The language of disputes

You keep meeting terms like representment, reason code, and RDR and want one page that defines them all. This is that page. Each entry is one or two lines; where a concept deserves depth, the entry links to its canonical page.

The core event

• Dispute - the umbrella term for a cardholder contesting a charge, at any stage. The Chargeflow API models everything as a dispute with a status.
• Chargeback - a dispute that has been formally filed: the issuer provisionally reverses the charge and the merchant must respond or forfeit. See Chargeback lifecycle.
• Pre-chargeback alert - an early warning (via Ethoca or Verifi) that a cardholder has complained, sent before the chargeback posts. See Alerts model.
• Reason code - the network-assigned code stating why the cardholder disputes the charge (fraud, product not received, and so on). See Reason codes.

The parties

• Cardholder - the customer who paid and is now disputing.
• Issuer (issuing bank) - the cardholder's bank; it files the dispute and makes the final ruling.
• Acquirer (acquiring bank) - the merchant's bank; it receives the chargeback and forwards the merchant's response.
• Card network - Visa, Mastercard, and peers; they route the case and set the rules and timelines.
• PSP (payment service provider) - Stripe, PayPal, and peers; the merchant-facing layer Chargeflow connects to.

Fighting a dispute

• Representment - the merchant's formal rebuttal: evidence plus a narrative, submitted through the acquirer to the issuer. See Representment and evidence.
• Evidence - the documents and signals backing the rebuttal: receipts, delivery proof, authentication logs, customer communications.
• Enrichment - adding targeted signals (order data, communications, subscription history) to a dispute so the evidence is stronger. See Enrich a dispute.
• Compelling Evidence 3.0 (CE 3.0) - a Visa program that lets qualifying prior transactions prove a disputed one was legitimate. See CE 3.0 eligibility.
• Arbitration / pre-arbitration - the escalation path when a ruling is contested; the network itself adjudicates. Rare and slow.

Preventing a dispute

• Deflection - resolving a cardholder complaint (usually by refunding) inside the pre-chargeback window so no chargeback ever posts.
• Ethoca - Mastercard's alert network, covering fraud and customer-dispute alerts across brands. See Ethoca.
• Verifi CDRN - Visa's Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network: alerts routed to the merchant for action.
• Verifi RDR - Rapid Dispute Resolution: eligible Visa disputes auto-resolve against merchant-defined rules, no manual action. See Verifi RDR.
• Chargeflow Network - Chargeflow's own matching layer that links alerts to transactions and automates the resolution flow.

Fraud vocabulary

• Third-party fraud - the card or identity was actually stolen; the cardholder is a victim.
• First-party ("friendly") fraud - the cardholder made the purchase but disputes it anyway.
• Dispute ratio - disputes as a share of transactions; networks monitor it and penalize merchants who exceed thresholds.

Chargeflow vocabulary

• Prevent / Alerts / Automation / Connect - the four products. See Product model.
• Dispute status - where a dispute sits in Chargeflow's state machine. See Dispute state machine.
• EaaS (Evidence-as-a-Service) - the Connect model where your workflow stays yours and Chargeflow generates the evidence. See What is EaaS?
• Co-Branded - the Connect model where Chargeflow's interface carries your logo, colors and domain. See Co-Branded.
• White-Label - the Connect model (BETA, previously "Chargeflow Embedded") where the dispute product carries your own name, UI and pricing. See White-Label.
• AaaS (Alerts-as-a-Service) - Soon. The Connect model where Chargeflow sends the alerts and your platform issues the refund. See Platforms overview.