Hidden Fees Draining Your Business—and How Dispute.com Can Stop Them Cold

If you’re a merchant, here’s a hard truth: you’re paying more than you think to accept payments.

Sure, you know about transaction fees. You might even be familiar with chargeback penalties. But what most payment processors don’t tell you is that you’re probably paying dozens of hidden fees that kick in the moment a customer hits "dispute."

At Dispute.com, we help merchants fight back—and even better, we stop many chargebacks before they happen. Here's what your processor won’t tell you, and how we help you dodge the worst of it.

The Hidden Fees Payment Processors Love to Charge

Let’s pull back the curtain. Here are just a few of the lesser-known costs you might be eating every month:

Fee Type	Typical Cost	What Triggers It
Chargeback Fees	$15–$35 per dispute	Anytime a customer disputes a charge
Pre-Arbitration	$100–$250+	When a customer pushes a dispute post-representment
Arbitration	$250–$500+	When the case escalates to card network ruling
Refund Processing Fees	1–3% of transaction	Issuing refunds (some keep original fees!)
Rolling Reserves	5–20% of sales held for 90–180 days	High-risk flagging by processor
High-Risk Surcharges	Varies	Increased dispute rates or industry classification
Account Reviews	$$$ in lost revenue	Frozen payouts or suspended accounts

These are not just theoretical numbers. These are real hits to your bottom line—often showing up months after the transaction.

The Hidden Costs of Escalated Chargebacks

If a dispute escalates beyond the first stage, here's what to watch out for:

Re-presentment (Second Chargeback): You can submit evidence to fight back. While many processors don’t charge an additional fee here, you still risk losing time and revenue.
Pre-Arbitration: If the issuing bank doesn’t accept your re-presentment and initiates pre-arb, some networks (especially Visa and Mastercard) may apply fees starting at $100.
Arbitration: If the dispute proceeds to arbitration, the fees can skyrocket—ranging from $250 to $500+ depending on the network. These fees are often non-refundable, even if you win.

Processor	1st Chargeback	2nd Chargeback (Re-presentment)	Pre-Arbitration	Arbitration	Notes
PayPal	$20	No additional fee	Not applicable	Not applicable	Non-refundable. Higher fees may apply for merchants with high dispute rates.
Stripe	$15	No fee, but must submit evidence	No public fee listed	No public fee listed	Stripe charges a 30% fee if they help recover funds through their Smart Disputes tool.
TSYS	$25–$35 (typical)	$15–$25 (bank dependent)	$100–$250+	$250–$500+	Fees vary by acquiring bank and card network.
Chase Paymentech	$15	No fee for 2nd dispute	$100+	$500+	Based on card network arbitration process.
Shopify Payments	$15	Refunded if merchant wins	Not applicable	Not applicable	Uses Stripe as backend; same fee model applies.
Square	$0	No additional fee	Not offered	Not offered	Square eats the fee, but merchants are still liable for loss.
Authorize.Net	$25–$35 (via bank)	Varies by acquirer	Varies	Varies	Fees based on issuing bank and processor partnership.

🔁 What If You Could Stop the Dispute Before It Happens?

Enter: Pre-Dispute Prevention.

At Dispute.com, we integrate powerful prevention tools to intercept disputes before they become chargebacks, so you never get hit with those hidden fees in the first place.

Here’s how we do it:

CDRN (Verifi's Chargeback Data Retrieval Network)

How it works: A real-time alert system that lets you resolve the dispute before it becomes a chargeback.
Why it matters: You keep the dispute off your record, avoid the chargeback fee, and save your chargeback ratio from taking a hit.
Results: Up to 40% fewer chargebacks for merchants using CDRN effectively.

Ethoca Alerts

How it works: The moment a customer contacts their bank to file a dispute, you get an alert—often within seconds.
What you can do: Refund the customer, fulfill a missing item, or issue a credit before the chargeback is processed.
Bonus: Prevents that transaction from escalating to Mastercard chargeback levels.

Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR)

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How it works: You set automated rules (e.g., full refund under $100) that instantly resolve disputes before chargebacks are filed.
Why it rocks: No dispute, no investigation, no fee—just a resolved transaction and a happy customer.

How Dispute.com Saves You More Than Just Time

We’re not just dispute defenders—we’re fee assassins.

With Dispute.com:

✅ Fewer chargebacks = fewer processor fees
✅ CDRN, Ethoca & RDR coverage = pre-dispute protection
✅ Better chargeback ratios = lower risk profile
✅ Real-time alerts = faster refunds, happier customers
✅ Less risk = fewer rolling reserves and shutdowns

You’re already losing enough to fraud and abuse—why let processors pile on?

At Dispute.com, we help merchants understand the real cost of chargebacks—not just the refund, but every fee layered into the process.