Chargebacks and inquiries
If you accept credit cards on your store, then it's likely you need to deal with chargebacks or inquiries. When a cardholder has an issue with a charge on their credit card, they can contact their bank to dispute the charge. The bank then makes a chargeback or inquiry. The cardholder can be one of your customers or someone who believes that their card was used on your store without their permission.
If the cardholder's bank makes a chargeback, then the bank takes the disputed amount from you right away. The cardholder's bank also takes a chargeback fee from you. If the cardholder's bank makes an inquiry, then they don't take the disputed amount or a fee right away.
You can try to resolve the chargeback or inquiry in a few ways. Often, the company that issued the cardholder's credit card reviews any evidence, and then resolves the chargeback in either your favor or the cardholder's favor. If you win the chargeback, then you get the disputed amount back, and Shopify might refund the chargeback fee depending on your country or region. If the cardholder wins the chargeback, then the disputed amount is returned to the cardholder.
If you're using Shopify Payments and you're issued a chargeback, then the amount is deducted from your next available payout.
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Insufficient funds with Shopify Payments
If you're using Shopify Payments and you encounter a situation where your payout lacks sufficient funds for a return, then the outcome varies depending on your store's location:
- Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States: The balance required for the refund will be debited from your bank account. This debit will occur on a day outside your regular payout schedule.
- All other countries: The remaining amount needed for the refund will be deducted from subsequent payouts until the refunded amount is fully covered.
Failed debit attempts with Shopify Payments
If the initial debit attempt fails, then a second attempt will be made after 3 business days. If this reattempt also fails, then you will need to change your Shopify Payments bank account or repay the negative balance manually.
Chargeback process
This is the typical process for a chargeback:
- The cardholder disputes a credit card charge with their bank.
- The cardholder's bank sends a chargeback request to the credit card company, and takes the disputed amount and a chargeback fee from you.
- The credit card company asks you for evidence that the charge was valid.
- You gather evidence to figure out whether the charge was valid and add it to the chargeback response.
- After you complete your chargeback response, you forward it to the credit card company by clicking Submit response.
- The credit card company reviews the evidence. The review can take up to 75 days after the response is submitted.
- The credit card company resolves the chargeback.
If you win the chargeback, then the cardholder's bank returns the disputed amount to you, and Shopify might refund you the chargeback fee depending on your country or region. If the chargeback is a partial win, then the cardholder's bank returns some of the disputed amount to you, and Shopify still might refund you the chargeback fee. If the cardholder wins the chargeback, then the disputed amount and the fee isn't returned to you.
Chargeback fee
When a bank sends you a chargeback, they also charge you a processing fee. If the chargeback is resolved in your favor, then Shopify might refund this fee depending on your country or region. The following list provides a breakdown of the processing fee by country or region, as well as whether the fee will be refunded if the chargeback is resolved in your favor:
Country/Region | Chargeback Fee | Fee refunded if chargeback won? |
---|---|---|
Australia | 25 AUD | ✔ |
Austria | 15 EUR | ✔ |
Belgium | 15 EUR | ✔ |
Canada | 15 CAD or 15 USD, based on payout currency | ✔ |
Czechia | 15 EUR or 400 CZK, based on payout currency | ✔ |
Denmark | 15 EUR or 115 DKK, based on payout currency | ✔ |
Finland | 15 EUR | ✔ |
France | 15 EUR | ✘ |
Germany | 15 EUR | ✔ |
Hong Kong SAR | 85 HKD | ✔ |
Ireland | 15 EUR + 23% VAT | ✔ |
Italy | 15 EUR | ✔ |
Japan | 1,300 JPY | ✔ |
Netherlands | 15 EUR | ✔ |
New Zealand | 20 NZD | ✔ |
Portugal | 15 EUR | ✔ |
Romania | 15 EUR or 75 RON, based on payout currency | ✔ |
Singapore | 15 SGD |