Latest news with #chargeback
Finextra
5 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Ant International expands merchant payment AI functions
Antom, Ant International's merchant payment and digitisation services provider, today announced a major upgrade to its flagship AI agent, Antom Copilot, with expanded capabilities across payment integration, onboarding, risk configuration, and chargeback solution. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Antom Copilot is the world's first merchant payment service AI agent, launched in June 2024. It's built on Ant International's Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, an AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) platform that enables fintech companies and super apps to build AI-agentic and ultimately AI-native financial services. Nearly 50% of SME clients of Antom do not actively respond to chargebacks. An industry first, the Chargeback AI Assistant offers a faster and more effective solution to the increasingly complex dispute settlement and revenue loss recovery issues for SMEs and e-commerce platforms. The Chargeback AI Assistant builds a tailored response strategy based on automated case-by-case analysis to help merchants improve revenue control and customer service. It offers documentation support, success rate analysis, defence building, as well as post-case analysis. Pilot testing showed a 3 percentage point increase in win rates, while time spent on dispute resolution was reduced by 46%. To ensure accuracy and reliability, the process includes merchant review and manual verification by Antom. Full automation is planned in future iterations. Other updates include the ability to automatically recommend suitable payment methods, acquiring services and integration solutions based on merchant needs and Antom Copilot's analysis of industry trends and market conditions. It enables merchants to deploy localized payment methods more quickly and with less technical resources. Antom Copilot 2.0 also offers AI-assisted onboarding that leverages multimodal LLM capabilities to extract merchant registration documents. In addition, merchants can now configure risk management settings using natural language prompts, making AI-powered anti-fraud tools more available and easier to manage. Antom Copilot accelerates integration by over 90%, leveraging chain of thought (CoT) reasoning, standard operating procedure (SOP) automation, language (LUI) and graphical (GUI) user interfaces, and AI-driven code generation. It also achieves an average satisfaction rate of 90% in end-to-end issue resolution. 56% of the merchants using Antom's dashboard engaged with the embedded Antom Copilot during the first half of 2025. The most common questions they asked were about payment method coverage and supported currencies, industry-specific payment solutions, and recommended integration technologies. 'We're building AI tools that go beyond payment acquiring to address real operational needs for merchants,' said Gary Liu, General Manager of Antom, Ant International. 'With this latest upgrade, Antom Copilot continues to evolve into a payment partner to provide merchants with tailored solutions. This reflects Ant International's AI strategy to deliver trusted, industry-specific solutions that help businesses, especially SMEs, fully harness the benefits of technology to thrive.'
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Ottawa BBQ business out thousands after customer wins disputed credit card refund
An Ottawa barbecue retailer says it lost thousands of dollars on a high-end grill after a customer disputed the charge and received a full refund, despite proof the product was delivered. 'The customer called our delivery company to say that they were stepping out to pick up their daughter and asked if the barbecue could be left at the back gate of the home and that's what they did,' said Chuck Shabsove, president of Capital BBQ. Despite a receipt, proof of delivery, even a registered warranty showing the customer's name and serial number, the customer claimed he never received the order. 'He registered the grill and so we have definite proof that he got the product, the serial number matches the invoice, and he denies that he got it, and the credit card company sided with him,' said Shabsove. In the end, the credit card company refunded the customer. Shabsove lost the grill and around $3,000. 'Our margins on barbecue's aren't great so we probably have to sell three or four just to recoup the loss that we had on the fraudulent transaction,' he said. It's part of what experts call 'friendly fraud,' when a customer knowingly or mistakenly refutes a legitimate purchase with their credit card company. It's a growing concern for small businesses across Canada. When false claims happen, it's often the business that gets burned, winning only 20 to 30 per cent of chargeback disputes, according to Clearly Payments. 'There are some different types of payment technologies that are coming onto the market and perhaps that will start to lessen the risks to merchants but at the moment, this does feel like a highly risky situation in many cases,' said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). CFIB says two thirds of small business experienced fraud in the past three years with many pointing to chargebacks as a growing concern. A store in the Greater Toronto Area called Barbecues Galore tells CTV News it lost $42,000 in just six weeks, losses they believe are linked to fraudulent chargebacks. 'The fact that this is happening more and more often should be sending alarm bells to the credit card industry and the government that something needs to change,' said Kelly. Shabsove is filing a report with Ottawa Police Service, but he says it's not just money he's losing. 'If a merchant has too many chargebacks, their rates will go up and you're flagged as a high-risk merchant. It's ridiculous,' he said.
News.com.au
24-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘It hurts': Customer's Facebook Marketplace post leaves small business owner horrified
An Australian business owner was left in disbelief after catching a customer in a very brazen act months after the brand was forced to give her a refund. Emma Diedrichs is the founder of LuxeLittleOne, a small business selling nappy bags and backpacks for parents. The Brisbane mum first got the idea for the business a few months after she had her son. She was tired of juggling clunky baby bags and wanted to create something that was stylish but also functional. The 30-year-old launched LuxeLittleOne over 18 months ago and, since then, has poured her 'blood, sweat and tears' into the business. 'We have grown exponentially and now have our own warehouse and work for myself full time,' Ms Diedrichs told She has put an incredible amount of effort into the business and has received great feedback from many happy customers, which is why she was shocked to receive her first ever chargeback in February of this year. A chargeback is when a customer disputes a debit or credit card transaction and the card issuer must determine whether to provide the cardholder with a refund for the transaction amount. Chargebacks can occur when the products or services received are not as described, they did not receive them within the stipulated time frame or they were not received at all. Other situations where a person may submit a chargeback is cases where the card is used fraudulently or when there is an error in the billing process. When Ms Diedrichs received the notification for the chargeback she didn't know what to do as this is not something she had experienced in her business before. 'Chargebacks just don't happen with us. We are not fraudulent, we send everything out correctly. If something is wrong someone will just email us or contact us through social media,' she said in a recent TikTok video. The customer in question had purchased two baby bags, totalling almost $250, with the 30-year-old saying she remembered packing this order as it was unusual for customers to purchase more than one bag at a time. The business owner looked further into the situation and found the items had been confirmed as delivered by Australia Post and the customer had made no attempt to contact the company prior to submitting the chargeback. Ms Diedrichs uploaded the documents showing the items had been sent and delivered but, despite this, the bank decided to side with the customer. This meant that, on top of losing the sale, the business was hit with a $25 fee. 'It's so disheartening for me. I am a single mum, this is my livelihood. Some people probably think that this is just a company that ships out and don't care. I literally do a happy dance every time I get an order,' she said in the video, which she shared on her business page. Ms Diedrichs was then hit with another blow just two weeks ago when she was scrolling on Facebook Marketplace and found a post from the same customer selling the two bags for which she had received the refund. 'X2 LittleLuxeOne baby bags. One pink and grey, the other grey and black. Only used for a few months. Near new condition with no wear and tear,' the ad read. 'Currently on sale for $119.90 for one. RRP $239.80 each.' The discovery left her furious. 'This is so frustrating for me. I work so hard in this business. This is my full-time job. This puts food on the table for myself of my son. I am working day in day out to provide for my family,' Ms Diedrichs said. 'This is my income. You wouldn't go to somebody's workplace and take $250 off them. 'Please don't. It just hurts.' Speaking to the owner confirmed that, since making the Facebook discovery, she was taking the matter further. She said that, as the business grows, she understood that issues like this are 'bound to happen', but she was still incredibly 'disappointed' as things like this impact her livelihood. 'This impacts us massively. Not only has she got the products, we had to refund $250 and cop a $25 chargeback fee,' Ms Diedrichs said. Since sharing the situation on social media, the young mum has received a huge amount of support from her followers, with people furious at the situation. 'This is such a horrible thing for someone to do,' one person wrote. 'That's so disappointing. I hope she sees this and feels awful,' another said. Other business owners chimed in claiming they had experienced similar issues. 'We have had to deal with a small handful of these, unfortunately one customer did it for 3 massive orders for us. We had evidence to the moon and back and still wasn't enough,' one small business owner wrote. Another person claimed they had sent proof of delivery and photos of the customer wearing the items they did the chargeback for, and yet the decision was still not reversed. '$800ish worth of stock and three orders and the bank rejected our response and continued on with the chargeback. It's an absolute joke,' they wrote. Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO Paul Zahra previously told SmartCompany that, while many chargebacks are legitimate, chargeback fraud is still a concern for many businesses. 'Chargebacks protect consumers from fraudulent transactions and help maintain trust in online shopping. They also encourage businesses to maintain high standards of service and product quality,' Mr Zahra said. 'However, for businesses, chargebacks can be costly not only in terms of direct financial losses but also in administrative burdens. Disputing chargebacks often requires time and resources that small businesses might not have.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Online Shoppers Warned About New Payment Method
Online shoppers have been increasingly provided the option to pay directly from their bank accounts instead of having to put in all of their credit or debit card information. While this might be convenient for some shoppers and offer some perks, it also carries some significant risks. These new "pay by bank" options have some perks for customers, allowing refunds to be processed instantly and allowing the transacrion to proceed without card details being shared. It also has some perks for businesses, allowing them to bypass card transaction fees and receive customer funds immediately. While this might be alluring to consumers and businesses alike, there are some security concerns. While the "pay by bank" options are increasingly common, Which? money editor Jenny Ross issued a pretty major warning for consumers, pointing out that these sort of payments lacks the Section 75 and chargeback protections associated with other payment methods. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act can hold credit card companies liable for faulty or unfulfilled purchases. This allows shoppers to potentially file chargebacks with their credit card provider and receive refunds even if the retailer fails to reimburse them. These same protections don't exist for "pay by bank" options. 'Innovations like pay by bank present opportunities for businesses and consumers alike, but they're not without risk, particularly as they lack the rigorous purchase protections you get when paying by card," Ross said via The Independent. 'We're calling on the regulator to act to ensure consumers can use pay by bank with confidence, but in the meantime, we'd urge consumers to think carefully before using it to book events or make substantial purchases – for now, your good old-fashioned credit or debit card may be the best option.' Obviously, this is an important thing for customers to consider before using the "pay by bank" option for their online shopping. Online Shoppers Warned About New Payment Method first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 13, 2025
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Shoppers warned that popular ‘fast' payment method could leave them unprotected
Consumers are being encouraged to understand their payment protections amid the growing popularity of 'pay by bank' options. The method allows for direct, secure transfers from a bank account without needing card details or recipient information. However, Which? has highlighted a potential 'protection gap' if purchases go wrong. While pay by bank is increasingly used for credit card payments, bill settlements, and retail purchases, Which? warns it lacks the Section 75 and chargeback protections associated with other payment methods. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act can hold credit card companies liable for faulty or unfulfilled purchases, potentially allowing shoppers to claim refunds from their provider if the retailer fails to reimburse them. People using a debit card or a credit card for purchases could also potentially get their money back via the voluntary chargeback scheme. Which? said pay by bank is a 'potential game changer' for businesses as they can sidestep card transaction fees and also benefit from receiving customer funds immediately. There is also appeal for consumers too as refunds can be processed instantly, and card details are not shared when making a transaction – eliminating the risk of them being stolen or compromised. People do have general purchase rights under the Consumer Rights Act, meaning that goods must be fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality. But Which? said these protections are not always easy to enforce and in some cases may end up with people needing to go to a small claims court. People may also face difficulties in the event of a business going bust, particularly if there is an issue with a future-dated purchase such as a flight, a festival, or a household big ticket purchase such as a kitchen or a sofa, the consumer group said. Jenny Ross, Which? Money editor, said: 'Innovations like pay by bank present opportunities for businesses and consumers alike, but they're not without risk, particularly as they lack the rigorous purchase protections you get when paying by card. 'We're calling on the regulator to act to ensure consumers can use pay by bank with confidence, but in the meantime, we'd urge consumers to think carefully before using it to book events or make substantial purchases – for now, your good old-fashioned credit or debit card may be the best option.' A spokesperson for banking and finance industry body UK Finance said: 'There are a range of options for making payments online which provides customers with choice as to how they wish to pay. Different payment methods do come with different levels of protection and it's worth being aware of these when shopping online, particularly when making higher value purchases.'
