Under the Excessive Chargeback Program (ECP) Standards, what is the acquirer’s responsibility?

The acquirer’s responsibility under the Excessive Chargeback Program (ECP) Standards includes calculating the chargeback-to-transaction ratio each month. This process is critical for ensuring that the acquirer can identify merchants that may be at risk of exceeding the established thresholds for chargebacks.

By regularly monitoring the chargeback-to-transaction ratio, acquirers can take proactive measures to address any issues that may arise, such as increasing fraud or customer dissatisfaction leading to chargebacks. This monitoring aids in maintaining the integrity of the payments ecosystem and helps protect the interests of all parties involved, including consumers, merchants, and the acquirers themselves.

Maintaining communications with merchants and monitoring customer satisfaction are important, but they are not specifically mandated as responsibilities under the ECP. Authorizing all transactions without checks would not align with best practices for managing risk and ensuring compliance with industry standards. Thus, the calculation of the chargeback-to-transaction ratio is the correct focus for acquirers in this context.