions about their order.
Check where transactions come from
It’s a good idea to check card transactions to see if the country where the card was issued matches the country where the payment comes from. If these countries differ, there is a high chance that the person is using stolen card details. You can also check the delivery address on Google Maps to make sure that it is a valid address.
Watch out for unusual transactions
Pay attention to unusual patterns in your transactions. This could be multiple transactions in a row from the same customer or orders from different countries than usual. If you see unusual transactions like these, investigate further before fulfilling the order.
Check the contact information
Before sending a delivery on a suspicious transaction, check the contact details the customer provided. Try contacting them by phone to confirm the order.
Read more
- How do I activate credit and debit cards as a payment method?
- I received a chargeback for a credit or debit card. What do I do?
- What are the risks of payments via credit and debit cards?
- What is 3D Secure and how do I activate it?