Visa Chargeback Time LimitsUnderstanding the Dates & Deadlines for Visa Disputes

Breaking Down Visa Chargeback Time Limits for Cardholders & Merchants

Are you a merchant fighting an unfair chargeback claim? Or, are you a cardholder dealing with suspected criminal fraud on your Visa card? In either case, Visa chargebacks come with built-in time limits you need to know about.

Each phase of the dispute process has a specific deadline for action. Waiting too long could mean that you forfeit your chargeback rights.

In this post, we’ll answer some of the most important questions about Visa chargeback time limits. We’ll see the basic Visa time limits for merchants and cardholders, and what Visa reason codes have different guidelines. We’ll also explore why being aware of these time limits is important for both merchants and consumers.

Have more general questions about chargeback time limits, or want to see the rules for other card brands?

Learn More About Chargeback Time Limits

How Long Do Cardholders Have to File a Visa Dispute?

How Long Do Merchants Have to Respond to a Visa Dispute?

Visa Chargeback Time Limits for Cardholders

Visa chargebacks have specific timeframes for each reason code, as outlined in the Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants. These are meant to ensure that disputes are resolved quickly and without unnecessary delays. It's important for merchants to follow these time limits because failing to do so can result in being unable to dispute the chargeback or get your money back.

To help you understand these timeframes better, here are some important Visa chargeback time limits by reason code:

Fraud-Related Visa Reason Code Time Limits

Visa Reason Code	Description	Time Limit
10.1	EMV Liability Shift Counterfeit Fraud	120 Days
10.2	EMV Liability Shift Non-Counterfeit Fraud	120 Days
10.3	Card-Present Fraud	120 Days
10.4	Card-Not-Present Fraud	120 Days
10.5	Visa Fraud Monitoring Program	120 Days

Authorization-Related Mastercard Reason Code Time Limits

Visa Reason Code	Description	Time Limit
11.1	Card Recovery Bulletin	75 Days
11.2	Declined Authorization	75 Days
11.3	No Authorization	75 Days

Processing-Related Mastercard Reason Code Time Limits

Visa Reason Code	Description	Time Limit
12.1	Late Presentment	120 Days
12.2	Incorrect Transaction Code	120 Days
12.3	Incorrect Currency	120 Days
12.4	Incorrect Account Number	120 Days
12.5	Incorrect Amount	120 Days
12.6.1	Duplicate Processing	120 Days
12.6.2	Paid by Other Means	120 Days
12.7	Invalid Data	75 Days

Customer Dispute-Related Mastercard Reason Code Time Limits

Visa Reason Code	Description	Time Limit
13.1	Merchandise / Services Not Received	120 Days
13.2	Canceled Recurring Transaction	120 Days
13.3	Not as Described or Defective Merchandise / Services	120 Days
13.4	Counterfeit Merchandise	120 Days
13.5	Misrepresentation	120 Days
13.6	Credit Not Processed	120 Days
13.7	Canceled Merchandise / Services	120 Days
13.8	Original Credit Transaction Not Accepted	120 Days
13.9	Non-Receipt of Cash or Load Transaction Value	120 Days

Visa Chargeback Time Limits for Merchants

Unlike cardholder time limits, which may vary depending on the reason code, the Visa chargeback time limit for merchants is 30 days. This same time limit applies to all Visa reason codes.

The timer begins ticking as soon as the chargeback is initiated. Merchants need to keep a close eye on this starting date to make sure they don't exceed the specified time limit for each reason code. 

As mentioned above, though, the official Visa chargeback time limits can make it appear that merchants have a lot more time at their disposal than they really do. Other parties, such as acquirers and processors, have actions to perform in the same timeframe. The acquirer, for example, needs to receive, process, and forward the claim to the issuer. The time allocated to this comes out of the time allotted to the merchant.

These acquirers and processors have the power to impose their own deadlines to give themselves more time. In many cases, merchants may only have 5-10 days in which to respond to a chargeback.

4 Phases of the Visa Chargeback Process

From start to finish, disputing a charge can often take 45 to 90 days. Whenever possible, however, Visa prefers to have customer disputes finalized in a month or less.  This means that merchants need to respond to each phase as quickly as possible.

There are four basic phases to a Visa dispute:

• Dispute
• Dispute Response/Pre-Arbitration
• Dispute Response/Reversal
• Arbitration

Responses are mandatory in all cases. At one point, Visa allowed merchants to ignore the dispute until after the deadline, effectively accepting the chargeback by default. Now, though, Visa imposes a fine on non-response, even if that response is to accept the chargeback.

Also, the point that qualifies as “Day One” of the time limit resets at each phase of the chargeback process. So, while the time limit on Visa chargebacks is predetermined, it will still move around as one progresses to a different stage of the dispute:

Visa Pre-Arbitration Chargeback Time Limits

The Visa chargeback process often ends when a merchant either accepts the dispute or successfully represents the chargeback. This is not always the case, though; the issuer can choose to dispute the evidence provided by the merchant. It’s at their discretion to decide whether to accept or continue.

Visa refers to this stage of the chargeback life cycle as pre-arbitration. This situation occurs when the same transaction is disputed for a second time by the issuer.

Remember that Fraud and Authorization disputes go through the Allocation workflow, so liability is assigned automatically when the dispute is issued. That means the acquirer must initiate the pre-arbitration. Visa chargeback time limit rules give acquirers 30 days from the dispute processing date to file a case on the merchant’s behalf.

For Processing Error and Consumer Dispute cases, the issuer initiates the pre-Arbitration attempt. They’ll have 30 calendar days from the designated processing date of the pre-arbitration attempt.

Visa Arbitration Chargeback Time Limits

If the parties to a dispute cannot come to a resolution at the pre-arbitration stage, the Visa dispute proceeds to arbitration.

The card network gives either party 10 days from the pre-arbitration response processing date to submit a case. These deadlines are intentionally designed to put cardholders, issuers, merchants, and acquirers on equal footing. As Visa explains, “the timeframes for all parties in the ecosystem [are]...equalized. Issuers and acquirers/merchants [are] provided the same amount of time to respond throughout the cycle.”

Exceptions & Special Circumstances

As we mentioned, Visa dispute time limits for merchants are straightforward. They must respond within 30 days at each phase or 10 days for arbitration. There are some exceptions on the cardholder’s side, though. Four reason codes have modified time frames:

If the dispute falls under reason code 10.5, the timeframe doesn’t begin with the transaction. Rather, the 120-day time limit starts on the day the fraud is identified by the Merchant Fraud Performance Program.

There are some cases in which delivery of goods or services can reasonably be expected after the actual transaction date. Buying concert tickets a month before the event date, for example. In these cases, the chargeback time limits are calculated based on multiple criteria. The time period used to gauge this Visa dispute time limit starts on either:

• The transaction date, if the date the expected goods/service delivery date was unspecified
• The date the cardholder returned or attempted to return the merchandise (if the merchandise was returned due to late delivery)

Also, the dispute must be processed either:

• Within 120 days of the last date, the cardholder expects to receive the goods or services (not to exceed 540 calendar days from transaction).
• Within 120 days of the date, the cardholder was informed that the goods/services would not be provided (not to exceed 540 calendar days from transaction).

Finally, the issuing bank must wait 15 calendar days before initiating a dispute.

If the cardholder deems the goods or services defective or not as described, the Visa chargeback time limit is calculated based on either the transaction date, or the date the cardholder received the goods or services that were not as described.

Visa reason code 13.6 deals with chargebacks stemming from a credit not being processed. Issuers must wait 15 calendar days from the credit transaction receipt date before initiating a dispute unless doing so would cause the dispute to exceed the time limit. These disputes must be processed no later than 120 calendar days from either:

• The transaction processing date
• The date on the credit transaction receipt; if the CTR is undated, then from the date the cardholder returned the merchandise or canceled services

Working With Visa Dispute Deadlines

Visa chargeback time limits are confusing…much like many other parts of the Visa dispute process. Without knowing how different factors affect the timeframe, however, means merchants are much more likely to miss a deadline and automatically lose a case.

If you're a merchant, outsourcing chargeback management to the right professionals can free up time and ensure a much higher win rate. In fact, Chargebacks911® offers a guaranteed ROI for all chargeback disputes we compile on your behalf. Contact us today to learn more about recovering revenue amid restrictive chargeback time limits.