🏛️ Aggregators

Aggregators are platforms that facilitate transactions between end users and third-party vendors or sub-merchants. These can include multi-vendor marketplaces, freelancer service platforms, digital product hubs, and consulting service providers.

While aggregators manage customer payments and route them to the vendors, they typically do not control the fulfilment or delivery of products or services. A majority of aggregators are involved in the finance, technology, consultancy, and digital services space.

The reasons that disputes are raised here are not much different from those in other industries, as aggregators are platforms that connect multiple merchants and their customers.

• Service or product not delivered: The customer makes a payment, but the sub-merchant fails to fulfil the order, e.g., the item was never shipped, or the service provider didn’t show up.

• Duplicate or billing errors: A customer gets charged twice for one order, or sees extra charges from multiple vendors in a short time.

• Not as described: The product or service received is of poor quality or significantly different from what was described, e.g., counterfeit goods, missing features, or poor service.

• Failed transaction: On occasion, customers are debited during a failed transaction. E.g., the customer does not get a prompt that their payment was successful, and in seeking a refund, they raise a dispute with their bank.

• Unrecognized transactions: The aggregator name appears on the customer’s bank statement, and not the vendor name. This confuses the customer and can result in a dispute.

• Unauthorized transactions: A cardholder may file a dispute with their bank if they notice a charge on their account that they didn’t authorize.

• Order or service details: An invoice showing the customer’s information, along with the transaction details (amount, date, etc.), and details of the order or the service that the payment was for. This invoice should also show a breakdown showing which sub-merchant or vendor was involved, with an order ID.

• Vendor confirmation and delivery logs: Screenshots or logs showing when the order was placed, confirmed by the vendor, and delivered. You can provide details of the shipping company’s updates, including digital product download timestamps.

• Additional supporting evidence: Aggregators serve as platforms for multiple vendors that offer a wide range of services or products, such as e-commerce, transportation, financial services, or digital content. When handling disputes, it's important to consider the nature of the transaction and the industry the specific vendor falls under. In addition to the documentation you can present as an aggregator, such as order details and vendor delivery confirmation, you should also include supporting evidence relevant to the specific industry involved, as outlined in the previous articles.

To adequately resolve pre-arbitrations as an aggregator, you should:

• Identify the vendor responsible for the dispute: You should quickly identify the sub-merchant and gather any updated details on the order or service fulfillment. If the sub-merchant confirms that value was not delivered to the customer, then you should accept the pre-arbitration.

• If there are any updated order confirmations, delivery proof, or any vendor-customer correspondence, you should provide this.

• Terms of service: You should show proof that the customer agreed to the terms of service before their payment; anything relating to refunds, cancellations, etc.

• Product details from the vendor: Screenshots of the original product/service description need to be provided, and it should confirm that it matches what was delivered.

• Present documentation: If the dispute was discussed extensively with the sub-merchant to resolve the dispute, you should present anything available. This could be proof of refunds to customers, communication via email, SMS, or chat logs. The sub-merchant can also provide proof of communication with the customer, especially if there was an attempt to resolve the situation.

• Set strict onboarding standards for vendors: It is necessary to ensure that the vendors or service providers you onboard meet quality and reliability requirements.

• Display vendor names in receipts and bank descriptors: Help customers recognize charges by including the vendor’s name alongside your aggregator name.

• Monitor chargeback patterns per vendor: Flag vendors with excessive dispute rates and take corrective action early, to avoid penalties and fines from the card schemes.

• Centralized customer support: Provide customers with a clear path for raising concerns, even if the vendor is responsible for any issue.