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Payment and models

Chargeback

Also called card chargeback, payment dispute, transaction reversal, dispute.

Short answer

A chargeback is a reversal in which the cardholder’s bank pulls the amount back from the store after a dispute. The order still shows as completed in the store’s system, but the money disappears – so the commission on that order typically lapses too.

Definition of Chargeback.

A chargeback starts with the cardholder, not the store. The customer raises a dispute with their own bank – the item never arrived, the amount was charged twice, the card was misused – and the bank reverses the amount while the case is handled. The store usually pays a fee on top and has to provide documentation to get the money back.

The time horizon is long. The card schemes work with dispute deadlines of up to 120 days from the transaction or the agreed delivery date, and a case can then run through several further rounds. A chargeback therefore often lands long after an affiliate sale has been approved and settled.

For the affiliate, this means an approved commission can become a point of contention. Programs handle it in one of two ways: either an approval period long enough to let most disputes arrive first, or a clawback clause under which the amount is offset against a later settlement. If neither is written down, the store bears the loss.

Chargeback vs. refund

AspectChargebackRefund
Who decidesthe cardholder’s bankthe store itself
The store’s costthe amount plus a feethe amount
Time frameup to 120 days after the purchase, sometimes longertypically within the return period
Recorded in the store’s systemnot as an order change – the notice comes from the acquireryes, as a refunded order

A refund is something the store can record itself and reject the commission on; a chargeback is only discovered when the acquirer reports it, and so has to be caught manually.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    The chargeback arrives after approval

    The dispute deadline can be longer than the program’s approval period. If the commission has already been approved and paid out, there is no longer a pending amount to reject, and the case becomes a negotiation rather than a system action.

  • 02

    Chargebacks read as affiliate fraud

    A high share of chargebacks on an affiliate’s traffic can be caused by fraudulent traffic, but also by a payment method, an audience or a product with many disputes. Look at the pattern over several periods before blocking anyone.

  • 03

    No link between acquirer and affiliate system

    The store’s acquirer knows nothing about the affiliate program. When a chargeback comes in, nothing automatically rejects the commission – the store has to do it itself within its rejection window.

At Affilyflow

Chargeback in practice

At Affilyflow, it depends on how the sale came in. If a Stripe payment is disputed or refunded, the commission is rejected automatically, even if the sale had already been approved, and the affiliate is notified – the same happens when a WooCommerce order is refunded or cancelled. If the sale was approved more than 90 days ago and the commission has been paid out, the affiliate keeps it and Affilyflow bears the difference. Other chargebacks, for example on a Shopify order or a sale reported by the tracking script, do not reach the system on their own. There, the chargeback is a reason to reject the sale: the store has the program’s approval period (30–90 days) to reject it, and the rejection requires a reason the affiliate can read.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a chargeback and a refund?

A refund is decided by the store and carried out in its own system. A chargeback is decided by the cardholder’s bank after a dispute, and the store loses the amount plus a fee while the case is handled. Refunds can be caught automatically by an order integration; chargebacks come from outside.

Does the affiliate lose their commission on a chargeback?

That is decided by the program terms. The starting point is that the store has not been paid for the order, so the commission on that order lapses. If the commission is still pending, it is rejected. If it has already been approved, it depends on whether the terms include a reversal clause.

How long after a purchase can a chargeback happen?

The card schemes work with dispute deadlines of up to 120 days from the transaction or the agreed delivery date, and the case can run through several further rounds. A chargeback can therefore land long after the affiliate commission has been approved and paid out.

Can the store claim the commission back after a chargeback?

It depends on the program terms. Some programs have a clawback clause that offsets the amount against the next settlement; others bear the loss once the approval period has expired. If the terms say nothing, there is nothing to base the claim on.

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