What counts as compelling evidence in a dispute?
Compelling evidence in a dispute is documentation showing that the cardholder took part in the transaction, received the goods or services, or benefited from them. Examples include delivery confirmation, usage logs, matching device and IP data, and earlier undisputed purchases. Visa’s Compelling Evidence 3.0 rule defines precise criteria for fraud disputes on card-absent transactions.
In detail
Compelling evidence is proof strong enough to overturn a dispute, as defined by each card network for each reason code.
Common types
- Delivery: signed proof of delivery, tracking to the cardholder’s address, pickup confirmation.
- Digital goods: download or login records, usage after the purchase date.
- Identity signals: IP address, device ID, account ID and shipping address matching earlier orders.
- Communication: messages in which the customer acknowledges the purchase.
- Terms: the cancellation and refund policy accepted at checkout.
Visa’s Compelling Evidence 3.0
Since April 15, 2023, Visa applies specific criteria to dispute condition 10.4, fraud on card-absent transactions. The merchant can show two earlier transactions with the same payment credential that were not disputed. They must be at least 120 days old and no older than 365 days at the dispute date. At least two data elements must match the disputed transaction among user ID, IP address, shipping address and device ID or fingerprint, and one of the two must be the IP address or the device ID.
The rule targets first-party misuse, when a genuine customer disputes a real purchase. Merchants need to store these data elements with every order for it to work.
See the card dispute lifecycle and 3-D Secure and SCA exemptions. Pre-chargeback alerts give a chance to use this evidence before a dispute is filed.