Glossary of Stripe dispute terms

The text that appears on a cardholder's statement identifying a charge. An unclear descriptor is one of the most common, most fixable causes of unrecognized charge disputes.

See: Unrecognized charge disputes

The general payments industry term for what Stripe calls a dispute. Same underlying event, different vocabulary depending on where you encounter it.

See: The complete guide

The share of a merchant's transactions that result in disputes. Stripe's Dashboard shows this as two related figures, dispute activity and dispute rate, in its Analytics section. Card networks generally treat activity above roughly 0.75 percent as excessive and may apply monitoring programs and fines above that threshold, sometimes triggered earlier by a sudden spike rather than the raw number alone.

See: Preventing Stripe disputes

A formal challenge a cardholder raises against a charge, handled through Stripe and ultimately decided based on the evidence submitted.

See: The complete guide

Two separate fees can apply. A dispute received fee, currently 15 USD or local equivalent, applies to every dispute and is never refunded. A dispute countered fee, also currently 15 USD, applies only if you respond with evidence, and is refunded if you win. Losing after countering means paying both.

See: Stripe dispute deadlines and the dispute fee

The documentation and records submitted to Stripe to support a merchant's side of a dispute, organized into named fields Stripe's Dashboard and API accept.

See: The complete guide to dispute evidence

The act of formally sending evidence to Stripe within the response window, after which Stripe and the card issuer review it and issue a decision.

See: How the Stripe dispute process works

The broad categories evidence falls into: proof of delivery, proof of communication, proof of authorization, proof of refund or cancellation, and proof of product or service description.

See: The complete guide to dispute evidence

A dispute filed as fraudulent by a cardholder who did, in fact, authorize the original purchase, whether by mistake, forgetfulness, or intent. Distinct from genuine fraud, and often far more winnable.

See: Fraudulent disputes

The state a dispute is in while it's waiting on the merchant to decide whether to accept it or respond with evidence, before the response window closes.

See: How the Stripe dispute process works

The category Stripe assigns to a dispute, describing why the cardholder says the charge was wrong, such as product not received or fraudulent.

See: The complete Stripe reason code reference

Money returned to a customer directly by the merchant. Distinct from a dispute, which is a formal challenge initiated by the cardholder's bank rather than resolved directly between merchant and customer.

See: The complete guide

The broader payments industry term for responding to a dispute with evidence. Stripe's own interface calls this submitting or responding to a dispute; representment is the word used more widely outside Stripe specifically.

See: How the Stripe dispute process works

The amount of time a merchant has to submit evidence before Stripe decides the case automatically in the cardholder's favor. Typically 7 to 21 days depending on the card network, followed by a 60 to 75 day issuer review period.

See: Stripe dispute deadlines and the dispute fee

The integration model Recovra uses to securely access a merchant's dispute data with a defined, limited scope of access.

See: Recovra's legal and trust FAQ, on the main site

Stripe's built in machine learning fraud prevention system. It screens transactions in real time before they complete, and its risk controls are specifically tied to reducing fraudulent-category disputes and early fraud warnings. It doesn't address non-fraud dispute categories like subscription cancellation or product not received.

See: Preventing Stripe disputes

Stripe's own automated dispute response tool, on by default on accounts since November 2025. Uses an AI rules engine to build an evidence packet from transaction and cardholder data, and auto-submits it before the deadline if the merchant takes no action. Charges a 30 percent success fee on a win, nothing on a loss.

See: Stripe Smart Disputes explained

The dispute status after a merchant has submitted evidence, while the card issuer decides the outcome.

See: How the Stripe dispute process works

The share of disputed cases that end in the merchant's favor, generally discussed at an industry or category level rather than as a specific guarantee for any individual case.

See: The complete guide

The two possible final outcomes of a dispute. Won returns the disputed amount to the merchant. Lost makes the refund to the customer final, though a customer can still withdraw a dispute even after losing it, which can occasionally flip a loss back to a win.

See: How the Stripe dispute process works