Disputing a transaction

Overview

A dispute is a petition to the card network arguing that you shouldn’t be responsible for a payment. You can dispute charges that were either made fraudulently, or in situations where a merchant hasn’t rendered goods/services. Before disputing a charge, please consider the following:

Merchants may use a different name for billing than you’d initially expect. Search the name on the internet to find more information.
If a transaction is unrecognized, check with others within your company to ensure that they didn’t make the charge — this is often the case.
Check any receipts, statements, online orders, subscriptions, etc., as this can help you recognize the purpose of the transaction.

A great step to take prior to filing a dispute is to get in touch with the merchant. They may be able to cancel a fraudulent transaction or provide an alternative solution to a merchant dispute. This is often the quickest way to a resolution.

Filing a dispute

There are two types of disputes on Brex: A fraud dispute or a merchant dispute.

Fraud dispute

A fraud dispute covers any transaction that you don’t recognize, leading you to believe that someone wrongfully obtained your card credentials and transacted without your knowledge. Account admins, card admins, and the card owner can dispute fraudulent transactions. Submitting a fraud dispute will automatically cancel the card to help protect your information and prevent future unauthorized charges. If your physical card was compromised, you’ll receive a replacement card with a new card number in 3-8 business days. While you wait, you can continue to use your virtual card.

In your dashboard

Step 1: In your dashboard, an account or card admin can dispute a transaction on behalf of another user in the Expenses page. Personal expenses can be disputed from the Wallet page. Step 2: Click the transaction you want to dispute to pull up more details on the right side. Step 3: At the bottom of the transaction details, click the three dots and select Dispute. Step 4: Choose the option that best describes your situation and click Continue. Step 5: Your card will be permanently canceled and you’ll be prompted to issue yourself another one. When issuing a physical card, you'll be asked to enter the best shipping address. When issuing a virtual card, you'll be asked to name your card.

If this is a physical card, enter the best shipping address. Your card will arrive within 3-8 business days.
- If you need your card sooner than the estimated delivery date, click Physical card needed sooner to provide more detail.
If this is a virtual card, name your card. It will be available to use immediately.

Until you receive your new physical card, you can continue to use your virtual card for online purchases or at physical locations via a mobile wallet. Step 6: Within 1-3 business days you’ll receive an email that confirms your dispute is being reviewed, which will provide you more information on your expected timeline. In some cases, disputes may take up to 90 days to resolve.

In your app

Step 1: Go to your Wallet > Latest expenses. You can also tap All expenses to view older transactions. Step 2: Tap the expense you want to dispute and tap File a dispute at the bottom of the screen. Step 3: Provide a reason for the dispute and tap Continue. Step 4: Review the dispute summary and tap Cancel. This will cancel the card associated with the disputed transaction as a safety precaution. Step 5: If you don’t want to replace your card, tap Finish. To replace your card, tap Order replacement card, choose your card type. If this was a physical card, enter your preferred mailing address. If you need your card sooner than the estimated delivery date, click Physical card needed sooner to provide more detail. Step 6: Within 1-3 business days you’ll receive an email that confirms your dispute is being reviewed, which will provide you more information on your expected timeline. In some cases, disputes may take up to 90 days to resolve.

From an email alert

If we detect unusual charges on your card, we’ll send you an email alert. You can then review the charge and, if necessary, submit a dispute by following these steps. Step 1: In the email, click Open security & privacy center. If you haven’t already, this will ask you to sign into your Brex dashboard. Step 2: You’ll be automatically redirected to your Security & privacy tab. In the Activities section, click View all. Any potentially suspicious activity will have an alert symbol next to it on the far right. You can also click Show suspicious only to filter by activity that needs your attention. Step 3: Click on any of the flagged transactions for more details and to address anything accordingly. Step 4: Within 1-3 business days you’ll receive an email that confirms your dispute is being reviewed, which will provide you more information on your expected timeline. In some cases, disputes may take up to 90 days to resolve.

Merchant disputes

A merchant dispute applies to vendors that you do recognize, but don’t agree with the charges. This is relevant when you never received the product or service you paid for, or the charge is higher than agreed upon. An account admin, card admin, and the user who owns the card can submit merchant disputes on transactions. Before submitting a merchant dispute, we recommend:

Checking with any authorized users on your account to see if they made the purchase.
Contacting the merchant and working directly with them.

Note:

If the merchant isn’t able to help resolve the issue, file a dispute and we’ll work to make things right on your behalf.

In your dashboard

Step 1: In your dashboard, an account or card admin can dispute a transaction on behalf of another user in the Expenses page. Personal expenses can be disputed from the Wallet page Step 2: Click the transaction you want to dispute to pull up more details on the right side. Step 3: At the bottom of the transaction details, click the three dots and select Dispute. Step 4: Choose the reason for disputing and select any other transactions you’d like to dispute. Step 5: Describe the situation, reason for disputing, and upload any supporting documents (required). Note: This can be any type of document showing the attempts to resolve directly with the merchant such as emails, screenshots, chat transcripts, etc. Step 6: Click File dispute. Within 1-3 business days you’ll receive an email that confirms your dispute is being reviewed, which will provide you more information on your expected timeline. In some cases, disputes may take up to 90 days to resolve.

In your app

After filing a dispute

After filing your dispute, the investigation can take up to 90 days. We’ll notify you if we need any additional information or documentation. Once the investigation is complete, you’ll be notified of the outcome. In the meantime, the charge will usually be settled alongside the rest of your balance when your Brex statement comes due. If your dispute is successful, you’ll receive a chargeback for these funds.

Dispute status

While we send you email updates regarding the status of your dispute, you can also keep an eye on it, yourself.

In your dashboard

Step 1:Go to either Wallet or Expenses then click the transaction you’ve disputed. Step 2: In the transaction details window, go to the Dispute tab. Step 3: You’ll see details of your dispute, including the type of dispute, your claim number, and the stage of your dispute. There will be a checkmark beside every stage that’s already been completed—Dispute submitted, Dispute under review, and Dispute resolved. If all three statuses have a checkmark, your dispute review is complete.

In your app

Step 1: Go to your Wallet > Latest expenses and tap the expense you disputed. You can also tap All expenses to view older transactions. Step 2: You’ll see a popup with your claim number, as well as your dispute status (whether the dispute is still under review or has been resolved).

Cancel a dispute

If new information comes to light, you can cancel an in-progress dispute from your Brex dashboard.

Note: Once you cancel a dispute, the expense(s) cannot be disputed a second time.

In your dashboard

Step 1: Account and card admins can cancel disputes on behalf of other users from the Expenses tab. Disputes on personal expenses can be disputed from the Wallet tab.

Step 2: Find the expense that you disputed in the list of expenses and click on it.

Step 3: In the popup window, you’ll see your Dispute details. Under this, click Cancel Dispute.

Step 4: You’ll be taken to a new screen with a summary of all the expenses that were part of this dispute. Enter the reason for canceling and click Cancel dispute.

In your app

Step 1: From your app’s homepage, tap the expense you originally disputed.

Step 2: At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see your Dispute details. Under this, tap Cancel dispute.

Step 3: Enter the reason for canceling and tap Continue. Review the expenses that you originally disputed and tap Cancel dispute.

Error filing a dispute

You may notice that, when you click on an expense, you don’t see the option to dispute it. This might be due to any of the following:

The transaction is pending: To file a merchant dispute, the transaction needs to fully process. While the transaction is still pending, there’s still a chance that the vendor won’t approve it. If this happens, the charge will drop automatically.
- Fraud disputes can be initiated even when a transaction is still pending.
The transaction is on someone else’s card: For security purposes, only an account admin, card admin, or the owner of the card on which the transaction occurred can dispute it.
It’s been over 90 days:
- Transactions that took place over 90 days ago cannot be disputed. Please reach out to Brex Support to see what other options you have.

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