Chargeback Reason Codes: Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover Explained for Merchants

A chargeback reason code is the short code a card network attaches to a dispute to say why the cardholder’s bank pulled the money back. As of November 2026, Visa sorts its dispute conditions into four numbered groups (10 fraud, 11 authorization, 12 processing errors, 13 consumer disputes), Mastercard uses four-digit codes in a similar four-part structure, American Express uses letter prefixes (A, C, F, P, R), and Discover uses four-digit codes. Below is a lookup table of the codes I could verify, organized by those four categories, plus what each category means for a store owner at Ecommerce Paradise and what evidence usually answers it.

Disclosure: ClearSale and ChargebackOps are my partners, and some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Network rules and fees change, so check the current documents from your processor and each card network.

Chargeback Reason Codes at a Glance (Verified November 2026)

Every network groups its codes a little differently, so this table shows how the four networks line up and where I got each list. The full code-by-code tables follow in the next sections.

The same four-way split works for every network, which is why I use it as the backbone of this guide: fraud (the cardholder says they did not make the purchase), authorization (the sale was not properly approved), processing errors (the paperwork or amounts were wrong), and consumer disputes (the cardholder says the deal itself went wrong). Visa and Amex name these groups directly. For Mastercard and Discover, the grouping below is my own mapping of their codes onto the same four buckets.

How Chargeback Reason Codes Work

When a cardholder disputes a charge, the issuing bank picks a code from its network’s rulebook and sends it down the chain to your processor. You normally see it in your processor dashboard next to the dispute. Stripe, for example, exposes the code on the dispute object as a network reason code, and its dispute categories page explains that each network defines hundreds of codes that overlap, so Stripe folds them into eight categories.

That grouping matters because two things follow from the code. First, it decides what evidence the bank will accept. A claim under Visa 13.1 (merchandise not received) is answered with delivery proof, while a claim under 10.4 (card-absent fraud) is answered with proof the real customer made the purchase. Second, it feeds your dispute totals. Stripe’s monitoring program guide says the monitoring programs do not look at who wins a dispute, only how many arrive, so a won dispute still counts. The math behind that is in my chargeback ratio guide.

One trap: the same number can mean different things on different networks. Code 4863 is “Cardholder Does Not Recognize” on Mastercard in Stripe’s list, but “Authorization Non Compliance” on Discover. Always read the network next to the number.

Fraud Chargeback Reason Codes

Fraud codes mean the cardholder says they did not authorize the transaction, or the card was lost, stolen or counterfeit. For an online store, the one that matters most is the card-absent fraud code. Visa’s guide places these in Category 10, and Amex’s guide has a Fraud group with F-codes.

For a card-not-present store, the codes to watch are Visa 10.4, Mastercard 4837, Amex F29 and Discover 7030. Stripe’s evidence guidance for 10.4 points to AVS and CVV match results, device and IP data consistent with the customer’s history, past successful orders from the same buyer, support messages sent before the dispute, and proof the customer accepted your terms. Chip-liability codes (10.1, 10.2, 4870, 4871, F30, F31) belong to in-person sales, so a purely online store should rarely see them.

Two programs in this table are worth knowing by name. Visa 10.5 and the Amex FR codes are not about one sale. They tie a dispute to a program the network has put a merchant in. If one of those shows up, read the network notice from your processor the same day. My guide to spotting a fraudulent order before shipping covers the screening side.

ClearSale is a screening service that offers a chargeback guarantee option. The details are in my ClearSale review.

Authorization Chargeback Reason Codes

Authorization codes say the sale was not properly approved: the card was declined, the approval expired, or the final amount ran past what the bank approved. These are mostly a payments-setup problem, not a customer-behavior problem, which makes them the cheapest category to fix.

A01 is the one stores trip over when they add shipping, tips or taxes after the card was approved. A08 shows up when a store authorizes a card and then captures days later, which is common with backordered or made-to-order freight items. Stripe’s description of A08 puts the typical window at about 7 days, so check the exact limit with your processor if you capture late. The fix is operational: capture inside the approval window, re-authorize when it lapses, and make sure the final charge matches the approved amount.

Processing Error Chargeback Reason Codes

Processing error codes cover mistakes in how the transaction was recorded: wrong amount, wrong currency, a duplicate, a credit posted as a charge, or invalid data. The customer may be right about the mistake, so these are often best accepted and corrected quickly.

Duplicates are the classic example. A customer sees a pending authorization and a final charge for the same order and reads it as a double charge. Stripe’s evidence guidance for duplicates suggests system logs, the transaction confirmation, customer messages, your site terms and CVV/AVS results, and says to compare timestamps so a hold and a final charge are not mistaken for two sales. Currency and amount codes are where stores selling to international buyers get caught, so show the price and currency clearly at checkout and keep the receipt that proves what was displayed.

Consumer Dispute Chargeback Reason Codes

This is the group that matters most to a high-ticket store, because it is where “I never got it”, “it is not what I ordered” and “I cancelled” live. Visa puts these in Category 13, Amex calls them cardmember disputes (C-codes), and Mastercard files them under cardholder disputes.

The “not received” family is the biggest operational risk for stores that ship freight or made-to-order goods: Visa 13.1, Amex C08, Discover 4755 and the Mastercard goods-or-services-not-provided claims. Stripe’s evidence list for 13.1 is tracking and carrier confirmation, signed delivery receipts, proof of digital access or service completion, customer messages, and your fulfillment policies shown at checkout. If you dropship, that proof comes from your supplier, so write a delivery-proof requirement into the supplier agreement. My supplier guide covers the questions to ask before you sign.

The “not as described” and “credit not processed” families are policy problems. For 13.3, Stripe points to screenshots of the listing as it appeared at purchase, order and fulfillment records, your return terms with proof the customer agreed, and support logs showing you tried to fix the issue. For 13.6, the answer is refund logs, confirmation numbers and bank or processor statements showing when the refund went out. For cancellation claims (13.2, 13.7, C28, 4841), keep the cancellation policy, the proof of acceptance at checkout, and records showing whether a cancellation request was ever received. My shipping policy template shows wording that gives you something to point to.

Codes That Are Not Really Disputes

Some codes you will see in a list are administrative. Amex’s guide has an inquiry/miscellaneous group with R03 (Insufficient Reply), R13 (No Reply) and M01 (Chargeback Authorization). R03 and R13 are what happen when a merchant does not answer an inquiry in time or answers without enough documentation, so they are a response-process failure, not a customer claim. Stripe’s list also puts retrieval and documentation requests (Visa 28, 30 and 34, and Mastercard codes such as 6322, 6323 and 6342) in a “general” bucket. Stripe files Visa 33, a fraud analysis request, under fraudulent. These are requests for information before a formal dispute, and answering them fast can stop an inquiry from becoming a chargeback.

Which Reason Codes to Fix First in a Store

Pull the last 12 months of disputes from your processor and tag each by network and code. Then sort into the four categories. In my experience the pattern tells you which fix to make:

• Mostly fraud codes (10.4, 4837, F29, 7030): your screening is the weak spot. Add order review rules, require AVS and CVV matches on high-value orders, and look at a screening service with human review and a guarantee option, such as ClearSale.
• Mostly not-received codes (13.1, C08, 4755): your delivery and communication process is the weak spot. Tighten carrier tracking, add signature on delivery above a threshold you choose, and send delay notices.
• Mostly credit-not-processed or cancellation codes (13.6, 13.7, 13.2): your refund and cancellation handling is the weak spot. Refund promptly and make cancellation easy to find.
• Mostly processing error codes (12.x, P-codes): your payment setup is the weak spot. Check capture timing, currency display and duplicate-submission handling in your checkout.

If you do not have the time to run response work yourself, a managed service takes it off your plate. ChargebackOps is a managed chargeback service. The details are in my ChargebackOps review.

For a side-by-side of the wider field, see my best chargeback management platforms for small businesses guide.

The ordering matters for cost, too. Processor fees apply per dispute no matter who wins, so cheap fixes in the authorization and processing groups protect margin before you spend on anything else. My Stripe fee calculator shows what a payment costs before a dispute even starts. The PayPal fee calculator does the same for PayPal.

How Reason Codes Tie to Network Monitoring

Reason codes also roll up into the ratios the networks watch. Stripe’s monitoring page says Visa’s VAMP counts disputes and early fraud warnings together, and that Mastercard’s Excessive Chargeback Program looks at monthly chargeback counts against the prior month’s sales. Mastercard’s separate Excessive Fraud Merchant program specifically uses fraud reason codes 4837 and 4863. In other words, the code on a single dispute can matter beyond that one sale. The thresholds and a worked calculation are in my chargeback ratio article.

For context on how the dispute mix has been shifting, my write-up of the Justt service-dispute report covers why not-received and cancellation claims are getting more attention. On the fraud side, I covered Visa’s wider evidence rules in a separate post.

If you also want the prevention playbook for expensive orders, read my guide to chargeback prevention for high-ticket stores.

Running a Store: Why This Belongs in Your Setup

Reason codes are a business-operations tool, not a trivia list. If you are still deciding what to sell, the high-ticket dropshipping overview explains the model. My high-ticket niches list helps you pick categories where you can control delivery proof.

Your legal setup also affects the payment accounts you can open and the liability you carry, which is why I point people to my business formation checklist before they take their first card payment.

What I Could Not Verify

Being clear about the gaps is part of using official sources, so here is what I could not confirm as of November 2026:

• Discover’s own rulebook: the Discover pages that loaded for me were about PCI compliance and privacy, not dispute rules. The Discover codes above come from Stripe’s published list only. Ask your acquirer or check Discover Global Network’s merchant resources for the current rulebook.
• Newer Mastercard edition: the Chargeback Guide I could load is the 13 May 2025 merchant edition. A search result showed a 19 May 2026 edition on mastercard.com, but that PDF did not load for me, so check mastercard.com for the latest.
• Mastercard standalone codes: 4841, 4855 and 4860 are in Stripe’s list. They were not separate headings in the part of Mastercard’s guide I could read, so I label them as Stripe’s.
• Amex fraud codes F14 and F24: Amex’s guide lists both, but Stripe’s list assigns different names to F24, so I left them out of the table rather than guess.
• Visa wording differences: where the Visa guide and Stripe differ (10.3, 11.3, 12.1, 12.6, 13.1), I show both. Download the PDF and check the current wording before quoting a code to a bank.

The official documents I used, so you can check them yourself:

• Visa’s dispute management guide for merchants
• Mastercard’s Chargeback Guide
• Amex’s disputes reference guide
• Stripe’s reason code evidence guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main Visa chargeback reason codes?
Visa groups its conditions into four categories: 10 for fraud, 11 for authorization, 12 for processing errors and 13 for consumer disputes. The ones online stores see most are 10.4 (card-absent fraud), 13.1 (merchandise or services not received), 13.3 (not as described or defective) and 13.6 (credit not processed). The full list is in the tables above, sourced from Visa’s merchant dispute guide and cross-checked against Stripe’s published list.

What are the Mastercard chargeback reason codes?
Mastercard’s Chargeback Guide groups them into authorization-related (4808), cardholder disputes (4853 and 4854), fraud-related (4837, 4870, 4871 and 4849) and point-of-interaction error (4834). Stripe also lists standalone codes such as 4855 for goods or services not provided and 4841 for cancelled recurring billing. Check which code your processor actually shows on a given dispute.

What do American Express chargeback reason codes look like?
Amex uses a letter and two digits. A codes cover authorization, C codes cover cardmember disputes such as C08 (not received) and C31 (not as described), F codes cover fraud such as F29 (card not present), P codes cover processing errors and R codes cover inquiry replies. Amex’s guide groups them under those headings.

What are Discover card chargeback reason codes?
Discover uses four-digit codes. Stripe’s list shows 7030 for card-not-present fraud, 4755 for non-receipt of goods or services, 4541 for recurring payments and 8002 for credit not processed, among others. I could not load Discover’s own rulebook, so use Stripe’s list as a working reference and confirm with your acquirer.

Do reason codes affect my chargeback ratio?
The ratio counts disputes, not whether you win them, according to Stripe’s monitoring program guide. A few programs do look at specific codes: Mastercard’s Excessive Fraud Merchant program uses fraud reason codes 4837 and 4863, for example. Your processor can tell you which programs apply to your account.

Chargeback reason codes will keep changing as the networks update their rules, so treat this page as a map and the network documents as the final word. Tag your disputes by code, fix the category that shows up most, and keep the evidence for each one organized before the next dispute arrives. Subscribe to the YouTube channel for more store-operations breakdowns.

Related Articles

If this was useful, these go deeper on disputes and fraud:

• Chargeback Ratio: How to Calculate It, What Is Too High and How to Lower It
• Best Chargeback Management Platforms for Small Businesses
• Chargeback Prevention for High-Ticket Stores: Stopping Disputes Before They Cost You
• ClearSale Review 2026: The Best Fraud Protection and Chargeback Guarantee for Ecommerce Stores?
• ChargebackOps Review 2026: Managed Chargeback Service for Scaling Ecommerce Businesses

Trevor Fenner

Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.

He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.

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