Across the industry, dispute management continues to consume a significant amount of time and effort. Agents toggle between systems, re-enter the same data, and chase missing documents, often for cases that could have been resolved automatically.
As volumes increase, these manual steps put pressure on teams and extend resolution times. For many issuers, dispute handling has become quite a resource-intensive operation rather than a process that can be improved and measured.
That's starting to change.
Why agent time gets wasted
When a dispute enters the system, it typically triggers a chain of small manual actions: checking intake data, verifying documents, formatting evidence for submission, following up with merchants... Each step takes a few minutes. Added up, they consume hours.
According to Amiko data, manual case preparation alone can take up to 45 minutes per dispute, and complex fraud cases involving multiple transactions can stretch to three hours of repetitive work. Multiply that by thousands of cases per month, and it's clear why teams struggle to keep pace.
Much of this effort is administrative. Agents are just moving information from one place to another; they're not making decisions or applying their expertise. That's the real opportunity for automation.
Looking at dispute management as a whole
The most efficient issuers are starting to view disputes the same way they view payments or onboarding: as a process that can be measured, optimised, and automated.
With Amiko, more than 70% of dispute tasks can be automated, from intake to submission. The goal isn't to remove people from the process, but to automate the routine steps so agents can focus on what needs judgment and experience.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
- Automated intake: Guided flows collect all required data upfront, so cases arrive complete and compliant.
- Pre-dispute handling: Integration with Ethoca Alerts and Verifi resolves a large share of cases before they reach formal dispute.
- Bulk actions: Agents can process dozens of transactions in one go, reducing handling time from three hours to as little as 10 minutes. This could be fully automated if conditions are met, meaning no agent involvement would be necessary at all.
- Automated document generation: Structured data feeds directly into payment network templates, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
- Automated status updates: Agents do not need to monitor queues on scheme portals, as the local dispute management system integrates directly into VROL or MasterCom and fetches information about any dispute lifecycles or related events.
Together, these capabilities turn dispute handling from a reactive function into a controlled, measurable workflow.
What changes with automation
When the manual workload drops by more than 70%, dispute teams can spend their time on complex cases, pattern analysis, and customer communication instead of repetitive data handling.
They also gain visibility. Automated systems track every action and timestamp, making it easier to collaborate, monitor performance, and identify bottlenecks. The process becomes faster, clearer, and more predictable, for both teams and customers.
The impact
Across issuers using Amiko, automation has reduced manual workload by over 70%, improved data accuracy, and shortened end-to-end resolution times dramatically. Cases that once took hours now move in minutes, without sacrificing quality. In short, lower operational costs and teams that can focus where it matters most.
For cardholders, that means faster outcomes and a smoother experience: faster answers, clearer communication, and greater confidence that their bank is in control.
Dispute management is a process that evolves. Treating it as such opens the door to measurable improvement and scalable growth.
Automation doesn't mean doing less, but doing better, removing what doesn't add value, so teams can spend more time on what does. Because in dispute management, the banks that measure, automate, and optimise will be the ones that have an advantage.
Are you curious to learn more? Let's talk.