Each issuing bank has different timeframes for handling the dispute process. If a dispute is raised, and the bank initiates a chargeback, you need to respond and provide defense documents within the specified timeline to defend the chargeback. After that, you can expect a final decision.
In general, a cardholder has a maximum of 120 calendar days from the transaction date to dispute a transaction. This is the moment that the cardholder expects the product or service to be delivered or fulfilled. In some cases for Visa and Mastercard, the cardholder has a maximum of 540 calendar days from the transaction date to dispute a transaction. For example, when the product or service is not immediately delivered or fulfilled, such as a pre-order or transactions related to travelling.
The following table shows the timeframe (in calendar days) to exercise and defend a chargeback for various schemes.
| Stage | Visa Collaboration | Visa Allocation | Mastercard | American Express | Diners | Discover | CUP | JCB 1 | Afterpay/ Clearpay | Klarna 2 | NYCE | PULSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your response (from RFI date) |
n/a | n/a | n/a | 14 | 18 | 18 | 30 | 18 | 13 | 14 days/ 7 days/ 96 hours | n/a | n/a |
| Bank initiates 1st Chargeback (from transaction date) |
120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 180 | 120 | n/a | n/a | 120 | 120 |
| Your response to 1st Chargeback (from NoC date) |
18 | 18 | 40 | 14 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 40 | n/a | n/a | 30 | 30 |
| Final decision: ChargebackReversed or SecondChargeback (from defense date) |
60 | 45 | 70 | 50 3 | 60 | 80 | 20 | 35 | n/a | n/a | 30 | 30 4 |
Notes
1 JCB:
You can defend a JCB chargeback only through the Adyen disputes team. Follow the general defense requirements, and contact us with your defense documents a few days before the defense timeline ends. We will manually upload your defense documents. You can submit only one defense document per dispute.
2 Klarna:
In the Klarna disputes flow, you can only respond to the dispute at the Request for Information stage.
You need to respond to the Request for Information (RFI) within the following timeframes:
- 14 days for consumer reason codes.
- 7 days for RFIs with reason code
unauthorized_purchase. - 96 hours for RFIs with reason code
high_risk_order.
If the dispute is lost or if you fail to upload the documents, the Chargeback journal is booked, your account is debited, and you receive a CHARGEBACK webhook. You cannot defend this chargeback. This is the final status, and the dispute is lost.
3 American Express:
For an American Express chargeback, a ChargebackReversed status is optional. If you defend a dispute, it stays at the Information Supplied stage and the last financial event is a chargeback. A Chargeback journal is booked. If American Express rejects your defense, you lose the dispute and this is the final status. Only when you win the chargeback, the status changes to ChargebackReversed. The ChargebackReversed journal is booked and the disputed amount is transferred to your account.
In exceptional cases, American Express can reopen a dispute that was previously closed in your favor. If that happens, the SecondChargeback journal is booked, and your account is debited. This is the final status of the dispute.
4 Pulse:
When you lose the pre-arbitration in the PULSE 4868 dispute flow, the PreArbitrationLost journal is booked within 30 days from the defense date and the final status is Chargeback.