Chargeback reason codes and representment: how a dispute moves under Visa’s rules

What a reason code is

When a cardholder disputes a payment, the bank that issued the card raises a dispute through the card network and labels it with a code saying why. Merchants and processors usually call this the chargeback reason code. Visa’s own rules call it a dispute condition, and its merchant guide also uses the term reason code, for example “reason code 10.4” for card-absent fraud.

The code matters because it decides what the merchant can send back and when. Visa’s merchant guide (October 2026) advises merchants first to check whether the dispute turns on a processing requirement, such as authorisation or authentication, because Visa says such disputes may limit how much some kinds of evidence can help.

Visa’s dispute categories and conditions

Visa’s rules of 24 October 2026 list these conditions in chapter 11. Each condition has its own reasons, time limit, invalid cases and documentation rules, and some rules apply only in certain regions.

Scroll the table to see all columns.

The rules also require that, before raising a dispute, the issuer tries to honour the transaction, and that the cardholder has suffered a financial loss, with listed exceptions (section 11.1.1).

Representment: the stages and their time limits

Representment is not a term Visa’s rules use. The merchant’s answer travels through its acquirer, the bank or processor that holds its merchant account, and the rules name each step. Time limits run from the processing date of the step before, and that date is not counted as a day (section 11.3.1).

• Fraud and authorisation disputes (categories 10 and 11): the acquirer may make a pre-arbitration attempt within 30 calendar days of the dispute’s processing date; the issuer may answer within 30 days, accepting liability or declining; the acquirer may then file for arbitration within 10 days of that answer (section 11.3.2, Table 11-2).
• Processing-error and consumer disputes (categories 12 and 13): the acquirer may send a dispute response within 30 calendar days of the dispute’s processing date; the issuer may make a pre-arbitration attempt within 30 days of that response; the acquirer may answer within 30 days; the issuer may then file for arbitration within 10 days (section 11.3.3, Table 11-3).
• Some regions and domestic transaction types carry shorter or longer limits, listed in the footnotes to those tables.

These are the limits between the banks. The time your acquirer gives you to send it evidence comes from your own merchant agreement, which Visa’s merchant guide says usually explains your responsibilities, so ask your provider for that deadline in writing.

Under section 11.3.1, an acquirer must not respond more than once to the original dispute, and a party that does not respond through Visa Resolve Online within the time limit, or accepts responsibility, closes the dispute cycle and is responsible for the last amount received by the other side.

How long a cardholder’s bank has to raise a dispute

The window for the issuer is set per condition. A few examples from the 24 October 2026 edition:

• 10.4 card-absent fraud and 13.2 cancelled recurring transaction: 120 calendar days from the transaction’s processing date (Tables 11-30 and 11-100).
• 13.1 merchandise or services not received: 120 calendar days from the processing date, or from the last date the cardholder expected to receive them, but not more than 540 days from the processing date (Table 11-93).
• 13.3 not as described or defective, and 13.7 cancelled merchandise or services: the issuer must first wait 15 calendar days from the return, attempted return or cancellation, unless the wait would pass the time limit or the merchant refused the return or cancellation (Tables 11-107 and 11-132).
• 13.6 credit not processed: the issuer waits 15 calendar days from the date on the credit receipt and must raise the dispute within 120 days of that date (Table 11-126).

Arbitration, review fees and Rapid Dispute Resolution

If pre-arbitration does not settle a dispute, the case can go to Visa for arbitration. Visa decides on the information available to it, including whether time limits and documentation rules were met and whether the response remedied the dispute; a decision can split liability (section 11.12.3). The responsible party pays the transaction amount and a review fee, and either party can also face a non-compliance assessment for technical violations (section 11.12.4). Ask your provider which of these costs it passes on to you.

Rapid Dispute Resolution is a Visa pre-dispute service that lets merchants automate accepting liability for a disputed transaction (Visa glossary); Visa’s merchant guide says the merchant sets the rules for eligible disputes through its acquirer. Visa’s merchant guide warns that accepting such a request already moves the money, so a separate refund on the same transaction risks a duplicate credit, and suggests asking the acquirer how these outcomes appear in settlement, reporting and dispute counts.

What to ask a provider about disputes

Dispute handling is part of what a payment offer includes, and it is easy to compare once it is written down.

• How many days you have to send evidence after a dispute arrives, and whether that differs by category.
• Whether the provider prepares the response or pre-arbitration attempt, or only forwards your files.
• The fee per chargeback, per pre-arbitration and per arbitration case, and whether a dispute you win is refunded or still counted.
• Whether Rapid Dispute Resolution or other alert services are offered, the fee per event, and how accepted disputes count in your ratio.

Evidence is only useful when it is true and tied to the disputed transaction. Visa’s merchant guide favours focused, transaction-specific evidence over large bundles, and section 10.4.2.1 says a merchant that Visa finds falsifying data to gain dispute protection loses that protection on the affected card. Zolution’s proposal terms show the chargeback fee and the alert fee as separate rows, so offers can be compared line by line. Zolution is a free marketplace (Zolution Standard membership costs nothing). Coverage is provider-declared and the provider decides. Zolution processes no payments, holds no funds and approves nobody.

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