CHARGEBACK OVERVIEW

Resolve disputes much faster with complete visibility of chargebacks and receipts right from within the SchoolCash platform. 


What is a Chargeback?

Chargebacks are credit card transactions in which the cardholder has disputed the charge. A cardholder disputes a charge by requesting a chargeback directly with their credit card issuer. This results in shifting the financial liability for the transaction from the cardholder back to the merchant. The merchant, in this case, the district, becomes responsible for the transaction.


Chargebacks Overview

The new Chargebacks feature is designed to help districts using the new payment processor efficiently manage chargebacks they receive for SchoolCash Online payments. When the district is notified about the chargeback, they can choose to accept it or dispute it by submitting relevant documentation. Funds will also be automatically debited from schools’ bank accounts, saving districts time.

 

Who can access the Chargebacks feature?

Access to the Chargeback feature is provided to the District 100 roles by default and to other roles (if applicable) with access to the District management tab in SchoolCash Catalog.


Note: Only districts that are using the new payment processor, will have access to the chargebacks feature. All chargebacks that the district receives after switching to the new payment processor will be displayed. Chargebacks related to previous payment processors will not be displayed.


Chargeback Notification

District-level users will see a notification on the To-Do List of the accounting home page when there is a chargeback.  The chargebacks for all applicable schools will be included in the same notification.


District level users will also receive an email notification when there is a chargeback. The email notification will be sent to the email address entered in User Management.

CHARGEBACK PROCESS

The chargeback is debited from the merchant flow-through account as soon as a chargeback request is issued. Once notified, the district has 10 calendar days to respond to the credit card company with supporting documents to dispute the chargeback. If the district does not respond in time, the dispute will expire, and the district will lose the chance to take any action on it thereafter.


Flow of Funds


Chargeback is initiated:

  • The payment processor debits the funds from the merchant flow-through account.
  • SchoolCash will automatically reverse the transaction from the applicable school bank account and re-deposit the funds in the merchant flow-through account.  The transaction amount will include the applicable transaction fees.


    The chargeback transaction is reversed:

  • Chargebacks will be recorded in the same way as refunds in the Ledger for SchoolCash Accounting districts and in the Deposit Summary Register for SchoolFunds Online districts.


    When a district wins the chargeback dispute:

  • The funds are credited to the merchant-flow through account and will not be moved back to the school bank account.


    When a district loses the chargeback dispute:

  • No further action is required

HOW-TO ACCESS CHARGEBACK DETAILS


1. Chargebacks are accessed from the Main Menu by selecting the notification or by going into the Catalog, selecting the District tab then Chargebacks. 


 

2. The chargebacks page provides visibility about received chargebacks/disputes and additional information to identify the transaction under dispute.

 

  • 'Open' disputes are ones that have not been resolved yet.
  • Dispute Date: The date on which the dispute was made by the cardholder. Listed in date order with the newest dispute at the top.
  • Amount: Amount being disputed. This will be needed when submitting documents regarding the dispute.
  • Case #: Unique case number to identify the dispute. This will be needed when submitting documents regarding the dispute.
  • School: What school the chargeback/dispute has been applied to for a specific SchoolCash Online payment. If more than one school has a chargeback, they will all be displayed.
  • Status: 
    • New: The dispute details have not been viewed/read. 
    • Open: The dispute details have been viewed/read.


3. To view the details of the chargeback, select the arrow in the corresponding row for the dispute.



4. The next screen will display the details for the selected chargeback.


5. Select ‘Print Receipt’ to download a copy of the original receipt for the purchase.


6. Select ‘Download Details’ to download a Word document with the details of the dispute.  






7. The 'Dispute Details' document is editable to allow the district to add more details regarding the dispute. 































8. Once the Dispute Document is updated, select 'Submit Documents'.















9. Upon clicking, a MerLink screen will open up. Enter the case number, case amount, and email address of the district contact. Please note that only one document can be uploaded to MerLink.




















ADDITIONAL DETAILS


Purchaser View

The purchaser will see disputes in their Payment History on SchoolCash Online when a purchase is being disputed.



















Merchant Reconciliation

Chargebacks will be included on the merchant reconciliation tool under Credit (From) in the Total column.

  • The merchant reconciliation tool will display a chargeback as a negative amount under the Credit (From) Merchant column. E.g., the -$142.00 under “Credit (From) Merchant” corresponds to the chargeback amount withdrawn by the payment processor from the merchant flow-through account. 
    • The credit from schools will include the refunds for the day and the $142.00 credit for the chargeback.



Refunds

A refund cannot be issued for a payment raised as a chargeback. 



Reports

Item purchases that have received a chargeback will be displayed in the Payments Column.  The amount of the chargeback will display in the Owing column for the student.  Chargebacks can be found in the SchoolCash Catalog on the following reports:

  • Item Order Report
  • Item Attachment Report
  • Custom Forms Report
  • Forms Report
  • Permission Form Report