Credit Not Processed Chargebacks for Merchants

A customer returned the goods or cancelled the service, waited for a refund that never came, and asked the bank for it. Here is what Visa says about this dispute and what to do.

October 2026

A customer brings a jacket back to your store. You say yes to the return. The jacket goes back on the rack, and the customer goes home to wait for the money. Weeks pass. Nothing lands on the card. So the customer calls the bank instead of calling you. That call becomes a credit not processed chargeback. This page walks through what Visa says about it, when to fight it, and when to fold.

What a credit-not-processed chargeback is

The name says most of it. Visa's guidelines say a cardholder files this dispute when a credit for returned goods or cancelled services has not appeared on their statement.

The customer is not saying the sale was fake. The customer is not saying the product was broken. The customer is saying a refund you owed never showed up. That makes it a service problem, not a fraud problem.

On the American Express side, the same idea carries a code. Reason code C02 is Credit not processed. Reason code C02 is in the Card Member Disputes group. C02 means a credit the merchant was supposed to apply to the card was never received.

Why cardholders file it

The causes are few, and most of them point back at the shop. Visa's guidelines say a common cause of this dispute is that the merchant did not issue a credit. The return was fine. The refund just never happened.

Visa's guidelines say one cause of this dispute is that no credit was issued for cancelled services or returned merchandise. A gym member cancels a monthly plan. A renter returns a key. The service ends, but the credit never appears.

There is one cause where the shop is not the slow one. Visa's guidelines say one cause is that returns were not accepted but the return policy was not properly disclosed to the customer. The customer thought returns were allowed. The shop thought they were not. Nobody told the customer the rules before the sale.

Visa dispute condition 13.6 and reason code C02

Visa splits its disputes into numbered conditions. Visa's guidelines say Condition 13.6 is called Credit Not Processed. Under 13.6, the cardholder got a credit or voided receipt from the merchant that was never processed.

Picture a store clerk who hands back a paper slip marked VOID. The customer takes it home and keeps it. That slip is a promise of money back. If the promise never turns into a credit on the card, condition 13.6 is the path the bank takes.

Visa's guidelines say a cardholder may dispute a transaction because they received a credit or voided receipt that was not processed. So the customer may be holding your own paperwork while the bank asks you for the money.

When the dispute is invalid

Not every 13.6 claim holds up. A 13.6 dispute is invalid for an Automated Fuel Dispenser Transaction or a sale the cardholder calls fraud. A gas pump sale cannot travel down this road. Neither can a claim where the customer says the charge was never theirs.

How to respond if a credit is due

Start with the honest question. Does the customer deserve the money?

Sometimes the answer is yes. The refund was approved and simply never ran. Visa's guidelines say a merchant should accept the dispute when the transaction is due for refund but has not yet been processed. Fighting a refund you owe wastes time.

Visa's guidelines say a merchant can accept the dispute when the cardholder's complaint is valid. It is closing a file you would have lost anyway.

How to respond if no credit is due

Now the other case. The customer asked for a refund, but your rules said no, and the rules were on display before the sale.

Visa's guidelines say a merchant can respond by showing the cardholder did not cancel according to the disclosed policy. The policy said cancel by the 15th. The customer cancelled on the 20th. That is your answer.

Visa's guidelines say a merchant can respond by showing the cardholder kept using the services or did not return the merchandise. A customer who wants a refund on a cancelled gym plan but kept going to the gym all month has a weak claim.

Visa's guidelines say a merchant can respond by providing documentation to refute the cardholder's bank's evidence when the sale is valid. Gather the signed policy, the usage logs, the delivery records. For an American Express C02 dispute where no credit is due, a merchant can send a written explanation with documents that support its position.

To answer a 13.6 dispute, show a credit the issuer did not address, or that the dispute is invalid. Maybe you already refunded the card and the bank missed it. Show that credit.

The wider task of building that response file has its own guide in how to dispute a chargeback as a merchant. For the pushback itself, how to fight chargeback walks through the steps. The general process is covered under disputing a chargeback.

How to prevent credit-not-processed disputes

The fix is dull, which is the good news. Visa's guidelines say merchants can avoid this dispute by processing credits and reversals promptly. Run the refund the same week the return lands. Do not let approved refunds sit in a queue.

The second fix is about words. Put the return policy where the customer sees it before paying. Visa's guidelines say the disclosure may be a link to a separate page if that link forms part of the click to accept acknowledgement. A link the customer must click to accept does.

This dispute is one of several a shop can face. A customer who says the goods never arrived files a different one. A customer who says the charge was not theirs files a fraud claim. The full map of dispute reasons lays out the others.

The pattern to carry away is simple. A credit not processed chargeback means the customer waited for money you owed and gave up waiting. Refund fast, state your rules clearly, and most of these claims never start.