Though 82% of the 1,000 online, multi-channel and mobile commerce merchant surveyed dispute chargebacks, many indicated that they lack the necessary expertise to get them reversed, according to Kount’s State of Chargebacks 2018. The long, tedious process surrounding the dispute process, as well as merchants’ lack of skills and knowledge to get chargebacks reversed, are why one-fifth of merchants win less than 15% of their disputes and one-third win less than 30% of their disputes.
With those odds, it seems like merchants have no way to win battle chargeback. The best way to keep your business from jeopardizing your merchant account, which along with a payment gateway is necessary for accepting and processing credit card transactions, is to take steps to prevent chargebacks. Prevention begins by knowing the sources of your chargebacks and then, taking appropriate actions to stop them. In addition to third-party fraud mitigation tools and alert systems, chargeback insurance is a solid way to protect your business.
What is Chargeback Insurance?
Chargeback insurance protects a merchant against unauthorized, fraudulent credit card transactions. The insurance covers the loss of the stolen service or product and the loss of profit due to the theft. Oftentimes, a policy will cover any credit charges due to a card being lost or stolen that occurred before the cardholder became aware of them and reported them.
Sometimes, chargeback insurance is included with a merchant account. If not, a merchant account provider often can steer you in the right direction where you can get this coverage.
What Chargeback Insurance Doesn’t Cover
It is important to remember than no coverage will protect you from everything. In many cases, chargeback coverage won’t apply if a chargeback is the result of a customer failing to receive an item or receiving one that was broken or damaged. Also, don’t expect it to cover your mistakes, such as double-billing customers. Also, it is very rare for any coverage to apply to the sale of digital merchandise, such as online videos, apps, or e-books.
Is Chargeback Insurance Right for Your Business?
Fraud and friendly fraud are the two primary sources of chargebacks. If most of your chargebacks are due to legitimate fraud – transactions made without authorization or completed with a stolen credit card – then, chargeback insurance makes sense. In those circumstances, it is very likely that coverage will apply.
If most of your chargebacks come from friendly fraud – when customers claim they didn’t get items just so they don’t have to be on the hook for paying for them – then, you may want to reconsider. Insurance doesn’t cover these types of chargebacks. Also, don’t forget that an insurance policy cannot alter your chargeback ratio. Though coverage can recover any profit losses, you will still have those chargebacks in your history unless you get them reversed.
The Final Say
If you are thinking about chargeback insurance, think about getting it along with a chargeback mitigation system. A system, such as the one offered by EMB, will alert you to disputes and give you a chance to resolve them before they become chargebacks. EMB’s alert system can prevent one in four chargebacks. By using both, you will be increasing your chances of keep ratios low and get reimbursements for any items or profits lost due to fraud.
An approach that considers the entire picture and covers all its bases is always the best way to go.