Creating a chargeback disputation process can be a challenge, learning the rules and regulations a Herculean effort and constantly combating unruly users a headache. But, there are few other items as important to a merchants business as managing their merchant account and controlling their chargebacks. Not only will this allow you to recoup lost funds, when implemented correctly and reviewed with a critical eye to detail the amount of information you’ll be able to learn about your business and your consumers will be staggering.

As mentioned in True Fraud vs Friendly Fraud – Chargeback Segregation there are ways to segregate your chargebacks to better begin the process of implementing a chargeback management process. As you get the hang of disputing chargebacks, what information works for evidence within a dispute and which pieces are less relevant, and how your processor handles specific chargeback related issues you’ll begin to accumulate a useful database of information. Compiling and analyzing this information is what we’ll touch on briefly within this session.

What information should I collect and Analyze?

Simply put, every bit of information you’re able to get your hands on will be useful. What you’re aiming to do is accumulate enough information to create user profiles. Very similar to the information outlined in Fraud Prevention – Intro to Analytics we’ll be using the information we’ll be using this data to better understand your user base. The information listed below should come from both the transaction itself as well as any user information you’re able to obtain:

• First Name
• Last Name
• City
• State
• Country
• Product Type
  • Product Name
• Transaction Amount
• Transaction Time
  • This should include, the day, and time, if possible have this separated out into different columns
• Transaction History
  • A simple Y/N as to whether the customer has transacted before
• Card information
  • First 6 & Last 4 of the card used
  • AVS result
• Chargeback Reason Code

So, how do I use the information?

For starters you’ll want to input the information within an excel sheet. Each piece of data should be put into a separate column to allow for the greatest level of sorting and formatting. Once you have all the information into the excel sheet you’ll be able to start looking for trends. Patterns and trends are the first step in learning more about your business. For example, if you see a majority of the chargebacks are all associated with a single common data elements such as a specific product, or city (as long as you’re not locally based), name or if all of the charged back transaction are taking place at a certain time of day. For chargebacks it’s also important to analyze the reason code of the chargeback

The key here is to look at anomalies, results that are not expected or more importantly results that fall far outside of the spectrum of the same analysis that when completed on non charged back transactions has a different result. By implementing this process of reviewing your chargebacks, understanding why specific actions occur, you’ll be able to not only prevent the negative actions but also implement processes to maximize your positive conversions.

Tip: While it’s important to know the activity of your chargebacks (negative data) it’s also just as critical to know the activity of your positive data, i.e. transactions which have not been charged back.