In the PPRO ecosystem, a dispute can progress through several phases, while a chargeback may occur at different points depending on the payment method's rules.

To determine whether your integration needs to support one or all of the scenarios below, view the details of your supported payment method, for example Afterpay, and under disputes it will describe the disputes and chargebacks flow.

Understanding the Timing of a Chargeback

A chargeback represents the actual clawback of funds. Depending on the payment provider, this happens in the following scenarios:

1. Pre-emptive Chargeback

In this scenario, the financial hit and the dispute notification happen at the exact same time. The provider "claws back" the funds immediately to protect the consumer while the case is being reviewed.

• Example: Card Schemes (Visa/Mastercard)
  The Flow: Dispute Created → Pre-emptive Chargeback → Evidence Uploaded → Merchant Wins → Chargeback Reversal

• Example: Wero
  The Flow: Dispute Created → Pre-emptive Chargeback → Evidence Uploaded → Chargeback Reversal → Merchant Loses → Chargeback

  Because Wero is a real-time account-to-account payment, the provider prioritises returning funds to the consumer immediately while the dispute is evaluated.

2. Post-decision Chargeback

The funds remain with the merchant while the dispute is being contested. The chargeback only occurs if the merchant loses the case or fails to respond.

• Example: Afterpay
  The Flow: Dispute Created → Evidence Uploaded → Provider Review → Merchant Loses → Chargeback.

  In this model, the payment provider holds the "financial hit" until a final determination is made, allowing the merchant to keep their liquidity during the defence process.

3. Settlement-based Chargeback

In this scenario, the funds are clawed back without a dispute being raised.

• Example: SEPA Direct Debit
  The Flow: Chargeback → Dispute Record Created (Status: LOST).

Webhooks

In all scenarios, regardless of timing, when a chargeback is raised, a webhook notification (e.g. DISPUTE_CHARGEBACK_CREATED) is sent to the registered endpoint.