Library · Chargebacks · How to run this
Ethoca alerts
Ethoca is a Mastercard company. Issuers in the Ethoca network send an alert that a cardholder is disputing, while you still have a window to refund or cancel and stop the chargeback. Seats are sold direct and through resellers.
Pair: Ethoca alerts.
This fires before the bank chargeback. Miss the window and the CB still lands. A worked alert is usually not a primary CB — confirm with the acquirer. Cost shape: per-alert fee plus the refund. Not a public Mastercard list price. Some contracts have rebates when you already refunded; those are claims files, not a product. Staff the hours: alert response clocks.
Coverage is issuer-network coverage, not 100% of Mastercard. Measure alerts against Mastercard CBs; the gap is uncovered issuers. Enroll per MID. Descriptor and merchant ID have to match clearing.
Not RDR (auto-refund by rule). Not Visa CDRN. Not Order Insight.
Procedure
- Enroll the Mastercard MID, not the brand.
- Staff the alert clock (hours, not days).
- Refund unshipped; cancel recurring; fight only what the alert program still allows you to fight — most alerts are refund-to-stop-CB.
- Measure alerts / Mastercard CBs. The gap is uncovered issuers, not a dashboard bug.
Failure modes
- Missing the alert window and still paying the alert fee.
- Treating coverage as 100% of Mastercard volume.
- One Ethoca seat on MID A while MID B takes the volume.
Worked example
None on this page yet. When one lands it will be a real case: what broke, the number, and what changed. Not a composite.
Glossary
- Ethoca
- Mastercard-owned alert network. Issuers notify enrolled merchants of a dispute-in-progress so the merchant can refund or cancel before a chargeback.
Work with us — We run this job on your accounts. Services