payabl. has partnered with Visa to launch real-time dispute resolution tools for merchants in the UK and EU.
The collaboration integrates Visa's Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) service into payabl.one, the company's merchant platform, allowing businesses to address disputes at the pre-dispute stage before they escalate into chargebacks.
Through the partnership, merchants using payabl.one can access Visa's RDR tools alongside the platform's existing services, which include online and in-person payment acceptance, multi-currency business accounts, and payouts. The RDR service allows merchants to auto-decision pre-disputes in real time and issue refunds electronically, rather than handling each case manually. According to payabl., the aim is to give merchants a single point of control over disputes without requiring separate systems or manual intervention at the post-purchase stage.
Oleg Stefanets, Chief Risk Officer at payabl., said the integration was designed to reduce friction after a transaction has been completed, noting that pre-dispute automation, combined with existing fraud monitoring tools, is intended to help merchants lower their dispute ratios. Dan Parsons, Head of Acceptance Sales, Visa Europe, added that earlier, automatic resolution of disputes is intended to reduce disruption for merchants and support long-term customer trust.
Growing impact of disputes
The partnership responds to a broader trend of rising dispute volumes across the payments sector. payabl.'s recent Fraud Report found that chargebacks have become one of the most common types of fraud affecting businesses over the past year, with 31% of surveyed UK-based merchants reporting they had been targeted by friendly fraud. In addition, the same report found that 71% of respondents believe current chargeback rules favour customers at the expense of businesses.
Visa's 2026 Global eCommerce Payments and Fraud Report points to a similar pattern, with first-party misuse, commonly referred to as friendly fraud, identified as a persistent and evolving threat. The report found that 64% of merchants reported an increase in first-party misuse over the past year, with one in four citing rises of 25% or more. The average cost of resolving a single first-party misuse dispute has also risen for the third consecutive year, now exceeding EUR 75 per case.
Against this backdrop, cost minimisation has become a growing priority for merchants managing fraud and disputes. Visa's research found that 29% of merchants now rank cost reduction as their top fraud management priority, at a time when many expect spending on fraud-related tools and resources to remain flat or decline.
Strategic context
The RDR integration forms part of payabl.'s wider positioning around payment lifecycle management, which the company has framed around providing merchants with visibility and control across acceptance, risk, and payout processes. For Visa, the collaboration extends the reach of its post-purchase dispute tools to a further set of merchants operating in European markets through an acquirer and payment service provider partner.
