Glossary · Money and payouts
Chargeback— what it means in affiliate marketing
A payment forcibly reversed through the card scheme at the cardholder's request.
The cost is never only the refunded amount: schemes charge per case and cancel merchant accounts over the ratio. Verticals that sell on urgency generate chargebacks by design, which is why their payouts are held longest.
Related terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Billing | The side of the business that invoices and takes money: charging the card, retrying failures, handling refunds. |
| Acquiring | The service that lets a merchant accept card payments — the account, the gateway and the risk assessment behind them. |
| Fraud | Any falsification of conversions, traffic or identity in affiliate marketing. |
Entry updated 29 July 2026. All 276 terms in one page.
