BLOCKCHAIN-BASED CHARGEBACK LIFECYCLE AUTOMATION FOR CARD NETWORKS

Chargebacks remain one of the most operationally intensive and dispute-prone processes within card networks,
involving multiple parties—issuing banks, acquiring banks, merchants, and the card network—each managing
fragmented workflows and inconsistent evidence submission standards. Traditional chargeback systems rely
heavily on manual processes, batch-based updates, and siloed dispute management platforms, resulting in delays,
high administrative costs, elevated fraud exposure, and limited auditability. As card networks migrate toward realtime payment ecosystems and digital-first transaction environments, the need for a transparent, standardized, and
automated chargeback infrastructure becomes increasingly critical.
This paper proposes a Blockchain-based charge back life-cycle automation framework leveraging permission
distributed ledger technologies, smart contracts, cryptographic identity layers, and secure evidence repositories.
The system introduces a unified, tamper-evident ledger shared among relevant stakeholders, enabling automated
dispute initiation, evidence submission, rule evaluation, conditional decision flows, and settlement execution.
Smart contracts encode card network rules and reason-code logic, ensuring that disputes progress consistently and
within mandated time windows, while identity and access-control mechanisms guarantee that only authorized
parties can contribute or retrieve dispute-related data. Off-chain storage, hashing, and zero-knowledge techniques
safeguard sensitive transaction and customer information, preserving both privacy and regulatory compliance.
The proposed architecture enhances operational efficiency, reduces resolution times, improves fraud detection
accuracy, and significantly increases transparency across the entire dispute lifecycle. Performance
considerations—including throughput, consensus latency, ledger scalability, and integration with existing
ISO8583/20022 card-processing systems—are examined to validate feasibility in real-world payment networks.
Case studies highlight the potential for faster decision-making, streamlined workflows, automated fee allocation,
and robust audit trails. Overall, blockchain-based chargeback automation represents a transformative step toward
modernizing dispute resolution, reducing financial losses, and strengthening trust across global card networks.