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Credit Card Chargebacks: What Most Do Not Know

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Credit Cards: The Giving Tree. The Iron Bank of Brazzos. Pooh Bear’s “Hunny” Supply. Okay, that last one may not have made sense. In the 1970s credit cards lacked regulation by the government and experienced relatively minimal usage by comparison. The now metaphorical “IOU” exists as a government and bank-backed promise that any recorded debt accrued will be paid in due time. This due time would allow for the implementation of a small percentage of interest, meaning credit card chargebacks.

Further, with this small interest off such payments extrapolated over hundreds of thousands. These numbers would aggregate into a much larger sum and thus fund the credit card company and its administrative operations. 

Hidden Aspects of Chargebacks

However, while this may seem simple in concept, there are many clear yet hidden aspects that fly under the radar of the casual credit card users (often) unwatchful eye. For example payment disputes from criminal activity cost merchants approximately 20 billion in 2021. A nearly 20% increase from 2020. 

The increase likely exists from the rapid growth of eCommerce. eCommerce is a market that sees itself growing to a total of 22% of the total retail market as of 2022. Similar projections paint the space covering nearly a third of the market by 2026.

In keeping with these trends is the industry’s growth with the 2020 brand-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce market currently sitting at 4.01 trillion. This is a .34 increase since the space’s 3.67 trillion estimations in 2020.

When Can Customers Request Credit Card Chargebacks?

In many cases, the customer is well within their rights as a buyer to request a chargeback if given proper credence here are several options when a chargeback is an appropriate course of action.

  • Unauthorized charges or fraud
  • Additional, unwarranted charges
  • Damaged or defective orders
  • Order never delivers
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But Think Before Ordering a Chargeback

However, on the other hand, customers should be wary of ordering a chargeback. On the business end, a chargeback can cause a business anywhere from $20-$100 in administrative fees. Even if the chargeback is later canceled the fees remain to cover the administrative cost – solely at the businesses’ expense.

If chargebacks occur to the point they exceed a predetermined threshold the business will be fined anywhere around $10,000. Wherein, if the business spends a significant amount of time over this threshold the bank will likely revoke their account. Additionally, merchants stand to lose over a 200% profit minimum on a non-returned item. 

On the customer end many stand to gain headaches and hassle while losing additional funds and most of all time. Especially cases in which they either have to return or attempt to track down a package. In some cases, the cardholder’s account closes with ramifications on their credit score. And lastly, the additional funds on the business may raise prices, which in the particular niche eCommerce space provides a loss for everybody.

Final Thoughts

It is important that integrity “lies” with both parties in the matter. Both stand to lose significant investments of time, money, and opportunity. There needs to be a trust integral to the commercial bastion. If neither side tries to game the system much of this mess can be avoided and if an occurrence does happen to poke its head, both parties can then know it was all an earnest mistake.

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