Respond to a dispute
When an reverses one of your payments, the case appears in the Disputes section of your MONEI Dashboard. This page explains how to read a dispute, what evidence to attach, and how to file your answer. For what a is and what it costs, see Chargebacks and reversals.
You can file one response per chargeback. It can't be changed, added to, or withdrawn afterwards, and it must be filed before the deadline. Read the whole page before you file.
Find a dispute
Open Disputes in the Dashboard sidebar. Each row shows the disputed amount, the status, the reason given by the issuing bank, the response deadline, and the date the dispute arrived. Select a row to open the case.
One tab per status, so the tab you're on always matches the status on the row:
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Inquiries | from the issuing bank that are still live. No money has moved, and evidence sent now is rejected — wait to see whether the bank escalates. |
| Needs response | Formal chargebacks awaiting your answer. The funds are already gone and the deadline is running, so this is the tab to work. It also keeps a case you've filed — marked Response filed — until the bank picks it up. |
| Under review | Cases the bank is examining after your response. Nothing more can be sent. |
| Won | Cases decided in your favor. The amount returns to you on the payout that follows the decision. |
| Lost | Cases you answered and the bank decided against you. The amount stays with the cardholder. |
| Closed | Cases that ended without becoming a formal chargeback: an inquiry the bank dropped, or a dispute settled early through a prevention service. Money may still have moved — see below. |
| Expired | Cases where the deadline passed with no response filed. The amount stays with the cardholder, the same as a loss — this tab is where you find out which deadlines are being missed, and why. |
| All | Every case, whatever its status. |
Needs response is the tab you land on. You can also narrow the list by payment ID, reason code, , payment method, or ARN — the reference the card networks use to track the payment between the two banks.
Disputes are real-money cases only, so the section is hidden in test mode and you can't create one to try the flow. It's also permission-gated: a role without dispute access doesn't see the section at all, and viewing a dispute doesn't by itself allow answering it. Ask an account administrator if the section is missing.
Read the status
The status tells you whether a response is possible and what happens next.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Inquiry | The issuing bank has asked about the payment. No funds have been taken back, and evidence sent now is rejected. |
| Inquiry under review | The bank is still looking at its own question. Nothing to do. |
| Closed | The case ended without becoming a formal chargeback. Check the case itself for what happened to the money — some are settled by refunding the cardholder. |
| Needs response | The funds have been pulled back. You can answer until the deadline. |
| Response filed | Your answer is with the bank. Nothing more can be sent. |
| Under review | The bank is examining your answer. |
| Won | The case was decided in your favor and the amount returns to you on the payout that follows the decision. The chargeback and dispute fees are not refunded. |
| Lost | The amount stays with the cardholder. Any fees already charged are not refunded — see chargeback fees. |
| Expired | The deadline passed with no response filed. The amount stays with the cardholder, and any fees already charged are not refunded. |
An inquiry can become a formal chargeback later. If it does, the status changes to Needs response, a deadline appears, and you can write your argument then.
Closed covers more than a dropped inquiry. A dispute can also be settled before it ever becomes a chargeback, through a — Visa's Rapid Dispute Resolution or a Mastercard Ethoca alert. Settling it means the cardholder is refunded — sometimes automatically, sometimes by someone issuing the refund — and because it is not booked as a MONEI refund, the amount reaches you as a deduction on your payout. Nothing is owed on top: no chargeback or dispute fee applies and the case does not count toward your chargeback rate. Open the case to see which of these happened — the response section states it.
The deadline
The Response deadline on the dispute is the last day an answer is accepted. The window closes at the end of that day, UTC — so a dispute due today can still be answered today. Once it passes, nothing can be sent and the money stays with the cardholder.
The Dashboard colors the deadline as it approaches, in the list and on the dispute itself: amber from seven days out, red in the final two days, and red again once it has passed.
Don't leave it to the last hours. Gathering proof of delivery or customer correspondence usually takes longer than expected.
Write your argument
Open the dispute and use the Evidence and response card.
- Write your argument in the text box — up to 20,000 characters. Explain why the payment is valid and refer to the files you attach.
- Write it in the response language shown on the dispute. This is set by the bank that handles the case, not by the language your Dashboard is in. An answer in any other language is treated as no answer at all.
- Select "What documents can support my case?" for guidance on the specific reason code — what the cardholder is claiming, and which documents usually answer it. The same guidance, for every code, is on Dispute reason codes.
- Select Save draft. You can save as often as you like, and come back later. Saving is not filing: a draft is never sent for review.
Attach evidence
Drop your files onto the evidence list, or select the list to browse for them. The limits come from the bank that assembles your response:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Files | 10 |
| Total size | 25 MB |
| Merged pages | 1,000 |
| File types | PDF, JPEG, PNG, TXT |
WebP images are not accepted. Your response is assembled into a single PDF, which can't carry WebP. Convert those images to PNG or JPEG before you attach them.
The file count and total size are checked as you upload. The page limit is only checked when you file, so keep long PDFs short enough to leave room.
Useful evidence depends on what the cardholder is claiming — Dispute reason codes lists the documents that answer each one. It's usually some of:
- Proof of delivery or collection, with a tracking reference and a date.
- The order confirmation, invoice, and the itemized description the customer saw.
- Emails or messages with the customer, including anything showing they had the goods.
- Your published terms, refund policy, and cancellation policy.
- Evidence of earlier undisputed payments from the same customer, account, or device.
- For a claim about quality, photos or specifications of what was actually sent.
File your response
When the draft and its files are ready, select File response and confirm. Your bank may call this a .
Filing is unavailable while anything about the response is still in motion — unsaved changes in the text box, a file still uploading, or a file still being removed. Save your draft and let uploads finish first. A response with no written argument is rejected, so the argument must be saved before you can file.
Filing can't be undone. Only one response per chargeback is accepted, so a second attempt is rejected, and neither the argument nor the files can be changed once filed. The dispute fee applies whatever the outcome.
After filing, the card is read-only. Your argument and files stay on the case for your records, and the result appears in the dispute's timeline.
What it costs
A €15 chargeback fee applies when the dispute is raised. Choosing to contest it adds a €10 dispute fee. Neither is refunded even if you win — you recover the transaction amount, never the fees. See Pricing.
That makes filing a judgment call on low-value disputes: contesting a €12 payment costs more than letting it go. Contest the cases you can evidence.
Common questions
Why can't I see the Disputes section?
Either you're in test mode — disputes are live-only — or your role doesn't include dispute access. Switch to live mode, or ask an account administrator to check your permissions.
I can see the dispute but there's no response form
Answering a dispute needs a separate permission from viewing one. Your role can read the case and whatever has been written so far, but not answer it. Ask an account administrator to file the response before the deadline.
Can I answer an inquiry to get ahead of it?
No. Evidence sent for an inquiry is rejected. Wait until it becomes a formal chargeback — the status and a deadline will tell you when you can act.
Can I add a file after filing?
No. The response is one-shot. Attach everything before you file.
Can I refund a disputed payment instead?
No. Once the issuing bank has pulled the funds back, the payment can no longer be refunded — a refund would return the money a second time. The Dashboard removes the refund action from a disputed payment.
The deadline passed and I never responded
The case closes against you and the funds stay with the cardholder. It moves to the Expired tab rather than Lost, so a missed deadline is never mixed in with cases you argued and lost. Any draft you saved is kept on the case for your records but can no longer be filed.
I won the dispute — do I get the fees back?
No. The €15 chargeback fee is charged when the dispute is raised, and the €10 dispute fee when you contest it — neither depends on the outcome. Winning returns the disputed amount on the payout that follows the decision, but never the fees. See what it costs.