Visa Targets Fraud and Friction as Disputes Hit Record

Visa has introduced a group of tools aimed at replacing outdated dispute processes.

The six new dispute resolution tools, announced Wednesday (April 1) are designed to help merchants and financial institutions shrink administrative costs and cut fraud-related losses amid growing instances of disputed transactions.

In 2025, Visa said in a news release, the company processed a record 106 million disputes worldwide, a 35% increase since 2019.

“Disputes put strain on every part of the payments ecosystem, frustrating consumers, while driving cost and complexity for merchants and financial institutions,” said Andrew Torre, Visa’s president of value-added services.

“When outdated technology cannot keep pace, fraud goes undetected. Our expanded suite of dispute services gives clients the visibility they need to focus on what matters most: serving customers, launching new products and growing their businesses.”

The new and enhanced offerings include three tools for merchants and three for issuers and acquirers. These include the Visa Dispute Resolution Network, which is designed to streamline pre-dispute handling so merchants can settle potential disputes before they escalate.

For issuers and acquirers, there is the Visa Dispute Case Manager, which incorporates AI functionality to combine workflows into a one platform for managing disputes across a range of card networks, from intake to resolution.

“Dispute management is moving from a back-office function to a strategic priority, driven by rising volumes, regulatory scrutiny, and growing pressure to protect customer experience,” Sam Abadir, research director for risk, compliance and financial crime, IDC Financial Insights, said in the news release.

“Institutions that continue to manage disputes through fragmented, manual processes are leaving recoverable revenue on the table and absorbing costs that modern workflows could eliminate.”

PYMNTS spoke late last summer with Shane Malloy, vice president of value added services at Visa DPS, who echoed the notion that disputes are no longer a matter for the back office.

“It’s really one of the highest impact moments that a cardholder goes through,” he said.

That report pointed to research showing that a significant number of cardholders say they would change their behavior due to a bad dispute experience, something that elevates post-purchase interactions to a boardroom concern.

“We’ve really seen that this is elevated from an experience that is not just really in the back office or operations, but really expands and is something being looked at the C level across issuers around the globe,” Malloy told PYMNTS.