Disputes used to be treated as a cost of doing business: an unavoidable part of running a card programme. But things have changed. The volume of digital transactions keeps growing, customer expectations are higher than ever, and traditional dispute processes are under strain.
Manual workflows, incomplete data, and slow resolution times are all negatively impacting brand reputation, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
For card issuers, the question is no longer whether to improve dispute management but how.
This article looks at why legacy systems fall short, what smarter automation looks like, and how issuers can deliver faster, clearer, and more scalable dispute experiences, without overwhelming their teams.
Accelerating resolution
For card issuers, the sooner you can intervene during a potential fraud or dispute, the better. Fast merchant responses and accurate resolution at this stage can mean the difference between a quick fix and a costly, time-consuming chargeback.
That’s where Amiko makes an impact.
By automating pre-dispute handling, Amiko enables issuers to recover funds faster, without adding manual work to the team. In fact, around 75% of active merchant responses happen within 24 hours, 50% within 12 hours, and 45% within just 8 hours. That’s well ahead of the 72-hour recommended waiting period suggested by Mastercard and Ethoca.
For issuer teams, Amiko tackles every step, from routing claims to pre-dispute channels to tracking outcomes and escalating when necessary. These zero-touch recoveries allow dispute analysts to focus on higher-value cases while the system handles the routine ones. Speed is important, of course, but removing repetitive steps and creating space for your team to focus on the cases that really need attention has a tremendous impact.
Behind all of this is automation: real-time routing, merchant response tracking, and configurable rules for credit decisions, even in tight regulatory timeframes. That means fewer manual steps, and more reliable outcomes. Because smarter tools don’t just help you manage disputes… they help you avoid them altogether.
Cardholder experience and Virtual Agent
For issuers, every dispute is a test of two things: how well your team can manage operations and how clearly your cardholders feel supported. Too often, both sides suffer.
Amiko’s Virtual Agent helps fix that. It brings structure and intelligence to what has long been a static, frustrating process, reducing incoming case volume while improving customer satisfaction.
Self-service
One of the most common reasons for dispute is: “I don’t recognise this transaction.” Often, it’s not fraud, it’s confusion. But most systems treat every single claim the same: send it to the back office, log it as a case, and let someone figure it out. That’s costly and inefficient.
Amiko changes this. In nearly half (48.1%) of “Do not recognise” cases, the Virtual Agent helps the cardholder recognise the transaction on the spot, in under a minute on average. That means no ticket, no agent, and no back-office processing required.
For the cases that do need to move forward, the average time to file is just over 2 minutes, structured, guided, and with all required data captured upfront.
The result? Fewer touchpoints, faster outcomes, and more trust. Cardholders don’t feel like they have to fight, they get clear and direct answers. And for issuers, every recognised transaction is one less case to review or escalate.
For real claims, fast and structured filing
Amiko deflects unnecessary cases, but it also makes it easier to process the ones that matter.
In nearly 20% of “There’s a problem” conversations, the issue is resolved within 90 seconds, without a formal case being created. For the claims that do move ahead, the cardholder spends around 3 minutes and 30 seconds filing, with every scheme requirement already fulfilled.
This structure is key. The captured data is clean, complete, and ready for processing, with no messy follow-ups or missing fields. That makes downstream automation more effective, helps prevent errors, and accelerates resolution times.
What does this mean at scale?
The average time for a cardholder to get to any outcome, whether recognising a transaction, resolving an issue, or completing a claim, is around 2 minutes and 6 seconds. That’s often less time than it takes to find a static dispute form.
This speed and clarity boost cardholder satisfaction and make it far more likely that users stick to digital channels, reducing pressure on your call centre and letting agents focus on more complex, sensitive cases.
Issuers gain structured data, faster handling times, fewer manual touchpoints, and a lighter operational load, without compromising service quality.
A new model for issuers
Most card issuers still rely on paper forms, but some have switched to digital forms to handle dispute claims. These may feel modern, but they follow a static, outdated logic: gather basic data and push it to the back office. The form doesn’t guide the cardholder. It doesn’t flag common errors. It doesn’t help prevent misfiled or unnecessary claims. And it certainly doesn’t deflect work from your dispute team.
Every single submission becomes a case, whether it should or not. Follow-ups are often needed to gather missing information. And agents spend their time processing low-value tasks rather than high-value work.
But rather than passively collecting data, Amiko uses machine intelligence to guide cardholders through the process in real-time. It helps them recognise transactions, resolve issues, or, when needed, file a compliant claim. By resolving common cases before they even reach the dispute team, Amiko cuts case volumes in half. That’s a shift from 100% case creation to less than 50%.
But the impact doesn’t stop there.
The Virtual Agent produces fully structured data, capturing all necessary information for scheme and legal compliance. That means no follow-up calls, no manual checks, and no delays caused by missing information… Human agents no longer waste time cleaning up submissions, they focus on complex fraud cases and high-value claims instead.
For issuers, this means fewer unjustified claims, fewer errors, faster resolution times, and a dispute operation that’s ready to scale, without scaling headcount.
This isn’t just more efficient. It changes the nature of the dispute team’s role. Instead of running a processing line, they're managing exceptions and contributing strategically. That’s better for your team, better for your budget, and better for customers who expect fast answers.
Time to move from reaction to resolution
Legacy dispute systems weren’t built for today’s pace. They react slowly, rely on manual work, and make it hard to meet customer expectations. But things don’t have to stay that way.
Smart automation, such as Rivero’s Amiko platform, offers issuers a new approach. One that reduces back-office load, speeds up resolution times, and puts customer experience first.
By turning static forms into guided, self-service conversations and by automating key decisions, issuers can reduce costs, improve accuracy, and scale their operations without scaling headcount.
For banks looking to stay competitive, this isn’t just a tech upgrade… it’s a strategic step forward.
Do you want to learn more about Amiko and what it can do for you? Get in touch with our team.