This article covers the details around disputed transactions, including what is is, what you can do, and common questions.
A dispute, often called a chargeback, occurs when a cardholder questions a payment with their bank, causing a formal reversal of funds. The transaction amount and a fee are immediately debited from your balance. You can either accept it or submit evidence via Captyn’s Financial Settings to contest the decision and attempt to earn the funds back.
When you receive a dispute from one of your customers, you will receive an email like this:
Dear {organization_name},
A {$100.00} payment for Captyn is being disputed by {Chase Bank} on behalf of {Darryl Hollandsworth}.
If you don’t agree with this dispute, you can submit evidence to counter it by {May 15, 2026}. You may view details of this dispute from your Disputes page, found via the Financial Settings page.
The disputed amount and applicable dispute fees by the processor have been debited from your available balance.
We’re sorry you’re facing this dispute, but we’re here to help every step of the way. You can find answers to common dispute questions on our support site, and if you have further questions you can reply to this email for help.
Sincerely,
Captyn SupportOnce you have received this, you are able to take action in Captyn on this dispute by responding to the dispute and submitting an applicable evidence.
How do I know I have a dispute?
The dispute will be presented in two places. First, you can see it via the push notification in the upper right hand corner of Captyn, leading you to the Pending Screen; disputes are a part of this page.
You can also view this via the Financial page via Settings & Reports by clicking on Disputes. You can view here by status as well.
How can I respond to a dispute?
Follow the prompts on screen to “Defend chargeback” when you have a dispute initiated.
Select the reason you are defending and Continue.
Next, you will submit all evidence supporting your defense of the chargeback. A decision will be made by the issuing bank.
Of note: You are only able to submit ONE (1) document for defense. It is advised to compile everything you have - emails, photos, etc. - into a single document and upload that file as your defense.
There are three types of Disputes you can receive on a transaction. Each is highlighted below, including a description as well as an example email that is sent to you.
Defendable Disputes where action is required by you. This is a standard type of dispute where your customer disputes a charge, you are notified, and can upload evidence defending the original charge.
Of note: You are only able to submit ONE (1) document for defense. It is advised to compile everything you have - emails, photos, etc. - into a single document and upload that file as your defense.
Defendable Disputes that are auto-defended by the merchant.
When is my chargeback auto-defended by the processor?
In some cases, the processor will automatically defend a chargeback with no action needed on your part.
These chargebacks include:
Already refunded transactions in which the refund occurred before the chargeback event.
Chargebacks with a fraud reason code for which there was a liability shift. This includes, for example, 3D Secure payments but does not include payments made with digital wallets.
Chargebacks that include technical errors that invalidate them (for example, when a chargeback is sent outside of the time frame allowed by the schemes).
Chargebacks not applicable to your MCC code.
These chargebacks will still be visible to you in the Customer Area. There are some exceptions to the above scenarios.
When is a chargeback not auto-defended by the processor?
In case of already refunded transactions:
If the refund amount is less than 90% of the transaction amount.
If there are multiple partial refunds adding up to less than 90% of the transaction amount.
When the chargeback is initiated outside 120-day timeframe:
The timeframe is calculated from expected delivery date, not transaction date. This applies to some dispute reasons such as non-delivery of merchandise.
Chargebacks for some payment methods (Sepa, PayPal, Klarna) or with certain reason codes are not defendable, and the processor’s auto-defense will not be used in these cases.
ACH Chargebacks that are immediately lost and non-defendable
Invoices have been updated to now include this information regarding chargebacks. Notice in the second example that it is an ACH dispute, so it is automatically lost.
Captyn will update you when the response to your dispute has been finalized.
