Retrieval Request

A retrieval request is a request from a card issuer, sent through the card network to the acquiring bank and on to the merchant, for a copy of the records behind a card transaction. It usually follows a cardholder query such as "I don't recognise this charge". The issuer wants the sales receipt, invoice or order details so that it can answer the cardholder or decide whether a formal chargeback is justified.

A retrieval request is not a chargeback and moves no money. It sits at the very start of the payment dispute process, before the first chargeback, and is sometimes called a "request for copy" or "soft chargeback". Visa and Mastercard both still define retrieval requests in their dispute rules, but issuers are not required to send one before charging back, and many disputes now skip this stage.

Imagine your bank statement shows a charge from a name you do not recognise. You ring the bank. Before the bank formally accuses the shop of a bad charge, it sends a polite note: "Can you show us the receipt for this one?" That note is a retrieval request.

If the shop replies quickly with a clear receipt, the customer often realises it was the restaurant they visited on holiday, and the matter ends. If the shop ignores the note, the bank has little reason to doubt the customer and may move straight to taking the money back. The request is cheap for everyone, but only works if the shop answers on time.

1. Cardholder query. The cardholder contacts the card issuer about a transaction they do not recognise or have a question about.
2. Request sent. The issuer raises the retrieval request in the network's dispute system with a reason code that says what it needs and why (for example, cardholder does not recognise the charge, or a copy is needed for legal or fraud analysis).
3. Routing to the merchant. The network passes the request to the acquirer, which notifies the merchant or its payment processor, usually through a portal or report.
4. Fulfilment. The merchant uploads the documents before the deadline set by the network and acquirer, typically measured in days, not weeks.
5. Issuer review. The issuer reviews the documents and either closes the query or proceeds to a chargeback.

The aim is to let the cardholder recognise the purchase and to show that it was authorized. Useful items include:

• Transaction details. Date, amount, currency, authorization code and the last four digits of the primary account number.
• Proof of the customer. Name, billing and shipping address, email, IP address or device data for online orders, and a signed or PIN-verified receipt for in-store sales.
• Proof of delivery or service. Tracking numbers, delivery confirmation, login records for digital goods, or check-in records for travel.
• Merchant identity. The trading name and how it appears on statements. A confusing merchant descriptor is one of the most common reasons for retrieval requests in the first place.

A retrieval request does not count towards a merchant's chargeback ratio, so answering it well is a cheap way to stop a dispute before it becomes one. Ignoring it has costs: in many cases a missed retrieval removes the merchant's chance to rebut a later chargeback, and some acquirers charge a fee per request. A pattern of retrieval requests is also a warning sign that customers do not recognise the business name, or that friendly fraud is building.

Over the past decade the networks have pushed issuers towards faster, data-driven dispute handling, such as Visa Claims Resolution, introduced in 2018. Issuers can often pull order details electronically, and tools that share purchase data with the issuer at the moment of a query can resolve a cardholder's doubt without either a retrieval or a chargeback. For that reason, the volume of classic retrieval requests has fallen in many markets, though they remain common in travel, healthcare and some regions.

After a retrieval request the case may move to a first chargeback, where funds are debited from the acquirer and merchant. The merchant can then answer with chargeback representment, and unresolved cases can go to pre-arbitration and arbitration by the network. Separately, the merchant may simply offer a refund through normal refund processing, which ends the matter without a dispute record. The broader framework for resolving these cases is covered under dispute resolution.

• Visa
• Mastercard