Over the past few years, issuers have seen a sharp rise in both fraud claims and cardholder disputes. More online spending, a surge in "friendly fraud", and rising customer expectations all mean more cases landing on already stretched teams.
In a previous article, we outlined how to structure a dispute management flow so that cases move cleanly from intake to resolution. But even the best-designed flow faces a new challenge: the sheer growth in dispute volumes. So what happens when even a well-organised flow starts to buckle under growing volume?
Why disputes are rising
Several forces are converging to drive dispute volumes higher. E-commerce continues to grow, creating more opportunities for fraud and delivery disputes. "Friendly fraud" is becoming more common, as cardholders contest legitimate transactions... sometimes through confusion, sometimes intentionally. And cardholders themselves are quicker to dispute, with expectations shaped by instant digital experiences elsewhere in banking.
Industry forecasts reflect this reality. Mastercard projects that global chargeback volumes will climb by 24% by 2028, topping 324 million cases a year. Each case adds cost, but more critically, each one adds pressure to teams already running at capacity.
What does this mean for dispute teams? When volumes surge, the pain points multiply: queues get longer, agents spend more time on repetitive tasks, and back-and-forth with cardholders or merchants creates delays. Even small inefficiencies become costly when multiplied across thousands of cases. And because disputes are time-sensitive, the risk of missed deadlines rises sharply.
Practical steps to handle growth
Issuers don’t need to wait for a complete technology overhaul to cope with this growth. Several targeted improvements can make existing teams more resilient.
- Self-service intake
Providing cardholders with guided digital flows helps resolve many claims before they escalate into cases. Amiko data shows that for "do not recognise" claims, nearly 50% are resolved in under a minute once the cardholder is prompted with additional transaction details. That prevents unnecessary cases from entering the system at all.
- Automated data capture
Traditional workflows force agents to chase missing details, costing up to 45 minutes per case. Automating validation during intake means cases arrive ready to be worked… no follow-up required.
- Pre-dispute resolution
Card payment networks provide tools such as Ethoca alerts and Verifi that allow merchants to resolve transactions quickly. With Ethoca Alerts, around 75% of merchants respond within 24 hours, often resolving the case before it escalates to a formal dispute. Waiting for these outcomes can deflect a large share of disputes before they hit the back office.
- Bulk processing
When multiple transactions from the same cardholder are disputed, agents shouldn’t need to repeat the same process dozens of times. Bulk actions compress hours of manual work into minutes, processing 50 transactions in 5 to 10 minutes, rather than the three hours it would take without automation.
Preparing for the future
Rising dispute volumes are not a temporary spike. They reflect long-term changes in how people shop, pay, and challenge transactions. Teams that continue to rely on manual intake and fragmented systems will struggle to keep pace. But by introducing self-service, automating data collection, and making use of pre-dispute tools, issuers can create space for their agents to focus on the cases that truly need expertise.
The question isn’t whether disputes will keep growing. They will. But whether your operations can grow with them. So, how ready is your organisation to manage that growth without sacrificing cost efficiency or customer experience?