Chargeback Legal Kit

Legal support within the Chargeback Legal Kit framework is a comprehensive set of legal and procedural actions aimed at recovering funds by disputing card payments (chargebacks) where there are reasonable grounds to consider a transaction unauthorized, erroneous, or fraudulent, as well as protecting merchants and PSPs from unjustified refund claims.

This is not simply filing a complaint with a bank — it is a procedural strategy grounded in a deep understanding of Visa and Mastercard’s internal rules, issuer/acquirer decision-making logic, and strict evidentiary requirements.

The chargeback process involves the cardholder, the issuing bank (the payer’s bank), the card scheme (Visa/Mastercard), the acquiring bank (the merchant’s bank), and the merchant/payment recipient.  Typically, the process unfolds as follows: the client files a dispute with the issuing bank; the bank conducts a preliminary review and, if justified, initiates a chargeback; the acquiring bank provides the merchant an opportunity to respond (representment); and, if necessary, the dispute escalates to arbitration within the card scheme.

Strict deadlines and technical evidentiary requirements govern each stage.

The core challenge lies in the complexity and opacity of Visa and Mastercard rules (including the Mastercard Chargeback Guide, Visa Core Rules, and Visa Product and Service Rules). These frameworks are extensive, technical, and effectively inaccessible to consumers. Banks rarely disclose detailed reasoning behind decisions or clarify applicable reason codes and evidence requirements. For merchants, the risks include financial losses, increased dispute rates, and potential termination of acquiring agreements.

The GOLAW team provides procedurally structured support: identifying relevant reason codes, building an evidence package aligned with card scheme requirements and internal bank standards, monitoring deadlines, preparing legally sound submissions, and supporting all stages — from initial dispute to arbitration, where necessary.

What we do

• Qualification of transactions under applicable reason codes and verification of deadlines and procedural requirements under card scheme rules
• Development of an evidence pack aligned with Visa/Mastercard standards and issuer bank requirements
• Procedural submissions and escalation letters to issuing banks, acquiring banks, and PSPs
• Merchant defense: audit of policies (Terms of Service, Refund Policy), risk assessment, and dispute-response planning
• Strategy against friendly fraud and organized chargeback attacks
• Negotiation/mediation support with merchants and preparation for litigation where necessary
• Training of support and operations teams: documentation standards, procedures, client communication