Visa rolls out AI tools to handle rising charge disputes as volumes jump 35% since 2019

As per CNBC, Visa is introducing six AI-based tools to modernize how credit card disputes are handled, as global dispute volumes continue to rise. The company said the tools are designed to reduce friction across the payments ecosystem, where dispute handling still relies heavily on manual, back-office processes involving merchants, issuers, and acquirers. Visa processed over 106 million charge disputes in 2025, which is a 35% increase compared to 2019.

Three of the new tools are regarding the merchants. These are intended to identify and resolve potential disputes before they even escalate - the company will use AI-generated responses and what they refer to as "deeper transaction-level insights" to clarify any unfamiliar charges for cardholders.

The remaining three tools are mostly for the sake of issuers and acquirers. These use predictive AI models to assess disputes case by case, and then summarize supporting documents, auto-fill key fields, and centralize dispute management into a single platform.

The report also adds that a huge chunk of said disputes stem from customers not recognizing transactions. Visa says the new system will provide more granular data to financial institutions, so they can present clearer explanations to cardholders.

Visa also confirmed the tools are part of a wider suite of consumer-facing features, including a recently announced subscription management tool that lets users cancel recurring payments directly. Most of the dispute-related tools are expected to become generally available later this year.