At a glance
Chargeback rate (settled disputes resulting in funds pulled). Visa monitoring threshold is 0.9% (VAMP); above this Square may suspend or restrict the account. The closely-related dispute-rate counts cases opened; this card counts cases lost.
| What it counts | COUNT(disputes WHERE status = LOST) / COUNT(payments succeeded) * 100. |
| Currency | Currency-neutral. |
| Lag | Disputes resolve typically 30, 60 days after opening; chargeback rate is a trailing metric. |
| Time window | 90D (longer than dispute-rate to capture resolution lag). |
| Alert trigger | >0.9% (Visa monitoring). >1.5% triggers Mastercard ECP. Sentiment inverse-gauge: good <=0.5, warn >=0.9. |
| Roles | owner, finance, operations |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Square data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
90-day window:- 0.23% is healthy. Below Square’s 0.5% review threshold; well below Visa’s 0.9%.
- Win-rate of 19 / 47 = 40% is roughly normal. Strong-evidence merchants reach 60, 70%.
- The 28 lost disputes pulled USD ~ 5,000 plus scheme fees (~ USD 15, 25 per case = ~ USD 600). True cost is ~ USD 5,600 plus the time spent responding.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why pair |
|---|---|
squ_dispute_rate | The opening-rate; this card is the lost-rate. |
squ_refund_rate | Refund as inverse to chargeback. |
Stripe stripe_chargeback_rate | Cross-PSP. |
Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard
Where to look in the Square Dashboard:Disputes → Resolved → Lost (filter by date).Why ours may differ:
| Reason | Direction |
|---|---|
| Resolution timing | A dispute filed in month 1, lost in month 2: which month’s rate is it in? Ours uses lost-date |
| In-progress | Disputes still open are NOT in this card; only settled-against |
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
“My chargeback rate hit 1.0%, what now?” Immediate action: pause new high-risk traffic, audit recent disputes for patterns (one BIN, one IP, one shipping address), tighten Square Risk filters, enable 3DS step-up on suspicious patterns. If sustained, Square may restrict your account or require a rolling reserve. Engage Square Risk team proactively. “Win-rate, how high can it go?” Strong-evidence merchants reach 60, 75%. Digital-only goods (no shipping evidence) cap around 25, 40%. Subscriptions with weak cancel UX cap around 15, 25%. “Visa VAMP vs Mastercard ECP, what’s the difference?” Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program triggers at 0.9% chargeback rate or USD 75k volume; Mastercard’s Excessive Chargeback Program at 1.5%. Both impose fines and acquirer pressure. “Reasons that win versus lose?” Chip + PIN cases (liability shift) win automatically. Tracked-shipping cases with proof-of-delivery to the cardholder address win frequently. CNP fraud (10.4) cases lose unless the merchant has 3DS authentication evidence. Subscription-friction cases lose unless the merchant can show explicit re-consent on each charge. “Currency neutrality?” Yes. “Lag, how to interpret?” Today’s chargeback rate reflects disputes opened 30, 60 days ago. A spike today is a lagging signal of bad traffic 1, 2 months ago, by the time you see it, current traffic is already different. Usesqu_dispute_rate for the leading indicator.
“Square holds reserve when CB rate climbs?”
Yes. Above 0.9% Square may impose a rolling reserve (1, 5% of volume held for 90, 180 days) to cover potential future chargebacks.