What’s a chargeback?

Chargebacks occur when customers dispute payments and seek to get their money through arbitration. Learn more about chargebacks.

Before transactions

A common cause of unnecessary disputes is customers not recognising a legitimate payment they made. You can help customer to recognise transactions with the following:

  • Edit your billing descriptor - customise how your name appears on customer bank statements

  • Customise receipts and edit invoice business details - ensure customer-facing details are always up to date and accurate

  • Provide contact options - ensure your customer knows how to get in touch with issues so you can resolve them before they escalate

If you don’t have permission to perform this action, please reach out to the owner or administrator of the SumUp profile for support.

During transactions

  • Validate customer identity - compare customer signatures with the signature on their card and validate high-value payments with a customer declaration form.

  • Confirm transaction statuses before retrying payments - attempting payment again before transactions complete risks customers paying twice. Check your transaction status if in doubt

  • Check the payment card - damaged cards could cause duplicate payments

  • Never split payments to avoid card payment limits. Doing so may be in breach of bank’s Terms & Conditions and result in additional complications.

Always check the card used belongs to the customer and never sign documents on behalf of a customer.

In-person payments are less risky

Payments made face-to-face and confirmed with a PIN code are typically more secure. Try to accept payments this way if possible.

After transactions

  • Send receipts - receipts also act as evidence if a payment is disputed. You can resend or reprint receipts from any past transaction

  • Keep proper documentation - maintain records of relevant receipts, invoices and contracts, especially for high-value transactions

  • Refund payments you suspect to be fraudulent and contact us with the details.

If accepting payment from a company credit card, send a receipt to the company’s accounting department to avoid confusion.