Chargeback alerts — stop disputes before they become chargebacks
Plug your acquirers and gateway into Ethoca (Mastercard) and Verifi (Visa RDR / CDRN). Resolve disputes inside the 72-hour window so they never count toward your CB ratio.
A chargeback alert is a real-time notification, sent by Ethoca (owned by Mastercard) or Verifi (owned by Visa), the moment a cardholder calls their issuing bank to dispute a transaction. You get a short window — typically 24 to 72 hours — to refund, deflect or contact the customer before the dispute is formally filed as a chargeback.
Every alert resolved inside that window is a chargeback that never happens. It is not counted by Visa VAMP, not counted by Mastercard ECP, does not trigger a chargeback fee, and does not put your MID at risk of termination. For any merchant operating above 0.5% disputes, alerts are not optional — they are the difference between staying live and getting your MID closed.
ApexPay FZ-LLC is a payments consultancy — we introduce merchants to licensed acquirers, gateways and alert networks, and we do not process payments or hold funds.
How chargeback alerts actually work
When a cardholder calls their bank to dispute a transaction, the issuer queries the Ethoca and Verifi networks before formally raising the dispute. If your acquirer or gateway is enrolled, the alert is routed to ApexPay in seconds. We refund the transaction, push back with evidence, or honour your auto-rules — and the dispute is closed at the issuer without ever becoming a chargeback.
Ethoca — Mastercard's network, also covers many Visa, Amex and Discover BINs via opt-in.
Verifi RDR — Rapid Dispute Resolution, rule-based automatic refund with zero manual handling.
Order Insight (Pre-Dispute) — issuer fetches your transaction details inline, deflecting confused cardholders before they ever dispute.
What Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECP measure
Visa VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program, the 2025 replacement for VFMP and VDMP) combines fraud and non-fraud disputes into a single ratio. Cross 0.9% and you enter Above Standard — fines start, acquirers get nervous. Cross 1.5% and you are in Excessive — most acquirers terminate. Mastercard ECP triggers at 1.5% chargeback ratio with $50k+ exposure.
An Ethoca refund or a Verifi CDRN deflection is not reported as a chargeback to Visa or Mastercard. That is the entire point of the networks — they exist specifically so issuers and merchants can resolve disputes outside the formal chargeback flow.
What Our partner network runs for you
Full Ethoca enrolment across your active acquirers and BIN ranges.
Verifi CDRN with 24/7 dispute handling — refund, deflect or push back inside the SLA.
Verifi RDR with per-MID, per-BIN, per-amount rules. Auto-refund every dispute under your threshold.
Order Insight inline data feeds — descriptor, order detail, delivery proof — surfaced to the issuer.
Live dashboards: alerts received, resolved, deflected, refunded; CB ratio simulator vs VAMP thresholds.
Representment service for the chargebacks that do land — evidence pack assembly and submission.
Auto-refund vs manual handling — when each makes sense
RDR auto-refund is ideal for low-AOV, subscription and digital-goods merchants where the cost of a refund is lower than the cost of fighting the dispute. Manual CDRN handling is better for high-AOV merchants and physical goods where representment win rates justify the fight. Most ApexPay merchants run a hybrid: auto-refund under $X, manual handling above it, with descriptor-mismatch and AVS-fail patterns escalated to a human reviewer.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to move my processing to ApexPay to use alerts?
No. Ethoca and Verifi enrolment is gateway-agnostic. We can plug alerts into your existing acquirers and PSPs without migrating processing.
Will a refunded alert still count as a chargeback?
No. A resolved alert — refunded via Ethoca, deflected via CDRN, or auto-refunded via RDR — is not reported as a chargeback by Visa or Mastercard. It does not count toward VAMP or ECP ratios.
What does an alert cost vs a chargeback?
Alerts typically cost $1–$5 each. A chargeback costs $15–$100 in network fees plus the lost transaction plus the impact on your CB ratio. For any merchant with a dispute rate above ~0.5%, alerts pay for themselves inside the first month.
Can I set rules per MID or per BIN?
Yes. RDR rules are configured per MID, per BIN range, per transaction amount and per dispute reason. You can auto-refund all Visa disputes under $50 on one MID while requiring manual review on another.
What's the difference between CDRN and RDR?
CDRN routes the dispute to you (or to ApexPay's team) for manual resolution within 72 hours. RDR auto-refunds based on rules you configure — zero manual intervention. Both prevent the chargeback from being counted.
Chargeback Control cluster
Explore the cluster
Ethoca, Verifi (RDR / CDRN), representment and dispute deflection to keep MIDs under VAMP and ECP thresholds.
