SEPA/Cartes Bancaires chargebacks

SEPA

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Direct Debit is a bank account-based payment method available across the Eurozone, which can be used for both ecommerce and recurring payments.

Unlike cards, SEPA does not have an additional authentication layer, such as a CVC check or 3D Secure. Consequently it is important to have good risk management tools in place to offset the threat of fraud.

A shopper can perform a chargeback online eight weeks after the purchase, with no questions asked. Therefore, no dispute management is available for SEPA. Moreover, SEPA can be charged back by the shopper even if a refund has already been carried out. This is due to the issuing bank, not taking the refund into account. And consequently it is risky to refund a SEPA transaction if there is an ongoing dispute with the customer. In case of receiving a SEPA chargeback, we recommend you to contact the shopper directly to solve the issue.

Chargeback reasons

The following are the most common reason codes that you can receive for SEPA chargebacks. There are more reason codes, however these are rarely used.

When a SEPA chargeback occurs, we will notify you by sending a webhook. This webhook contains:

• pspReference: Adyen's unique reference associated with the payment request.
• eventCode: CHARGEBACK.
• paymentMethod: sepadirectdebit.
• reason: Reason for the chargeback.
• success: true.

Here is an example of a webhook that a SEPA chargeback occurred because the shopper's account number was incorrect.

{
   "live":"false",
   "notificationItems":[
      {
         "NotificationRequestItem":{
            "additionalData":{
               "chargebackReasonCode":"AC01",
               "modificationMerchantReferences":"",
               "chargebackSchemeCode":"sepadirectdebit",
               "defensePeriodEndsAt":"2021-05-06T22:09:50+02:00",
               "defendable":"false",
               "disputeStatus":"Lost"
            },
            "amount":{
               "currency":"EUR",
               "value":1000
            },
            "eventCode":"CHARGEBACK",
            "eventDate":"2021-05-06T22:09:50+02:00",
            "merchantAccountCode":"YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
            "merchantReference":"YOUR_REFERENCE",
            "originalReference":"BB7XNCQ8HXSKGK82",
            "paymentMethod":"sepadirectdebit",
            "pspReference":"R5CZ2NWPJTGV9D82",
            "reason":"AC01:IncorrectAccountNumber",
            "success":"true"
         }
      }
   ]
}

Preventing SEPA chargebacks

Although dispute management is not available for SEPA, precautionary measures can help to prevent SEPA chargebacks.

Precautionary measures against SEPA chargebacks:

• If you are a retailer, it is recommended to hold shipment for seven days, to avoid making a loss if the payment is unsuccessful.
• Depending on your business model, consider a maximum transaction value for SEPA. A good indicator could be the average transaction value of your chargebacks.
• Be sure to state clearly in your return/refund policy that refunds will take a few days. This will reduce the chance of a customer performing a chargeback in the meantime.

Cartes Bancaires

Cartes Bancaires is the most widely used payment method in France, and can also be used to process on international networks.

However, Adyen automatically defends Cartes Bancaires chargebacks for the 3 following reasons:

• Past Chargeback Time Limit (> 400 days).
• Credit previously issued (transaction needs to be refunded before the chargeback is issued).
• 3D Secure Fully Authenticated Transaction.