Visa has expanded its dispute resolution suite with six new tools for merchants and financial institutions, targeting inefficiencies across the disputes lifecycle.
The tools span merchant-facing, issuer-facing, and acquirer-facing functions, with rollout timelines ranging from immediate availability to late 2026.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of rising dispute volumes globally. Visa processed 106 million disputes in 2025, a 35% increase compared with 2019, a figure that underscores the operational strain the current system places on merchants and financial institutions alike. Disputes remain a significant cost centre, driven in part by manual workflows, fragmented processes, and the growth of friendly fraud.
Merchant-facing tools
Three of the six services are directed at merchants. The Visa Dispute Resolution Network was designed to streamline pre-dispute handling so that potential disputes can be addressed before escalation. At the moment, a pilot is available, with general availability planned for late 2026.
The Visa Dispute Recovery Manager automates the representment process using generative AI, incorporating win prediction scoring to support recovery outcomes. A pilot expansion is also planned for late 2026.
Order Insight, an existing tool for surfacing transaction details to reduce confusion over legitimate charges, also received an update in April 2026 that enables merchants to use Compelling Evidence 3.0 within the platform. This was developed in order to allow merchants to share evidence with issuing banks regarding potentially suspicious transactions, with the aim of reducing instances of friendly fraud.
Issuer and acquirer tools
On the issuer and acquirer side, Dispute Intelligence is now generally available. The tool applies predictive AI models to support case-by-case analysis drawing on Visa's global transaction and dispute data. Moreover, the second tool, Dispute Doc Analyser, uses AI to process merchant documents and present key data elements in a structured format for analyst review. For issuers, this function is set to become available in late April 2026. For acquirers, the tool can auto-populate response questionnaires on behalf of merchants and is currently generally available.
The sixth service, Visa Dispute Case Manager, was designed to unify dispute workflows into a single platform, covering card networks from intake through to resolution. General availability in North America is planned for 2026.
The suite reflects a broader industry shift in which dispute management is becoming a more prominent operational priority as volumes increase and regulatory scrutiny of fraud and consumer protection intensifies. Through the process of incorporating AI-driven automation across representment, document review, and case analysis, Visa's expanded offering aims to reduce the manual overhead that currently characterises much of the disputes process.
