Who pays for a chargeback?

What the merchant pays

• The disputed amount, debited as soon as the chargeback arrives on Shopify Payments, and returned only if you win.
• A fee: Shopify Payments charges $15 in the United States and returns it if you win; Stripe charges a dispute fee, plus a separate countered fee if you respond, which is returned on a win.
• The goods and shipping on a lost case, and the time to respond.

See what a month of disputes costs with the chargeback fee calculator.

When the card issuer carries it

• 3-D Secure. When a payment is successfully authenticated with 3-D Secure, liability for a later fraud chargeback typically shifts to the issuer. It covers fraud claims only, not "not received" or "not as described" disputes, and Stripe says it is not guaranteed. See 3-D Secure liability shift.
• Visa Compelling Evidence 3.0. On a Visa 10.4 fraud dispute, a qualifying response with earlier undisputed transactions shifts liability back to the issuer.

Guarantees and insurance

Some fraud platforms offer guarantees that cover chargebacks on the orders they approve (Signifyd alternatives), and Shopify Protect covers eligible Shop Pay orders against fraudulent and unrecognized chargebacks. Verdikx does not reimburse chargebacks: it screens orders and helps you answer disputes, and you keep the decision and the liability.

Reason codes this answer covers

• Visa 10.4: Other Fraud: Card-Absent Environment: sometimes winnable