Chargeback And Dispute Policy

Version: 1.2

Effective Date: 2026-06-08

1. Purpose

This Chargeback and Dispute Policy ("Policy") forms part of the Kwik Merchant Agreement.

Its purpose is to explain how Kwik manages:

• Chargebacks;
• payment disputes;
• transaction reversals;
• retrieval requests;
• refunds;
• fraud claims;
• payment scheme assessments; and
• other transaction adjustments.

This Policy applies to all payment methods that support dispute or reversal processes.

This Policy should be read together with:

• the Merchant Agreement, including Section 16 (Chargebacks) and Section 17 (Reversals and Adjustments);
• the Fees and Pricing document, which sets out the Chargeback and dispute-related fees referred to in this Policy; and
• the Card Payments policy.

In the event of any conflict between this Policy and the Merchant Agreement, the Merchant Agreement shall prevail unless this Policy expressly states otherwise.

2. Merchant Responsibility

The Merchant accepts full financial responsibility for every transaction submitted through the Services.

This responsibility exists regardless of whether:

• the transaction was authorised;
• the transaction settled;
• goods or services were delivered;
• the Merchant received settlement;
• the Merchant Account has been suspended;
• the Merchant Agreement has terminated; or
• the Merchant has ceased trading.

Nothing in this Policy transfers commercial risk from the Merchant to Kwik, and nothing in this Policy affects any obligation the Merchant owes directly to its Customers under Applicable Law, including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, where applicable.

3. Chargebacks

A Chargeback may occur where a transaction is disputed or reversed by:

• an issuing bank;
• a payment scheme;
• an acquiring bank;
• a payment partner;
• another financial institution; or
• another authorised body.

Chargebacks may arise from:

• fraud;
• unauthorised transactions;
• cardholder disputes;
• duplicate processing;
• processing errors;
• customer complaints;
• goods or services not received;
• goods or services not as described;
• cancelled recurring payments;
• regulatory intervention;
• payment network rules; or
• any other valid dispute reason.

The Merchant shall not, and shall not permit any person acting on its behalf to, request or require that a Customer waive its right to dispute a transaction or initiate a Chargeback, in accordance with Section 16 of the Merchant Agreement.

4. Merchant Liability

The Merchant remains liable for:

• the disputed transaction amount;
• Chargeback fees;
• retrieval request fees;
• payment scheme assessments;
• bank assessments;
• fraud programme assessments;
• excessive Chargeback programme fees;
• processing fees;
• investigation costs;
• forensic investigation costs;
• legal costs recoverable under Applicable Law;
• debt collection costs recoverable under Applicable Law;
• regulatory costs attributable to the Merchant; and
• any other reasonable costs incurred by Kwik as a result of the disputed transaction.

The applicable Chargeback and retrieval request fees are set out in the Fees and Pricing document.

5. Immediate Recovery Rights

Immediately upon notification of a Chargeback or other financial adjustment, Kwik may recover the applicable amount by:

• deducting future settlements;
• applying reserve funds;
• offsetting Merchant balances;
• delaying settlements;
• withholding payouts;
• issuing an invoice;
• exercising any contractual right of set-off;
• debiting authorised bank accounts where legally permitted; or
• pursuing any other lawful recovery method.

Kwik is not required to wait until the dispute process has concluded before exercising its recovery rights.

6. Representment

Where supported by the applicable payment method, Kwik may permit the Merchant to challenge a Chargeback.

The Merchant must provide all requested evidence within the timeframe communicated by Kwik.

Failure to provide complete supporting documentation may result in the Chargeback being accepted without further review.

Kwik:

• does not guarantee representment;
• does not guarantee recovery;
• is not required to challenge every Chargeback; and
• is not liable if a Chargeback is ultimately upheld.

Representment assistance is provided solely at Kwik's discretion.

6.1 Card Scheme Arbitration

Where representment is unsuccessful, the Merchant may request that Kwik escalate the dispute to pre-arbitration or arbitration under the rules of the applicable Card Scheme, where such a process is available and Kwik, in its discretion, agrees to pursue it.

The Merchant acknowledges that Card Scheme arbitration:

• is subject to the applicable Card Scheme's rules and filing deadlines;
• may result in additional fees, fines, or assessments imposed by the Card Scheme, regardless of the outcome; and
• is final and binding on the parties in accordance with the applicable Card Scheme's rules.

The Merchant shall be liable for all fees, fines, and assessments arising from an arbitration pursued at its request, whether or not the arbitration is successful.

7. Merchant Evidence

The Merchant shall retain sufficient records to support every transaction.

Evidence may include:

• invoices;
• signed agreements;
• customer communications;
• proof of delivery;
• courier tracking;
• electronic logs;
• IP address records;
• device information;
• authentication results;
• 3-D Secure authentication where applicable;
• refund history;
• cancellation requests;
• proof of fulfilment; and
• any other information reasonably requested by Kwik.

Failure to maintain adequate records increases the likelihood of an unsuccessful dispute.

8. Retrieval Requests

Where payment networks permit retrieval requests before a Chargeback, the Merchant shall respond promptly to all requests for information.

Failure to respond within the required timeframe may result in:

• the retrieval request being converted into a Chargeback;
• increased payment scheme penalties; or
• suspension of payment processing.

9. Excessive Chargebacks

Kwik continuously monitors Chargeback ratios, including against thresholds set under applicable Card Scheme excessive dispute monitoring programmes (including, without limitation, the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program and Visa Fraud Monitoring Program, and the Mastercard Excessive Chargeback Programme and Mastercard Excessive Fraud Merchant Programme, as applicable and as those programmes may be renamed or replaced from time to time).

Where Kwik reasonably determines that a Merchant presents an elevated Chargeback risk, Kwik may immediately:

• increase reserve requirements;
• delay settlements;
• reduce processing limits;
• suspend individual payment methods;
• require additional fraud controls;
• require enhanced monitoring;
• suspend the Merchant Account; or
• terminate the Merchant Agreement.

These actions may be taken before any payment scheme formally classifies the Merchant as excessive risk.

Where a Merchant is formally classified by a Card Scheme as presenting excessive Chargebacks or excessive fraud, the Merchant shall be liable for any monitoring programme fees, fines, or assessments imposed on Kwik as a result, and shall reasonably cooperate with any remediation plan required by the applicable Card Scheme or acquiring bank.

10. Fraud-Related Disputes

Where a dispute involves suspected fraud, Kwik may:

• suspend settlements;
• retain reserve funds;
• request additional documentation;
• cooperate with financial institutions;
• report suspicious activity;
• conduct investigations;
• delay payouts; and
• take any other action reasonably necessary to protect the integrity of the Services.

11. Scheme Assessments

The Merchant remains responsible for all fees, fines, assessments and other financial obligations imposed upon Kwik by:

• Visa;
• Mastercard;
• acquiring banks;
• sponsor banks;
• payment partners; or
• payment schemes,

where such amounts arise directly or indirectly from the Merchant's transactions, business activities, fraud levels, dispute ratios or breach of Applicable Law or the Merchant Agreement.

12. Merchant Insolvency

The Merchant's liability under this Policy survives:

• insolvency;
• liquidation;
• business rescue;
• deregistration;
• suspension of Services;
• termination of the Merchant Agreement; and
• closure of the Merchant Account.

Termination of the Merchant relationship does not extinguish any outstanding liability owed to Kwik.

13. No Waiver

A decision by Kwik not to recover a Chargeback immediately does not waive Kwik's right to recover that amount at a later date.

14. Settlement Holds

Kwik may delay settlement where reasonably necessary to:

• investigate fraud;
• investigate disputes;
• protect Customers;
• comply with Applicable Law;
• comply with payment scheme requirements;
• protect Kwik from financial loss; or
• manage operational risk.

Settlement holds implemented in good faith do not constitute a breach of the Merchant Agreement.

15. Continuing Obligations

The Merchant shall remain responsible for all liabilities arising from transactions processed through the Services until every outstanding financial obligation has been fully satisfied.

This obligation survives indefinitely unless otherwise limited by Applicable Law.

16. Policy Updates

Kwik may amend this Policy from time to time to reflect:

• payment scheme changes;
• banking requirements;
• legislative developments;
• fraud trends;
• operational improvements; or
• risk management practices.

The latest version will always be published at:

/legal/chargeback-and-dispute-policy

Continued use of the Services after the effective date of an updated version constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy where permitted by Applicable Law.

17. Cross-Product Recovery and Set-Off

Where the Merchant uses more than one Kwik Service, the Merchant expressly authorises Kwik, to the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, to offset any amount owed by the Merchant against any funds otherwise payable to the Merchant through any Kwik Service.

Without limitation, Kwik may recover liabilities arising from one Service by applying funds received through another Service.

For example, liabilities arising from:

• Card Payments;
• Apple Pay;
• Google Pay;
• Ozow;
• PayShap;
• SnapScan;
• Zapper;
• MoneyBadger;
• Pay@;
• 1Voucher;
• Payout Services; or
• any future Kwik payment product,

may be recovered from settlement proceeds, balances or other amounts payable to the Merchant through any other Kwik Service.

The Merchant acknowledges that each Kwik Service forms part of a single commercial relationship between the Merchant and Kwik.

Nothing in this section limits any additional recovery rights available to Kwik under the Merchant Agreement or Applicable Law.

18. Continuing Financial Liability

Termination of the Merchant Agreement does not extinguish any liability owed by the Merchant.

The Merchant remains responsible for all:

• Chargebacks;
• refunds;
• reversals;
• payment scheme assessments;
• acquiring bank assessments;
• sponsor bank recoveries;
• fraud losses;
• processing fees;
• legal costs recoverable under Applicable Law;
• investigation costs;
• debt collection costs recoverable under Applicable Law; and
• any other outstanding financial obligation,

until such amounts have been paid in full.

No limitation period contained within the Merchant Agreement shall prevent Kwik from enforcing rights that survive under Applicable Law.

19. Personal Guarantees

Where Kwik has required:

• a personal guarantee;
• director guarantee;
• shareholder guarantee;
• parent company guarantee; or
• other financial security,

such guarantee shall remain fully enforceable until every liability owed to Kwik has been irrevocably discharged.

Termination of the Merchant Agreement does not release any guarantor from obligations already incurred.

Kwik may pursue recovery against the Merchant and any guarantor simultaneously or separately, subject to Applicable Law and the terms of the relevant guarantee.

20. Preservation of Rights

Nothing contained in this Policy limits or prejudices any right available to Kwik under:

• the Merchant Agreement;
• another Legal Document;
• Applicable Law;
• payment scheme rules;
• acquiring bank agreements;
• sponsor bank agreements; or
• any other legally enforceable right.

The rights contained in this Policy are cumulative and may be exercised individually or together.

Failure by Kwik to exercise any right immediately shall not constitute a waiver of that right.

21. Costs of Recovery

To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, where the Merchant fails to satisfy any financial obligation owed to Kwik, the Merchant shall be responsible for reimbursing Kwik for all reasonable costs incurred in recovering the outstanding amount.

Such costs may include:

• attorneys' fees;
• advocates' fees;
• tracing agent fees;
• debt collection fees;
• sheriff's costs;
• expert witness fees;
• forensic investigation costs;
• court filing fees;
• arbitration costs;
• mediation costs;
• bank recovery charges;
• payment scheme assessments;
• administrative costs directly related to recovery; and
• interest where permitted by Applicable Law.

These costs are recoverable in addition to the underlying debt.

22. Fraud Loss Allocation

Unless otherwise required by Applicable Law or mandatory payment scheme rules, all commercial losses arising from transactions processed by the Merchant remain the responsibility of the Merchant.

This includes losses arising from:

• stolen payment credentials;
• account takeover;
• social engineering;
• phishing;
• friendly fraud;
• merchant fulfilment failures;
• customer disputes;
• disputed recurring transactions;
• synthetic identity fraud;
• counterfeit goods;
• unauthorised refunds initiated by the Merchant;
• compromised Merchant systems;
• compromised Merchant credentials; and
• any fraudulent transaction not directly caused by Kwik's gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

The Merchant acknowledges that payment processing does not constitute fraud insurance, credit insurance or a guarantee against commercial loss.

23. Contact

Questions regarding this Policy may be directed to:

Risk and Disputes Team

Email: disputes@kwik.co.za