Chargeback Prevention Alerts

Chargeback prevention alerts are one of the most effective ways to fight chargebacks successfully. Unfortunately, with an increase in e-commerce, chargebacks are expected to continue to rise from 800 million cases in 2023 to potentially over 1 billion cases in 2024.

The good news is that merchants can stamp out fraud and invest in chargeback prevention alerts to protect their bottom line. So while you pay costs upfront, you prevent yourself from paying higher processing fees and crazy chargeback fees.

This page breaks down chargeback prevention alerts and explain why they’re essential to growing your business. We will also explain why we are the best option currently on the market, with over two decades of experience in the space.

What Are Chargeback Prevention Alerts?

Chargeback alerts are a product provided by chargeback management companies such as ourselves. 

These companies work closely with banks to ensure their merchants receive advance notice of surfacing chargebacks. Merchants can then resolve the issue before a chargeback.

The Benefits of Using Prevention Alerts via CB-Alert

Signing up for chargeback prevention alerts with CB-Alert unlocks significant advantages, combining the best features of Ethoca and Verifi with added automation, reporting, and ease of use.

Important:

While the cost of alerts remains similar whether integrating directly with Ethoca/Verifi or through CB-Alert, the added functionality, centralized management, and efficiency of CB-Alert provide far greater value.

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Chargeback Alerts Direct with Ethoca/Verifi	Chargeback Alerts with CB-Alert
Respond to each alert manually through the vendor portal.	Automation submits alert resolutions to Ethoca or Verifi, reducing response time.
Log into separate portals for each vendor and account, creating inefficiencies.	Centralized dashboard to manage all alerts in one place.
Risk of missing the 24-hour response deadline, leading to unresolved cases.	Automated processes minimize the chance of missed deadlines.
No reporting or analytics to evaluate prevention alert performance.	Detailed reporting and analytics to track and improve performance.
High manual effort increases operational costs for in-house fraud teams.	Streamlined processes significantly reduce labor and operational costs.
Services can be limited to high-volume merchants.	Available to merchants of all sizes, with no minimum alert volume required.

How Do Chargeback Alerts Work With CB-ALERT?

A chargeback alert puts the chargeback process on a brief pause to notify the merchant about a potential dispute before it becomes a chargeback.

If the merchant reviews the complaint and thinks it’s invalid, they can decide to fight the chargeback and have a good chance of winning the dispute.

Here is the process of a dispute when using CB-ALERT:

• The customer disputes a charge
• Issuing bank notifies the alert provider of the dispute
• CB-ALERT receives the alert and takes action
• CB-ALERT notifies the alert network that the dispute has been resolved
• Alert network notifies the issuing bank

It is often wise to issue a refund and avoid the risk of a chargeback unless the merchant is 100% positive that it’s illegitimate.

Apply For Alerts With CB-ALERT

We make the application process a breeze with CB-ALERT. 

We will need the following information when you apply:

• Company name
• Registered business address
• Merchant account descriptor
• Merchant account number issued by your payment processor
• Access to your sales system to provide refunds/resolve alerts for you

Types Of Chargeback Alerts

Verifi (Visa) and Ethoca (Mastercard) are the main alert networks. When partnering with CB-ALERT, you can take full advantage of the alert systems and have a dedicated team to handle each case.

Verifi

Verifi alerts are through the cardholder dispute resolution network. It is designed to intercept chargebacks on your behalf.

Ethoca Alerts

Ethoca alerts is a Mastercard product to help prevent chargebacks. It works very similarly to Verifi as it picks up impending disputes and allows you to resolve them before it becomes a chargeback.

What Percentage Of Chargebacks Are Prevented By Alerts?

At CB-ALERT, we can guarantee a significant decrease in chargebacks once we implement our service. 

The percentage is based on the following criteria:

• Location of customer bank – There’s more coverage in the US
• Transaction Count: The more transactions a merchant has, the better their coverage
• Years in business

For transparency, here is some internal data we have analyzed to give you an estimate:

Verifi

• Physical Goods: 23%
• Digital Goods: 43%
• Subscription: 24%
• Digital Service: 17%

Ethoca

• Physical Goods: 20%
• Digital Goods: 30%
• Subscription: 15%
• Digital Service: 37%

How Long Does It Take to Set Up Chargeback Prevention Alerts?

With CB-ALERT, we operate swiftly to get you fighting fraud as quickly as possible. Below is what you can expect:

• Brand new merchant: Between 45-60 days on average if you’ve never processed a transaction
• New customer: Between 20-30 days if you’ve never used chargeback alert networks in the past
• Existing customer: No delay if you already work with a chargeback network or use our payment processing

How Can A Business Benefit From Alerts?

There is a significant benefit when using prevention alerts. Merchants can resolve customer issues before officially becoming chargebacks, which means they won’t be penalized by their card networks or banks/processors.

While there are fees for chargeback prevention companies, these fees are pennies compared to what you pay if you have a serious chargeback problem.

Does My Business Need Chargeback Alerts?

If you landed on this article, you could benefit from alerts. Rather than struggling with higher payment processing fees and costly chargebacks that ruin your business reputation, you can implement alerts for a fraction of the costs.

It’s always better when it comes to disputes to stamp them out before they begin, as that’s where it starts to get expensive and affect your bottom line.

What Are The Fees For Chargeback Alerts

Depending on the network, chargeback alerts will typically range between $35-$40. If you work with CB-ALERT, we can negotiate a better price with the networks to ensure you are getting the best deal.

Can Shopify/Woocommerce Merchants Implement Alerts?

All merchants can take advantage of alerts, and we can set them up for you. 

Discover Chargeback Trends

With CB-ALERT, you can analyze early-indicator data from your prevention alerts, paired with order information, so that you can learn from any chargeback trends your customers reveal.

This will allow you to resolve cases and ultimately stop revenue bleed.

Who Are The Biggest Chargeback Alert Providers

The two most prominent are Verifi and Ethoca. At CB-ALERT, we provide these alerts in a way that is tailored to your business needs and also have a dedicated team to deal with the networks.

Verifi VS Ethoca – Which Is Better To Implement

Verifi has more coverage in the United States, whereas Ethoca has more coverage in Canada, Europe, and Asia.

Can I Implement Alerts On My Own?

While you can sign up for chargeback alerts on your own, you will not be taking advantage of analyzing the data and will pay more in fees. Therefore, it’s best to let professionals handle this for you so that you can take full advantage of the prevention alerts.

Which Industries Can Benefit From Alerts The Most?

High-risk verticals can benefit the most from implementing chargeback alerts. Over our 20 years of studying chargebacks, we’ve found that the following industries suffer the most from chargebacks:

• Adult
• Dating
• CBD
• Nutra
• E-commerce
• Travel
• Subscription services
• Coaching

Subscription services tend to have it the worst with chargebacks, as customers must remember that they have their subscription going and decide to dispute it.

Who Are the Major Providers of Chargeback Alerts?
Verifi and Ethoca are two primary alert providers, with Verifi having better U.S. coverage and Ethoca covering more international locations.

Is There a Difference between Verifi and Ethoca Chargeback Alert Fees?
While both providers charge fees, these can sometimes be negotiated by third-party providers.

Chargeback Thresholds
Card networks set specific chargeback thresholds (e.g., Visa’s 0.9%). Exceeding these limits may lead to penalties or enrollment in excessive chargeback programs.

Consequences for High-Risk Merchants
High-risk merchants may face increased monitoring, limits on account activity, and possible addition to the Terminated Merchant File (TMF), impacting their ability to secure future merchant accounts.

Chargeback Management Company Advantages
Chargeback management companies, such as Chargeback Gurus, can offer strategic responses to alerts and potentially reduce costs by selectively allowing chargebacks that can be disputed.

What Makes CB-ALERT The Best At Providing Chargeback Alerts?

At CB-ALERT, we offer the best service regarding chargeback alerts, as we are also in the high-risk credit card processing industry. We see what merchants deal with the most, and we can help our merchants stamp out fraud in real-time based on what we’ve seen over the last 20 years.

Let us free up your time by sending you alerts in real-time and streamlining the entire process to allow you to resolve it in seconds.

We offer the following services and alerts: 

• Ethoca and Verifi alerts
• 24/7 customer service educated on the topic of chargebacks
• Transparent and fair pricing
• RDR
• Visa compelling evidence 3.0
• Gateway/CRM agnostic approach

Ready to start saving money spent on dating chargebacks? Please fill out the application and help us grow your business to the next level.

Be Alert With CB-ALERT

Are you Looking to stop worrying about chargebacks and the havoc they bring to your business? Contact us today, and we can set you up with chargeback prevention alerts and offer you a full suite of options to fight fraudsters