The Fortis Chargeback Process

Chargebacks can be considered the bane of card payment options. They occur when a customer disputes a charge after using their card for a transaction with your business. Coming from a family of hoteliers, I have experienced the stress that chargebacks bring to a business. In order to protect and assist our customers from the negative effects of chargebacks, we have established the Fortis Chargeback Mitigation Team to help educate, advocate, and fight to eliminate profit loss. Here is the routine process for handling chargebacks.

The Typical Chargeback Process

Chargebacks are inevitable and part of doing business. As such, your business needs to be prepared for it. The Fortis Chargeback process is as follows:

• The Cardholder or the issuing bank initiates the dispute with the business location. A chargeback always starts on the customer's side, and can be initiated either by the customer contacting their bank, or by the bank (after consulting with a customer about a possible malicious transaction). Other causes of chargebacks includes Buyer’s Remorse and even Friendly Fraud.
• The Chargeback Department receives the information from the cardholder’s issuing bank and sends the paperwork to the Merchant. Once we receive the chargeback notice, we will inform you immediately to give you ample time to respond.
• The Merchant must prepare their response to the Chargeback and provide supporting documentation to the Chargeback Department within 10 business days of the notice date. If the merchant accepts the chargeback and deems it valid, no response is required. As the merchant involved with the chargeback, you need to provide us with proper documentation such as purchase history, call logs, message logs, or even cctv footage, anything that will prove the validity of the purchase. However, if you deem the chargeback as acceptable, you need not follow these steps from here.
• The Chargeback Department submits the response and supporting documentation to the issuing bank. Once we receive all the necessary documents, our chargeback team will review the information and write the appropriate response which we will then send to the bank.
• The issuing bank has up to 60 days to review the supporting documentation and make a final decision on the Chargeback. During this time, the merchant will receive a provisional credit (Visa/MasterCard Chargebacks only) equal to the amount of the Chargeback. At this phase, the bank will study the evidence submitted by both parties in order to identify the truth behind the transaction. You will be given the chargeback amount as a provisional credit that you may or may not keep depending on the bank’s final judgement.
• WIN - During or after the 60 day review period, the Issuing Bank has sided in the merchant's favor. The provisional credit (Visa/MasterCard Chargebacks only) that the merchant receives will become permanent. For American Express/Discover, the merchant will receive a credit for the amount of the Chargeback.
• LOSE - During or after the 60 day review period, the Issuing Bank has decided that the Chargeback is valid. The business location is re-debited for the amount of the Chargeback and the cardholder is credited.

Remember, as bad as chargebacks may sound, they are nothing to fear. FortisPay understands what you are going through, and we will do all that we can to ensure that your chargeback process goes smoothly.