Chargeback help for merchants and shops
This section is for merchants, sellers and small shops that receive chargebacks — not for customers filing them. It collects the free Chargeback Clock tools and guides that help a business measure its chargeback ratio, read the reason codes on its chargeback notices, and fight back through representment before a monitoring program or a fine arrives.
Start with the number that matters most
Card networks watch one figure above all: your chargeback ratio. Visa flags merchants at 0.9% with 100 chargebacks in a month, and its VAMP program treats 1.5% as Excessive in 2026; Mastercard's Excessive Chargeback Program starts at 1.5% with 100 or more. Run the calculator first, then read the guides that explain what your result means.
Merchant tools · 2 tools
Chargeback Ratio Calculator
For merchants: your ratio against the published Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECM thresholds — count gates included, plus what one chargeback really costs.
Reason Code Decoder
Got a chargeback notice with a code you do not recognise? Decode the Visa, Mastercard, Amex or Discover reason code to see what the customer claimed — and what evidence answers it.
Merchant guides · 5 guides
Chargeback Ratio Explained
The two formulas, the thresholds, and the monitoring programs behind them — Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECM, in plain language.
Can a Merchant Fight a Chargeback?
Representment, step by step: the merchant's formal right to contest a chargeback, the evidence that typically wins, and what happens in a second round.
Friendly Fraud Explained
The dispute type that hits merchants hardest: customers disputing charges they actually authorised, what it looks like, and why it matters to your ratio.
Mastercard Chargeback Reason Codes Explained
What codes like 4808 and 4853 on a Mastercard chargeback notice actually mean, and which evidence each one calls for.
Google Play: Developers Now Pay Chargeback Costs
Since 3 August 2026, Google Play developers bear the chargeback costs on their apps — what changed, and what it means if you sell through the store.
Disputing a charge as a customer?
This page is the merchant side of the site. If you are a customer trying to dispute a charge, the consumer tools are where you need to be.
Frequently asked by merchants
The classic Visa monitoring line is 0.9% with 100 chargebacks in a month. Visa's consolidated VAMP program treats 1.5% as the merchant Excessive line in 2026, and Mastercard's Excessive Chargeback Program starts at 1.5% with 100 or more chargebacks in a month. Programs generally require the ratio and the count in the same month, and your processor's own limits may be stricter.
Yes. Merchants have a formal right to contest a chargeback through representment: submit evidence that the transaction was valid or the goods or services were delivered, and the network decides. Winning recovers the money, but it usually does not lower the ratio that monitoring programs watch.
Generally no. Networks count chargebacks as they are filed — Mastercard, for example, counts first-presentment chargebacks and does not adjust for representment outcomes. Winning recovers the sale; it does not erase the filing from the ratio.
No. Everything on this page is general business guidance based on published card-network rules, not legal advice for your business. Your processor agreement and acquirer terms govern your specific case — when fines or account termination are at stake, speak to your acquirer or a payments lawyer.
A note on what this page is — and is not
Chargeback Clock provides general business guidance based on published card-network rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace your processor agreement, your acquirer's terms, or professional advice for your business. Figures quoted here (Visa 0.9% / VAMP 1.5%, Mastercard ECM 1.5%) are the published program thresholds; your processor may apply stricter limits. See the full disclaimer.