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Global Chargeback Growth in E-Commerce: Why Online Businesses Are Facing Heavy Losses and How to Stop It

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The global economy is going digital faster than ever. Retailers enjoy higher profits, but this shift also brings new risks. One of the biggest problems between 2024 and 2026 is the sharp rise in chargebacks. According to recent market research, the volume of disputes in the e-commerce and SaaS segments is increasing by 20–30% annually.

Some consumers increasingly use chargebacks to get “free” refunds without contacting the merchant. Under intense pressure from regulators, implementing an effective anti-chargeback solution is becoming essential to maintaining access to acquiring services.

Anatomy of the Crisis: Why the Number of Disputes Is Growing

So-called friendly fraud has become the main driver of the negative trend. This occurs when a legitimate cardholder disputes a valid transaction, claiming they never made the purchase or never received the goods.

This problem is particularly acute in the subscription and digital goods sector. Users often forget about auto-renewal. Instead of canceling their subscription in their personal account, they click the “Dispute” button in their banking app.

Visa and Mastercard payment systems are responding to these challenges by strengthening their controls. Today, monitoring programs are becoming stricter, and sanctions are more stringent. If your business doesn't use modern monitoring tools, the risk of being blocked rises sharply. To minimize it, companies need to monitor the following metrics:

- current fraud ratio;

- number of Visa TC40 notifications;

- transaction dispute trends;

- effectiveness of preventive refunds;

- geography of problematic payments;

- response time to complaints.

This level of analysis enables early detection of anomalies and prevents mass write-offs. A business that is performing well can suddenly face financial collapse due to a surge in cardholder claims if a systematic analytics approach is not used.

Consequences for Businesses: From Fines to Account Restrictions

Exceeding chargeback limits triggers a chain reaction. Thresholds are usually 0.9–1% of total transaction volume. First, the merchant may enter specialized programs such as the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program or the Mastercard Excessive Chargeback Program.

If the situation doesn't stabilize, payment gateways like Stripe and Braintree may freeze your funds. Phrases like “Stripe account frozen” or “Stripe account banned” in your dashboard can signal a serious operational risk for online businesses.

In the worst-case scenario, the company ends up on the MATCH list. This can make it harder to open new merchant accounts for the foreseeable future. To avoid this, experts recommend using the Merchanto platform, which integrates advanced security technologies.

Pre-Dispute Resolution: How to Stop a Dispute Before It Starts

The key to solving this problem is pre-dispute resolution. It acts as a technology layer between the issuing bank and the merchant. It enables early handling of a customer complaint when it first reaches the bank, before it becomes an official chargeback.

Modern protection systems utilize direct data exchange channels with banks. When a customer files a dispute, the merchant receives a chargeback alert (via Ethoca Alerts, for example) and can issue an automatic refund. This helps resolve the conflict early. It also keeps the account history cleaner.

The Merchanto platform's technology stack includes several solutions. These include:

- Visa RDR (Rapid Dispute Resolution) system;

- Visa Order Insight data service;

- Visa Merchant Purchase Inquiry tools;

- automated refunds based on alerts;

- integration with major acquirers;

- smart routing of incoming requests.

These tools allow you to deflect chargebacks, which significantly reduces the workload of your support and finance departments. You don't need to spend weeks gathering evidence once a case has already been filed. Your business can proactively resolve the underlying cause of the dispute.

Conclusion

Online payments are now dominant, and ignoring chargeback issues can create a risk of bankruptcy. A high level of disputes erodes margins and damages a company's reputation with card networks and payment providers. Shifting from passively dealing with the consequences to a proactive approach is essential for survival in an increasingly strict compliance environment.