Secure payment options — especially for card not present transactions and credit card payment services that offer fraud detection and chargeback protection — are getting harder and harder for merchants to find. The many types of credit card payment options, both online and in-store, seem to be multiplying everyday, while the number of security threats rises even faster.

But one of the biggest threats to your business could happen even with the most secure payment options: credit card chargebacks are always bound to happen, regardless of your payment processing services, and chargebacks can be really harmful to a business. On one hand, it’s important to have chargeback regulations in order to protect customers — but on the other hand, especially when a business conducts transactions online, it’s hard to control the amount of chargebacks that might occur and might be filed against your business.

It’s essential to create a strategy using secure payment options that can detect possible fraud and financial problems, but even before you do that, it’s essential to know and understand the common types of credit card chargeback process and the reasons behind chargebacks:

1. Fraudulent purchases: Customers may claim that they shouldn’t have to pay for a product because they didn’t actually purchase it themselves; identity theft often results in stolen credit card numbers, and it’s easy for cyberhackers to enter these numbers through online store marketplaces and use someone else’s money to purchase something.
   

2. Item never shipped: If consumers are purchasing something online, it’s the merchant’s responsibility to make sure that the item is shipped to the customer safely and in a timely manner. If the item arrives damaged — or never arrives at all — customers often file a chargeback and ask for their money to be refunded.
   

3. Technical problems: Sometimes even the best payment processing equipment has a small glitch and charges the same card twice even when only one purchase was made. This really isn’t the fault of the customer or the merchant, but businesses are typically held responsible if their payment processing systems weren’t working correctly.