Episode Details

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/digistore24s-lucas-coro-on-why-chargebacks-are-now-a-board-level-problem.
Digistore24's Lucas Coro on why chargebacks became a board metric, what a dispute really costs digital sellers and how Instant Bank Payments change the math.
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First-party fraud, the polite industry term for customers disputing purchases they made, rose from 15 per cent of all reported fraud in 2023 to 36 per cent in 2024, which makes it the largest fraud category in the world. Global chargebacks are on course for 359 million a year by 2029, each one costing a merchant $128 to handle before the delivered product is counted, while Visa has cut its merchant "excessive" line to 1.5 per cent. Digistore24, which runs backend infrastructure for thousands of digital brands, launched Instant Bank Payments for US transactions in July 2026 on Stripe Link, so buyers can authenticate inside their own bank at checkout. Lucas Coro, Digistore24's Director of Vendor Sales, explains why a dispute ratio is a business-health metric, why vendor behavior is the most underestimated driver of disputes, why products under $10 get flagged more often and why a refund today is the cheapest way to keep processing tomorrow. Q: What is Digistore24 Instant Bank Payments? A pay-by-bank checkout option Digistore24 launched for US transactions on July 9, 2026, powered by Stripe Link. Buyers select their bank, authenticate with their own bank credentials and the payment confirms instantly. It supports one-time and recurring purchases and US vendors pay no fee beyond the usual margin. Q: What does a chargeback really cost a merchant? Mastercard and Javelin's 2026 research puts the average handling cost at $128 per chargeback ($82 internal, $46 third-party fees), excluding the product or service already delivered. The average disputed amount is $77 for digital goods and $69 for subscriptions, so handling often costs more than the dispute itself. Q: What is Visa's VAMP threshold in 2026? Visa's merchant "excessive" threshold dropped from 2.2 per cent to 1.5 per cent on April 1, 2026 for US, Canadian, European and Asia-Pacific merchants, with an $8 fee per dispute above the line. Acquirers are held to 0.5 per cent (above standard) and 0.7 per cent (excessive). Q: How big is first-party or friendly fraud? LexisNexis Risk Solutions found first-party fraud rose from 15 per cent of reported global fraud in 2023 to 36 per cent in 2024, making it the largest fraud category ahead of account takeover (27 per cent) and scams (11 per cent). Q: Who is Lucas Coro? Director of Vendor Sales at Digistore24. Originally from Brazil, he joined the