Issuers must take urgent action against fraud as chargebacks escalate: By Frank Moreno

Finextra

8 hours ago

Recent data shows that issuers and merchants are struggling with rising chargeback abuse. With all indicators pointing to the already considerable problem growing by a further 24% by 2028, financial institutions (FIs) must act or risk losing both customers and profits.
According to the Mastercard's 2025 State of Chargebacks report, abuse of chargebacks is a rapidly growing problem, with both merchants and FIs taking a significant hit. And things are about to get worse.
Worldwide, issuers and merchants have seen a 10% increase in chargeback volume in the past year. This rise has been driven by a rapid growth in digitization as consumers lean into the convenience of e-commerce. In addition, the ease of disputing transactions at the click of a button has seen FIs in both the U.S. and UK experiencing a 30% to 40% increase in consumer dispute volumes via their digital channels.
In fact, the report suggests that over the next five years, global chargebacks volume is set to grow from $261 million in 2025 to reach $324 million in 2028. For the U.S., this means chargebacks will total a staggering $20.47bn in just three years.
For issuers, the picture looks even bleaker. Globally, only 28% of their chargebacks are legitimate disputes, while a whopping 72% are fraudulent (59% being third-party fraud, while 13% is first-party fraud).
Card issuers face a complex set of challenges
One of the biggest challenges facing FIs when it comes to third-party card-not-present (CNP) fraud that fuels chargebacks is aging infrastructure. Legacy systems are limited in their ability to handle this type of fraud due to outdated architectures, fragmented data, and reliance on rigid rule-based detection. Many systems are also still heavily reliant on manual investigation processes.
Tracking fraud is another major headache. The same research found that not all FIs track whether the fraud is first-party or third-party. Misclassification and underreporting could lead to inadequate response strategies and higher operational costs, with FIs burdened by time-consuming and expensive investigations. In fact, some FIs report that they need one full-time employee for every $13,000 to $14,000 in incoming annual cardholder disputes.
Issuers can attest: first-party fraud is especially hard to pinpoint. What's more, the cardholder's history may show no prior suspicious activity. Responding to a customer dispute by suggesting that they are lying or committing fraud will hardly help FIs maintain good relationships with their hard-won customers. In the U.S., for instance, FIs and merchants only win around half of their disputes and, in the absence of forensic proof, they are likely to issue the chargeback – even if the suspicions are valid.
Take action early to avoid future pain
Many Fis may not be aware what a significant role an effective 3DS program could play in the fight against chargebacks. Stopping fraud at the point of authentication is the low-hanging fruit in reducing the cost of chargebacks.
With the right 3DS access control server (ACS) and modern authentication methods, FIs can combat first-party fraud with forensic proof that the transaction was legitimately authenticated. Moreover, they can tackle third-party fraud by simply detecting fraud more effectively – without adding friction.
To reduce the impact of first-party fraud, cryptographic device binding technology is able to link each customer's account to a specific device and app, creating a unique digital signature for every transaction. This allows FIs to prove that a transaction was performed from the legitimate user's device, enabling banks to present strong, tamper-proof evidence to refute first-party fraud claims.
To battle third-party fraud, 3DS programs that harness risk-based authentication (RBA) and low- or no-friction authentication methods empower FIs to use strong security that improves the cardholder experience and increases transaction success.
However, an FI's 3DS approach should be part of a broader, multi-layered fraud prevention strategy that includes context-aware authentication not only to detect fraud across banking and payment channels more effectively, but also to recognize customers across channels to deliver consistent, streamlined experiences.
Creating a better experience
There has never been a more urgent time for FIs to consider how to update their chargeback reduction strategy. 3DS is an under-appreciated tactic in that regard.
If issuers or merchants are concerned that fraud prevention will add friction that negatively affects transaction success, they are using the wrong fraud prevention authentication tools.
Automated tools and AI learning models can help eliminate overall friction for consumers and improve the digital experience, while also providing more effective fraud detection. With robust authentication and clear transaction context, it becomes possible to dramatically reduce fraud and increase transaction success rates.
While chargeback abuse and fraud are persistent challenges, new opportunities are available to issuers to combat increasingly sophisticated attempts in their earliest stages with the right combination of 3DS solutions, risk insights authentication, and modern authentication methods. FIs must act now – failure could risk further eroding already pressured margins, and customers looking to competitors that deliver more secure and user-friendly payment experiences.