In the context of chargebacks, what does 'issuer' refer to?

In the context of chargebacks, the term 'issuer' specifically refers to the financial institution that issues the credit or debit card to the cardholder. This institution is responsible for underwriting the card and maintaining the cardholder's account. When a transaction occurs and a cardholder disputes a charge, the issuer is the entity that receives the initial claim. They evaluate the validity of the chargeback request, assess the evidence provided by both the cardholder and the merchant, and ultimately decide whether to accept or reject the chargeback.

The other roles involved in the transaction process differ from that of the issuer. The merchant processing the transaction is the business that accepts the payment and is typically the one on the receiving end of a chargeback. The entity responsible for customer service is generally part of the merchant's operations, assisting customers with inquiries, including chargebacks. Lastly, the network facilitating the transactions (such as Visa or MasterCard) serves as a bridge between the issuer and the merchant but does not issue cards and therefore does not handle chargebacks directly in terms of customer account management.