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Chargeback Fees: What Each Provider Publishes

Rasika Lakshan ·

Last updated:

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

A chargeback, which Visa calls a dispute, is when a cardholder asks their bank to reverse a card payment. The money is taken back from you, and some providers add a fee on top. This guide lists the fees that each provider publishes, checked on 2026-10-15, and shows how they add up. Fees change, so confirm them on the provider’s page before you rely on them.

What each provider publishes

ProviderPublished dispute feeSource
Stripe$15.00 when a dispute is received, plus $15.00 more when you respond to it manually. The countered fee is refunded for disputes you win. The received fee is not.Stripe pricing
PayPal$20.00 chargeback fee (the US dollar entry in PayPal’s chargeback fee table).PayPal business fees
SquareSquare’s help article says it doesn’t charge a separate dispute fee; its payment terms reserve the right to charge one. Check the current terms. The same guide adds that most other processors charge a nonrefundable fee of $10 to $25.Square chargeback guide and Square payment terms
Helcim$0 for disputes resolved in your favor and $15 if you lose.Helcim pricing
QuickBooks PaymentsNot a fee: it lists chargeback protection covering up to $25,000 per year and $10,000 per dispute on card payments.QuickBooks Payments

Square caveat: Square’s help article says it doesn’t charge a separate dispute fee; its payment terms reserve the right to charge one. Check the current terms before you rely on a $0 dispute fee.

A worked example

Say you receive 10 disputes in a month and contest all of them, winning 6.

  • Stripe: 10 received fees at $15 is $150, plus 10 countered fees at $15 is $150. The 6 countered fees for disputes you win are refunded, which is $90. The fees you keep paying total $210, before the disputed amounts.
  • PayPal: 10 chargeback fees at $20 is $200.
  • Helcim: 4 lost disputes at $15 is $60.
  • Square: no separate dispute fee in its help article, but its payment terms reserve the right to charge one.

This is arithmetic from the published fees. It leaves out the disputed amounts, the processing fee on the original payment (which is not necessarily refunded), any network charges and your own time.

What the fees do not cover

The fee is small next to the real cost. Visa says a dispute can cost you the amount of the sale and the merchandise, and the time it takes to respond. Providers can also act if disputes rise: they may hold a share of your sales as a reserve, or end the account. Our guide to chargeback ratios and monitoring programs explains how disputes are measured.

What to do when you get a dispute

Visa says you may be able to resolve a dispute without losing the sale by giving your acquirer more information about the transaction promptly. Each step has a time limit, and missing it can lead to an unfavorable outcome. If the dispute is valid, Visa notes that accepting it can save time and expense. The cardholder’s side is explained by the CFPB: they are told to contact the seller first, then their card company, and to send a billing error notice within 60 days of the charge appearing on their statement.

Frequently asked questions

What is a chargeback fee?

A fee your payment provider may charge you when a cardholder disputes a payment, on top of the disputed amount that is taken back. Whether a fee applies, and how much, depends on the provider.

Do I pay a fee if I win the dispute?

It depends. Stripe says the dispute received fee is not returned when you win, but the dispute countered fee is refunded for disputes you win. Check your provider’s terms.

Is there a fee from the card networks too?

Stripe notes that network fees can also apply. Our table shows the provider fees that each company publishes, not network charges that may be passed through.

How can I avoid chargeback fees?

The only sure way is to avoid disputes. Visa’s guidance for merchants covers the practices that prevent many of them; see our guide to preventing chargebacks.

Keep reading

Sources