'Chargeback' is the term used for debiting a merchant’s bank account with the amount of a transaction that had previously been credited. There are a number of different reasons why a transaction will be charged back, but they mainly fall into two categories:

• Where the merchant has made an error at the point of sale, for example, an expired card has been used;
• The cardholder or the Card Issuing Company (“the Issuer”) is disputing the transaction. For example the card or cardholder were not present at the point of sale and possible fraud may have taken place.

Chargeback Process

Step 1	Cardholder disputes transaction – Issuer This is typically a transaction that the cardholder does not recognise on their statement. Duration of the chargeback process may take up to 6 months from the date of the transaction, but in some instances it can take as long as 12 months to finalise.
Step 2	Issuer advises ANZ after determining reason for chargeback Click here to refer to Top 10 Chargeback Reasons in this site.
Step 3	ANZ contacts merchant Liability rests with the merchant to provide satisfactory evidence regarding the transaction. The Merchant has 10 days to respond to this request. Action required will be advised in the request in line with your Merchant Agreement and Merchant Operating Guide.

There are two possible outcomes:

Merchant Unsuccessful

If the request is ignored or not satisfactorily resolved, the amount in dispute is charged back to the merchant’s nominated bank account and will appear as a debit. Therefore it is critical that merchants respond immediately to voucher requests from ANZ. Ignoring such requests may result in chargeback to your business account. Important: Please do not process a refund after receiving a chargeback debit advice letter. The cardholder is already credited by their bank when the chargeback is raised.

Merchant Successful

The merchant is able to provide documentation proving the transaction and the case is subsequently closed with no cost to the merchant.

Important Note:

ANZ Bank does not create the rules and regulations regarding Visa, Mastercard and Bankcard disputes. Like all the other banks, ANZ is governed by schemes, rules and regulations. We will do everything possible to defend the chargeback on your behalf, however the nature of the dispute and the type of chargeback will greatly affect what actions we can take.