Chargeback fee: what Stripe, PayPal and other providers charge per dispute

Chargeback fees by provider (standard public pricing, checked 2 November 2026)

What is a chargeback fee?

A chargeback fee, also called a dispute fee, is an administrative charge your payment provider adds when a cardholder asks their bank to reverse a payment. It is separate from the disputed amount, which is debited from your balance while the case is open and returned only if you win.

The fee pays for the provider's handling of the case with the card scheme and the issuing bank. Most providers charge it when the dispute opens, whether or not you respond, and some add more fees when you contest or escalate. Funds, evidence deadlines and the final decision sit with the acquirer, the card scheme and the issuer, as explained in our guide to chargebacks and payment disputes.

How much do providers charge per chargeback?

The table compares published standard fees. Custom or interchange-plus contracts can differ, so always check your own pricing schedule. Fees were read from each provider's public pricing page on 2 November 2026; the source links are listed at the end of this page.

Adyen, Worldpay and Mollie do not publish one flat per-dispute fee for all merchants on a single public page that we could verify, so we do not quote a number for them. If you use them, the chargeback fee is set in your contract or pricing schedule.

How do Stripe dispute fees work?

Stripe splits a dispute into up to three fees on standard pricing. The dispute received fee is charged for each dispute you receive. The dispute countered fee is charged when you respond manually; Stripe returns it if you win and keeps it if you lose. The dispute appealed fee is charged when you appeal, and Stripe states you don't get it back even if you win; additional network fees apply.

In the US each of the three fees is $15.00. In the UK and Ireland each is £20.00 or €20.00. A merchant that receives, counters and appeals one dispute in Ireland can therefore pay up to €60.00 in Stripe fees plus network fees, and recover only the €20.00 countered fee if it wins.

Stripe also offers Smart Disputes, which prepares evidence for you, for 30% of the disputed amount on disputes you win, with no Smart Disputes fee on lost disputes; the dispute received fee still applies.

What is the difference between a PayPal chargeback fee and a dispute fee?

PayPal's US fee page, last updated on 1 October 2026, lists two different charges. The chargeback fee of $20.00 applies to card chargebacks on transactions that were not processed through the buyer's PayPal account or guest checkout, for example card payments processed by PayPal's card services.

The dispute fee applies when a buyer files a dispute claim or chargeback on a transaction processed through the buyer's PayPal account or a PayPal checkout solution. It is $15.00 at the standard level and $30.00 at the high volume level, charged in the currency of the original transaction; the PayPal User Agreement sets when each level applies.

Who sets the chargeback fee: the card scheme, the acquirer or the provider?

The fee on your statement is set by your payment provider or acquirer in your merchant agreement. Card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard charge their own fees to acquirers for handling disputes, and acquirers price those costs, plus their own handling, into the per-dispute fee they pass on. That is why the same dispute can cost different amounts with different providers, and why custom contracts can differ from public price lists.

The fee is only one step of a longer process. Filing windows, reason codes, evidence and the Visa VAMP and Mastercard ECM monitoring thresholds are covered in our chargebacks guide; the role of each bank is explained in acquirer vs issuer.

What does a chargeback really cost beyond the fee?

The published fee is usually the smallest part. While the dispute is open you lose the disputed amount; if you lose, the goods or service are gone, and the processing fee on the original payment is typically not returned.

A high dispute ratio adds indirect costs: card scheme monitoring programmes, higher rates, rolling reserves or account closure by the acquirer. High-risk and iGaming merchants feel this first, because providers underwrite them with tighter thresholds.

• Disputed amount held or lost
• Original processing fee typically not returned
• Staff time to collect and submit evidence
• Scheme monitoring and acquirer measures when the dispute ratio grows

How can merchants reduce chargeback fees?

Because most providers charge the first fee as soon as a dispute opens, the cheapest chargeback is the one that never happens. Work on prevention first, then decide case by case whether to fight.

1. Stop fraud before authorisation Score payments for fraud risk before they are sent for authorisation and apply 3D Secure where it shifts liability. Fraud-coded disputes are among the most common.
2. Act on early fraud warnings When a provider reports an early fraud warning, a refund before the dispute opens usually avoids the dispute fee.
3. Make descriptors and receipts clear Use a recognisable billing descriptor and send receipts, so customers don't dispute payments they simply don't recognise.
4. Fight only disputes you can win Where a provider charges to counter or appeal, compare the fee with the disputed amount and your evidence before you respond, and remember which fees come back if you win.
5. Track disputes across providers Merchants with several providers should watch dispute ratios, deadlines and win rates in one place, because each provider only sees its share.

How do OrsunPay and RiskCogs help with chargeback costs?

OrsunPay is a payment orchestration platform that connects you to licensed payment providers; it does not process or hold funds itself. It collects dispute webhooks and early fraud warnings from the providers you connect, so your team sees disputes across providers in one view, and smart routing lets you send traffic to the providers that fit each market.

RiskCogs scores payments for fraud risk before authorisation, which helps cut fraud-coded disputes and the fees that come with them. Chargeback fees themselves are still set and charged by each provider. For OrsunPay pricing see the pricing page, or ask for a demo.

Fees are quoted from providers' public pages on the date shown and may change; check your own contract. This is not legal or financial advice.