Your Chargeback Rate Is Too High: How to Bring It Down

The ratio is normally disputes in a month against transactions in a comparison month, so a fall in volume can push the ratio up even when disputes stay flat. Read your provider's definition before drawing conclusions from your own spreadsheet.

• Unrecognised descriptor: the customer does not know who charged them.
• Delivery or fulfilment delays, especially on pre-orders.
• Subscription renewals without a clear reminder or easy cancellation.
• Genuine fraud, where authentication is too permissive.
• Refunds that are slower or harder than raising a dispute.

• Make the descriptor recognisable and put it in the receipt.
• Refund quickly where the case is weak; a refund is cheaper than a dispute.
• Send renewal reminders and let customers cancel without contacting support.
• Use authentication and fraud rules on the segments that actually cause losses.
• Respond to representments with the evidence the scheme asks for.

Underwriters look at the trend and the explanation, not just the number. A documented spike with a fixed root cause reads very differently from a flat elevated rate with no action taken. No provider can guarantee acceptance, and none of this is a promise about your application.