> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Dispute Rate, Square

> Dispute Rate for Square stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

**Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained)  •  **Category:** [Payment Gateway](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type)

## At a glance

> Percentage of successful Square payments that get disputed by the customer's bank. Visa and Mastercard threshold is 0.9, 1.0% (above which the merchant enters monitoring programs); Square's internal threshold for risk reviews is 0.5%. Card-present near-zero (chip-and-PIN provides liability shift); CNP higher.

|                    |                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it counts** | `COUNT(disputes opened) / COUNT(payments succeeded) * 100` over the period, on `/v2/disputes` and `/v2/payments`.                                             |
| **API endpoint**   | [`GET /v2/disputes`](https://developer.squareup.com/reference/square/disputes-api/list-disputes).                                                             |
| **Currency**       | Currency-neutral.                                                                                                                                             |
| **Channel split**  | POS card-present \<0.05% (chip + PIN liability shift). CNP 0.3, 1.5% depending on industry. Subscriptions higher (rebill-friction disputes).                  |
| **Reason codes**   | Visa: 10.4 fraud, 13.1 services not provided, 13.3 not as described. Mastercard: 4837 no cardholder authorization, 4853 cardholder dispute.                   |
| **Time window**    | `30D vsP`.                                                                                                                                                    |
| **Alert trigger**  | `>0.5%` absolute (Square's internal review threshold). `>0.9%` triggers VAMP / Mastercard MATCH-program risk. Sentiment inverse-gauge: good \<=0.5, warn >=1. |
| **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

30 days, ecom-leaning Square store (apparel, USD 320,000 volume):

| Reason                | Dispute count | Disputed amount |
| --------------------- | ------------- | --------------- |
| Fraud (10.4)          | 8             | USD 1,940       |
| Services not provided | 3             | USD 380         |
| Not as described      | 2             | USD 220         |
| Subscription friction | 4             | USD 480         |
| **Total disputes**    | **17**        | **USD 3,020**   |

Successful payments: 4,200. Dispute rate: 17 / 4,200 = **0.40%**.

Reads:

1. **0.40% is below Square's 0.5% review threshold but climbing.**
2. **Fraud-coded (10.4) at 8 cases is the dominant pattern.** Apparel ecom is fraud-target territory (resellable goods).
3. **Subscription-friction (4 cases) likely all "I cancelled but you charged me again".** Subscription clarity (clear cancel button, transparent rebill warning email) eliminates these.
4. **POS subset would be 0% on this volume, ecom is doing all the work.** Liability shift on chip + PIN means POS rarely sees disputes.

## Sibling cards merchants should reference together

| Card                                                                                   | Why pair                                                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [`squ_chargeback_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/chargeback-rate)                | Closely related; chargeback is the issuer-bank settled outcome of a dispute. |
| [`squ_refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/refund-rate)                        | Inverse-correlated; refunding fast prevents disputes.                        |
| [`squ_threedsecure_abandon_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/3ds-abandonment-rate) | 3DS coverage drives dispute rate down.                                       |
| Stripe [`stripe_dispute_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/dispute-rate)            | Cross-PSP comparison.                                                        |

## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard

**Where to look in the Square Dashboard:**

> **Disputes → Active disputes** + **Disputes → Resolved**.

**Why ours may differ:**

| Reason         | Direction                                                                  |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Pending vs all | Some Dashboard tiles show only Active; this card includes resolved-against |
| Time zone      | Boundary days                                                              |
| Late disputes  | A dispute filed 60+ days after the original sale: how it gets bucketed     |

**Cross-connector reconciliation:** dispute rate should be roughly comparable across PSPs for the same merchant if traffic mix is similar; multi-rail merchants typically see 0.1, 0.3pp variance.

## Known limitations / merchant FAQs

**"I'm at 0.7%, am I in trouble?"**
Above 0.5% Square reviews your account; above 0.9% you're in Visa VAMP / Mastercard MATCH risk. Tighten Square Risk filters, enable 3DS step-up on suspicious patterns, audit recent dispute reasons.

**"How do I respond to a dispute?"**
Square sends a dispute notification with a deadline (typically 7, 14 days). Upload evidence (shipping tracking, customer signature, IP-match logs, communication history) via the Disputes Dashboard. Response wins are higher when evidence is strong.

**"Disputes vs chargebacks, which is which?"**
A dispute is the customer-initiated case; a chargeback is the issuer-bank settled outcome (money pulled from your account). Dispute rate ≈ chargeback rate when most disputes lose; for merchants who win frequently, dispute rate > chargeback rate.

**"Subscription disputes, how to prevent?"**
Clear cancel UX, transparent rebill emails 5, 7 days before the next charge, friendly customer-service for refund requests.

**"POS chip + tap disputes, are they possible?"**
Rare. Chip + PIN provides liability shift (fraud disputes go to the issuer, not the merchant).

**"My fraud-coded disputes are all from one IP range, what to do?"**
Block the IP via Square Risk Manager. Likely a coordinated card-testing or CNP fraud attack.

**"Multi-currency, single rate?"**
Currency-neutral rate.

**"Tap to Pay on iPhone, are disputes possible?"**
Yes but rare; same chip + PIN liability shift as Square Reader.

***

### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

*Dispute Rate* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Square and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

[Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.