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Afterpay and Clearpay chargebacks

Learn about the chargeback process with Afterpay and Clearpay, and the guidelines to defend a chargeback.

Afterpay and Clearpay

This chargeback information applies to Afterpay payments in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States and Clearpay payments in the United Kingdom.

Shoppers can initiate chargebacks directly with Afterpay or Clearpay up to 120 days after the payment, cancellation, or expected receipt of goods or services. When Afterpay/Clearpay opens a dispute, you have 13 days to defend or accept the dispute. If you do not respond within 13 days, or if you accept the dispute, the dispute is lost and your account is debited for the chargeback amount. If you defend the dispute, Afterpay/Clearpay has 30 days to make their decision.

The Afterpay/Clearpay chargeback flow is as follows:

  1. Request for Information
  2. Information Supplied
  3. Chargeback

Request for Information (RFI)

The dispute process starts with a Request for Information (RFI). The RequestForInformation journal is booked and we send you a REQUEST_FOR_INFORMATION webhook.

The 13-day period in which you can defend the dispute starts now.

You can review the dispute, including the dispute reason, in your Customer Area > Revenue & risk > Disputes. After your review, you can decide to either:

  • Accept the chargeback in your Customer Area or using the Disputes API. The dispute is lost and you can no longer defend it.
  • Defend the dispute. You need to upload the relevant defense documents in your Customer Area or using the Disputes API.
    See Defense requirements for file formats and for defense documents per dispute type. Be sure to address the dispute reason and provide information that supports your position. An overview of the order details is not enough.

There is no opportunity later in the process to provide information or to update information you provided.

Information Supplied

Adyen received your defense documents and forwarded them to Afterpay/Clearpay. It is no longer possible to change these documents. The InformationSupplied journal is booked and we send you an INFORMATION_SUPPLIED webhook.

Afterpay/Clearpay now has 30 days to review and either accept or reject your defense.

  • If you win the dispute, the DisputeDefensePeriodEnded journal is booked. This is a final status.
  • If you lose the dispute, a Chargeback is opened.

Chargeback

If Afterpay/Clearpay rejected your defense, or if you did not defend the dispute, the Chargeback journal is booked and we send you a CHARGEBACK webhook. Your account is debited for the chargeback amount. This is the final status.

Dispute reasons

The following table shows the possible reason codes for Afterpay/Clearpay disputes.

Reason Code
Description
Defendable Timeframe Defense Requirements
product_not_received The customer claims that they did not receive the goods or services they purchased at your business. -white_check_mark- 13 days from receiving the RFI Services not provided/Merchandise not received
product_unacceptable The customer claims that they received products or services were defective, damaged, or not as described. -white_check_mark- 13 days from receiving the RFI Goods not as described/defective
credit_not_processed The customer claims that they returned the purchased products or canceled the transaction, but have not yet received a refund or credit from you. -white_check_mark- 13 days from receiving the RFI Credit not processed

Dispute fees

Before approving a payment, Afterpay/Clearpay performs risk checks on the shopper. If successful, Afterpay/Clearpay takes on the full fraud risk for the payment. For this reason, you will not be charged a dispute fee if the dispute results from an unauthorized payment.

For all other Afterpay/Clearpay disputes you will be charged a dispute fee, regardless of the outcome of the dispute. This fee is booked using the PaymentCost journal type. This journal type is included in the Settlement details report and the merchant payout details sheet in the Monthly and Daily finance reports.

See also