Chargeback
A card scheme process that reverses a card payment back to the cardholder's issuer after a valid dispute.
A chargeback is the card scheme process by which a card issuer reverses a transaction back to the merchant's side after the cardholder disputes it, for reasons such as fraud, goods not received or processing errors. The rules and time frames are set by each card scheme, while consumer protection law, such as billing error rules, sits underneath. For agent purchases, the merchant's ability to show a signed mandate and the agreed cart will increasingly decide who bears the loss.
Agent Minute explains this term on 8 December 2026.
Related terms
Billing errorUnder US Regulation Z, a credit card charge a consumer disputes, such as goods not delivered as agreed.Merchant of recordThe business legally selling to the customer and responsible for the payment, refunds, taxes and disputes.Checkout MandateIn AP2, the mandate that authorises completing a checkout, bound in its closed form to a merchant-signed cart.Card-not-present transactionA card payment where the card is not physically presented to the merchant, such as online or in-app.