How do you dispute a Shopify Balance card charge?

How do you dispute a posted Shopify Balance card charge?

Only a posted purchase can be disputed: pending charges take 3–7 business days to post, and refunds can't be disputed.

Shopify says the eligible window is typically no older than 110 days. The admin form covers charges processed in the last 110 days, but fraudulent Balance card charges can be disputed at any time; for older fraudulent charges, contact Shopify Support.

Before you file, Shopify suggests you consider contacting the vendor directly and make sure no other user of your Shopify account recognizes the charge.

1. Go to Finance, click Balance, and in Transactions click the charge.
2. Click Dispute transaction before the date shown.
3. Pick the reason; Shopify's examples include being charged multiple times or an incorrect amount. Fraud is only for a charge you don't recognize; if you ordered from a store you now suspect is fake, choose another reason, such as Product or service not received.
4. Describe the issue and add evidence; a fraud report takes PDF files of fewer than 50 pages.
5. Review the details, then click Submit report for fraud or Submit for other reasons.

A fraud report cancels the card immediately and issues a replacement: a virtual card at once, a physical card within 5–8 business days. Update any recurring payments with the new card details.

While a Balance dispute is under review, you get no credit for the disputed amount. Resolution can take up to 90 days, depending on the case and network rules such as Visa's. A win adjusts your account, and the decision is final, with no appeal.

This is your own card. A chargeback a customer files against your store is a different process, covered in our Shopify chargebacks guide.

What do you do with a Shopify Balance SMS fraud alert?

When Shopify Balance spots a suspicious card transaction, it texts the card's phone number from +1 678 572 6998 with the amount, the vendor name and the card's last digits. Alerts switch on automatically. Reply with one keyword:

• YES: you authorized it, and the transaction can be retried immediately.
• NO: it isn't yours, and the card is canceled at once. A virtual card is reissued automatically; for a physical card, you can order a replacement by confirming your shipping address.
• STOP: no more SMS alerts, which Shopify advises against.
• START: alerts back on.

With no reply within 24 hours, the alert expires and the transaction is declined.

Alerts for a staff member's card go to that staff member's phone, and the account's authorized representative also gets an email. How staff cards are issued, and how to give them optional spend limits, is covered in giving employees their own Balance card.

What if the card is lost or your Shopify account is hacked?

For a lost or stolen card, Shopify's card security page says to lock it. Shopify's disputes overview goes further: a card that is compromised, lost, stolen or fraudulently used needs to be canceled and replaced immediately, and the card-dispute page adds that a fraud report does that for you. If you only locked the card and it turns up, here is how to unlock it.

If your Shopify account itself was compromised, Shopify's Balance steps are:

1. Review the Balance account for unauthorized activity.
2. Lock the Balance card.
3. Dispute fraudulent card charges from the admin.
4. Report unauthorized ACH transfers to Shopify Support immediately.
5. Check that the connected bank account wasn't changed without authorization.

Those steps cover Balance only; recovering a hacked Shopify account starts with contacting Shopify Support.

How is disputing a Shopify Credit card charge different?

Shopify Credit card alerts use the same sender number and four keywords; with no reply within 24 hours, the transaction remains declined. The Credit dispute runs on its own help page; four points a Balance user would get wrong:

• Path: Finance > Credit, then the transaction and Dispute transaction.
• Window: not older than 60 days, except for unauthorized use.
• Cancelling: the Credit disputes page, read October 17, 2026, carries only the line that an opened dispute can't be canceled.
• Lost or stolen: lock a lost Credit card until it turns up; cancel and replace a stolen one immediately.

A fraud report cancels the Credit card and issues a replacement, virtual at once and physical within 5–8 business days. Shopify Credit's banking partners review the dispute for up to 90 days, and their decision is final.