You've heard the inspiring Maya Angelou quote before: “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.” While she absolutely wasn't talking about chargebacks, this quote is shockingly fitting when thinking of the value of chargeback data. To effectively manage chargebacks, understanding how successful your efforts have been in the past is crucial. That’s why we're excited to announce our new Chargeback Win Rate by Reason Category graph in data visibility platform, Peacock. 

Why is Chargeback Win Rate Important?

Chargeback win rate is the percentage of chargebacks fought that resulted in a win for your business. As such, it acts as a measure of how successful your chargeback management strategy is. This metric then ties directly back to your bottom line, as the more chargebacks you win, the less money and goods you lose to fraudulent or incorrect claims. Conversely, when your win rate is low, you likely have opportunities to reduce losses purely by changing your chargeback-handling process. Ultimately, knowing your chargeback win rate helps you make informed decisions about optimizing your payment processes, which directly leads to more money in your pocket!

To give you targeted insight into this valuable metric, we've added a graph and corresponding table to the Chargebacks Risks page in Peacock called Chargeback Win Rate by Reason Category:

As the name suggests, this graph presents your overall win rate broken down across different categories of chargebacks over time. Because Peacock ingests your payments data from all of your processors and aggregates it into one harmonized data set, the win rates expressed in this chart provide you a holistic understanding of your performance in each category. In the table below, click on a row to view your win rate data further broken down by the chargeback reason codes within that category. For full definitions of the Chargeback reason codes and Chargeback reason categories, see our Pagos product documentation.

Something to keep in mind: viewing your chargeback win rate over time is especially important for three reasons. First, win rates will fluctuate in response to any changes you make to your business or chargeback response strategy; if you try a new representment process, for example, you will clearly see its effectiveness if win rates increase steadily over time. In a similar vein, long-term changes in the win rate could highlight market shifts and emerging fraud trends, significantly impacting your chargeback rates and overall fraud risk. Lastly, chargeback challenges can take up to 4 months for card payments, so a long-term view is crucial to plan and allocate resources accordingly.

Making the Most of Chargeback Win Rate Data

So, what can you do with win rate data? Here are some ways to leverage the insights from this graph:

1. Identify Fraud Trends: If you see your win rate for fraud chargebacks trending down, it could indicate a shift in the tactics fraudsters are employing against your business that you need to address. Maybe your current fraud-prevention tools are losing effectiveness, or there are gaps in your customer onboarding process. Recognizing these patterns allows you to take proactive measures, like enhancing your verification tools and adjusting your fraud rules to stem future losses.

2. Optimize Resource Allocation: If you’re consistently winning chargebacks in certain categories, it might be time to redirect some of those resources to areas where you’re underperforming. The table not only shows your win rate by category and chargeback reason, but also breaks down the count and value of chargebacks, giving you a complete picture to decide where to focus your chargeback-fighting efforts for maximum impact.

3. Improve Representment Strategies: The win rate data helps you refine your representment strategies to improve your chances of successfully turning over chargebacks. If a certain type of chargeback has a lower win rate, it could be due to insufficient documentation or gaps in how you present your case. Use what you learn in this chart to revisit your approach, including the evidence and arguments you submit in your defense.

4. Address Low-Hanging Fruit: Sometimes the solution to improving your win rate is right in front of you. The detailed breakdown of chargeback reasons allows you to spot high-impact, easily solvable issues—those "low-hanging fruit" that can make a big difference with minimal effort.

5. Set and Monitor KPIs: Chargeback win rate is a crucial key performance indicator (KPI) for any business dealing with chargebacks. By monitoring this data over time, you can assess how well your team is performing against internal targets and adjust your approach accordingly.

Driving Revenue with Better Chargeback Management

The Chargeback Win Rate by Reason Category graph in Peacock is a powerful tool for any business looking to refine its risk management strategy and optimize revenue. Effective chargeback management ultimately isn’t just about minimizing disputes, but also identifying when it’s worth fighting back. Challenging chargebacks is expensive, with each attempt costing anywhere from $10 to $50 USD; add to that the potential lost revenue from the goods forfeited to a lost chargeback and it’s clear why making informed decisions about when to fight is critical.

Whether you’re looking to address specific fraud trends, optimize your representment strategy, or just get a clearer picture of how you’re performing against your KPIs, this new graph empowers you to take control of your chargeback management with confidence. Dive into your data, uncover the trends, and start winning more chargebacks today.

Ready to get started with Pagos? Contact us today!