Is Your Business Set for Success With Visa Resolve Online?
There's been an alarming surge in chargeback activity over the last several years. So, what are the card networks doing to try and address this problem?
They’ve taken quite a few different steps, including rule updates, process overhauls, and introducing new tech platforms to push back. Visa Resolve Online, or VROL, is one example.
VROL is designed to help reduce the amount of incoming chargebacks you see each month. It’s also aimed at streamlining the dispute process and improving customer retention.
In this article, we’ll discuss what Visa Resolve Online is and how it works. We’ll see where it does—and doesn’t—help manage chargebacks, and show how your business can get started.
Recommended reading
- Visa Compelling Evidence 3.0: New Dispute Rules for 2024
- Visa Debit Chargebacks: Here’s Everything You Need to Know
- Visa Chargeback Time Limits: The 2024 Guide
- Visa Chargeback Threshold: How to Know if You're Compliant
- The Visa Digital Goods Merchant Fraud Monitoring Program
- Can Rapid Dispute Resolution Help You Avoid Chargebacks?
What is Visa Resolve Online (VROL)?
- Visa Resolve Online
Visa Resolve Online, or VROL, is Visa’s proprietary online dispute resolution platform. It is a dedicated network built to transmit and retrieve transaction data, information, and documentation in the event of a dispute.
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Under Visa dispute rules, all issuers and acquirers that are members of Visa must use VROL to carry out any of the following actions:
- Respond to a retrieval request
- Transmit chargeback, representment, arbitration, or compliance documentation
- Make or process a pre-arbitration or pre-compliance attempt
- File, withdraw, or appeal an arbitration or compliance case
Visa Resolve Online is part of the global Visa infrastructure. Banks use it wherever Visa cards are issued. This includes the Americas, the EU Digital Single Market, and beyond.
The purpose of this system is to simplify and speed up the dispute process. If all information involved in a dispute is retrieved and transmitted through the same online network, the result should be faster resolution time and less energy required for each case.
VROL & Visa Claims Resolution: What’s New?
Visa Resolve Online has been in place for years. It's not a new system. However, it saw a major overhaul with the introduction of the Visa Dispute Resolution initiative back in 2018. The aim here was to help merchants streamline the dispute resolution process, and work in tandem to resolve claims faster and more accurately.
The purpose of the VCR Initiative was to increase VROL’s efficiency at processing and settling disputes. Previously, disputes could take up to three months, from initial contact to final verdict. With VCR, Visa aimed to whittle that down to just 31 days in an effort to settle disputes within a single billing cycle.
To resolve a claim, all Visa card transaction disputes are now sorted into one of two primary dispute paths: allocation and collaboration. The technology plays different, key roles in each of these two processes.
Allocation
For disputes filed through this process, VROL will examine the conditions of the case and return an initial liability assignment in real time. The at-fault party can either accept the real-time verdict, or try providing additional evidence.
Collaboration
With collaboration, Visa requests that the merchant provide additional information through VROL to resolve the dispute and prevent a chargeback. Otherwise, the dispute will proceed and Visa will assign initial liability to the merchant.
Visa Resolve Online could have the effect of reducing your dispute volume and processing times. VROL is also meant to encourage use of Order Insight, previously known as Visa Merchant Purchase Inquiry (VMPI). Order Insight empowers merchants to send and receive dispute information to issuing banks in real-time. It can resolve many disputes before they become chargebacks. This saves time and money for both banks and merchants.
How Visa Resolve Online Works
Now that we have a better understanding of what Visa Resolve Online does, let’s look at how an inquiry would work through this system.
First, after a cardholder contacts the bank to inquire about a transaction, the bank uses VROL to pull detailed transaction information. This information should be based on the Visa chargeback reason codes assigned to the case. This may include:
- Transaction receipts
- Merchant credentials
- Customer authorization
- Shipping/tracking details
- Delivery confirmation
The bank uses all of this information to determine if the cardholder’s claim is legitimate or not. They then attach a reason code and file a dispute. Based on the reason code, it will go through one of the two workflows outlined above.
Take the next step to stop chargebacks.
At this stage, responding to the chargeback involves going through the conventional chargeback representment process.
When a dispute is assigned to a merchant through the collaboration process, it becomes everyone’s responsibility to try and resolve the dispute. Visa Resolve Online becomes an essential lifeline for the merchant, acquirer, and issuer to provide more complete data to the other parties. This involves two key components:
Enhanced Dispute Questionnaire (Dispute Resolution Form)
Compelling Evidence
Compelling evidence is information that contradicts the cardholder’s claim. Anything from a sales receipt to a photograph could be considered evidence. You should be prepared to present any necessary transaction details, including:
- Copies of any conversation logs between your team and the cardholder
- Evidence that the product or service might have been used
- Any record of previous communication with the cardholder
After this information is collated and uploaded, the issuer analyzes the case to determine a verdict.
Shortcomings of Visa Resolve Online
Using Visa Resolve Online could drastically reduce your Visa chargeback ratio. It helps balance claims between merchants and cardholders, and resolve issues in a timely fashion.
VROL is a very handy tool to have in your arsenal. However, there are still some things which Visa Resolve Online can’t do.
For one thing, VROL is a Visa-oriented program. It’s incorporated into their Order Insight Platform, meaning it can’t help with non-Visa transactions. Mastercard has a similar platform, called Mastercom. However, it has an entirely different set of requirements, procedures, and rules.
Also, VROL can filter out some invalid chargeback activity, but there’s no guarantee that it will eliminate all instances of friendly fraud. Given that this may be tied to six in ten chargebacks filed by 2023, this stands out as a vulnerability.
Can Visa Resolve Online Prevent Friendly Fraud?
Well…not really.
Visa Claims Resolution (VCR) was introduced to oversee the Visa card ecosystem. An index is applied to all merchants, banks, and even many individual cardholders, which can help monitor for abuse of the Visa platform. The company scans these figures, and if one begins dropping quickly, it will set off red flags.
Introducing these indexes gives Visa more insight on the dispute process and helps to identify and resolve problem areas. All this information is stored and recallable, so it’s integrated into the same system.
That seems like huge steps forward regarding the industry’s approach to friendly fraud…at least at first glance.
Visa is known for their meticulous attention to detail. For example, taken together, the latest version of the Visa Chargeback Rules is nearly 1,000 pages long. Even with stricter standards, scoring, and tracking in place, though, the system is still vulnerable to invalid disputes.
Remember that all disputes labeled as “customer disputes” or “processing errors” will be passed through the collaboration process. An issuer will file a dispute request through Visa VROL to initiate the process. You have to respond, just as you did before Visa Claims Resolution was implemented.
How to Get the Most Out of Visa Resolve Online
Finally, let’s have a look at some best practices you should follow to get your business up to speed for Visa Resolve Online.
Ask an Expert
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with chargebacks and all the processes invented to stop them. It seems like every week some new statistic emerges to remind you that the problem has gotten way out of hand.
Well, not to worry. That’s what we’re here for.
Want to learn how Chargebacks911® can help you make the most of VROL to achieve better win rates and fewer disputes? Request your free demo now and find out.
