Understanding disputes
Dispute vs. chargeback
Dispute: the claim and the process. It starts when a customer raises a concern about a transaction, whether with you, a payment provider, or their bank, regardless of payment method or how far it has escalated.
Chargeback: the term for the fund movement within a dispute, used at Xendit for both Cards and other payment channels.
Not every payment channel has a dispute flow; see Dispute guidelines: Cards and Dispute guidelines: QRIS for a detailed explanation.
Refund vs. dispute
Understanding the difference between a refund and a dispute is essential for your operations:
- Who initiates: Refunds are initiated by you (the merchant) directly to the account owner/cardholder. Disputes are initiated by the account owner/cardholder through their issuer, up to 540 days post transaction.
- Processing time: Refunds typically take 14 business days (depending on the issuer). Disputes processing time can take between 30–180 days or more.
- Associated fees: Refunds have no additional fees. Disputes can incur some cost.
- Impact: Refunds are a normal part of business. Disputes can affect your dispute-to-sales ratio and may result in enrollment in applicable monitoring programs.
Dispute lifecycle and timeframe
| Stage | Cards | QRIS |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute raised — deadline for an account owner/cardholder (through the issuer) to submit a dispute | 120 calendar days from transaction date, up to 540 calendar days from transaction date (for non-fraud reason code) | 90 calendar days from the transaction date |
| Re-presentment — deadline for you, the Merchant (through Xendit), to submit evidence to fight the dispute | 7 calendar days from the 1st dispute notification. Failing to respond within this 7-day window typically results in an automatic loss of the dispute. | Typically 7 calendar days from 1st dispute notification, or as stated on the email notification. Failing to respond within this 7-day / due-date window typically results in an automatic loss of the dispute. |
| Dispute review & decision (2nd chargeback) — deadline for the Issuer to reject the evidence provided by the Merchant (through Xendit) | 30 up to 45 calendar days after the representment date | 7 calendar days after the representment date |
| Arbitration — deadline for you, the Merchant (through Xendit), to re-challenge the Issuer at their discretion | 7 calendar days from 2nd Chargeback notification / re-presentment outcome. Additional fee of USD 500–600 applies on top of the disputed amount for the losing party. | 5 calendar days from 2nd Chargeback notification / re-presentment outcome. Additional fee of IDR 500,000 applies on top of the disputed amount for the losing party. Eligibility for this stage applies to transactions starting from IDR 500,000 and above. |
"Calendar days" means every day as listed on a calendar, including weekends and holidays.
Cards dispute lifecycle and timeline diagram
QRIS dispute lifecycle and timeline diagram
What happens when a dispute is raised
This describes the process for payment channels other than Cards and QRIS, which are still handled by Xendit Ops over email.
For Cards and QRIS disputes, evidence submission and the challenge/accept decision happen directly in the dashboard, see Manage disputes via Dashboard.
When an account owner/cardholder disputes a charge to their issuing financial institution (issuer), Xendit will:
- Send you an email containing information about the incoming dispute.
- Show the reason for the dispute; you'll be able to submit evidence to fight the dispute by replying to the same email before the due date.
- Hold the disputed amount from your Xendit Balance, as the payment network will pull funds for the disputed amount (the hold will be temporary if you win the dispute). For QRIS, the deduction will be made in bulk once the dispute is lost.