Chargeback insurance

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Chargeback insurance is an insurance product that protects a merchant who accepts credit cards. The insurance protects the merchant against fraud in a transaction where the use of the credit card was unauthorized, and covers claims arising out of the merchant's liability to the service bank.

The phrase chargeback insurance is also sometimes used to describe the guarantee provided by online fraud prevention companies such as Vesta, ClearSale, Forter, Riskified and Signifyd. Unlike with card present transactions, where the merchant is not liable for the cost of fraudulent transactions (unless they do not meet technological security requirements such as EMV), merchants are liable for card not present transactions which turn out to be fraudulent. For this reason, online fraud prevention companies who offer decisions (meaning, they provide an approve or decline decision for orders) rather than scores (where the merchant must themselves decide whether to approve or decline) sometimes offer to cover the cost of the chargeback, since the chargeback would not have occurred had their decision not been incorrect. This form of chargeback insurance, more properly called a chargeback guarantee, will typically cover all losses of the relevant type, not only through one gateway or processor.

Coverage model

Coverage can apply under a number of circumstances, including:

A merchant claiming under a chargeback insurance policy may be reimbursed for:

A typical chargeback insurance policy will only cover losses on credit card transactions purchased through its own specific payment processor or payment gateway.

While chargeback insurance can help cover losses, like any insurance there are pros and cons. While some fraud protection services charge a flat-rate fee per transaction (typically 0.5 to 15 cents per transaction) , vendors who offer chargeback insurance usually charge a percentage-based fee of 0.5% to 1.5% which can be cost-prohibitive for higher-dollar transactions.

See also

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EMV

EMV is a payment method based upon a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV originally stood for "Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created the standard.

Dynamic currency conversion Foreign exchange process

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A chargeback is a return of money to a payer of some transaction, especially a credit card transaction.

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A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments in multiple ways, typically debit or credit cards. A merchant account is established under an agreement between an acceptor and a merchant acquiring bank for the settlement of payment card transactions. In some cases a payment processor, independent sales organization (ISO), or member service provider (MSP) is also a party to the merchant agreement. Whether a merchant enters into a merchant agreement directly with an acquiring bank or through an aggregator, the agreement contractually binds the merchant to obey the operating regulations established by the card associations. A high-risk merchant account is a business account or merchant account that allows the business to accept online payments though they are considered to be of high risk nature by the banks and credit card processors. The industries that possess this account are Adult Industry, Travel, Forex trading business, Multilevel Marketing business. High-Risk is the term that is used by the acquiring banks to signify industries or merchants that are involved with the higher financial risk.

Chargeback fraud, also known as friendly fraud, occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card, and then requests a chargeback from the issuing bank after receiving the purchased goods or services. Once approved, the chargeback cancels the financial transaction, and the consumer receives a refund of the money they spent. Dependent on the payment method used, the merchant can be accountable when a chargeback occurs.

Payment card Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

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3-D Secure is a protocol designed to be an additional security layer for online credit and debit card transactions. The name refers to the "three domains" which interact using the protocol: the merchant/acquirer domain, the issuer domain, and the interoperability domain.

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Credit card fraud Financial crime

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An issuing bank is a bank that offers card association branded payment cards directly to consumers, such as credit cards, debit cards, contactless devices such as key fobs as well as prepaid cards. The name is derived from the practice of issuing cards to a consumer.

Credit card card for financial transactions from a line of credit

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A payment processor is some sort of transactor for financial calculations, technically an invertible currency exchange appointed by a merchant to handle transactions from various channels such as credit cards and debit cards for merchant acquiring banks. They are usually broken down into two types: front-end and back-end.

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Rede S.A.

Rede known as Redecard is a Brazilian multi-brand acquirer with 25 brands in its portfolio, for credit, debit and benefit cards. Its activities include merchant acquiring, capturing, transmission, processing and settlement of credit and debit card transactions, prepayment of receivables to merchants, rental of POS terminals, check verification through POS terminals, credit card machine and the capture and transmission of transactions using benefit-voucher, private-label cards and loyalty programs such as Multiplus. The company is the first largest in its sector. The company was traded in BM&F Bovespa and disclosed in 2012, 24, September.

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