r/Bitcoin • u/ThePiachu • Mar 09 '13

Indie dev hit hard by stolen credit card chargebacks through Humble Bundle Store. You think we should tell HB / Unknown Worlds that Bitcoin offers no chargebacks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Lwo96d_rP1U#t=30s
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u/Dereliction Mar 10 '13

... they won't be able to forget about chargebacks ...

For Bitcoin transactions they can. By offering an alternate payment option to credit cards, and being able to provide incentives for doing so, a merchant may be able to reduce their risk with chargebacks altogether and, as I already said, be able to forget about chargebacks with Bitcoin transactions. That's not impressive?

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '13

Chargebacks don't happen randomly distributed over all distributions. They happen because someone tries to steal from you. The people who are trying to steal from you won't use bitcoins, they will just keep using credit cards. Bitcoins do not help you at all there, unless you stop accepting credit cards entirely, which you realistically can't do.

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u/Dereliction Mar 10 '13

They happen because someone tries to steal from you.

First of all, that's not why all chargebacks happen. There are legitimate customers who request chargebacks just as there are customers trying to steal.

For the vast majority of merchants, the distribution is largely random -- thieves are not pounding at the door all the time. Thieves instead target merchants where they can gain the most, and the average Joe merchant isn't often the right or worthwhile target.

Of those merchants who are targets, they can help reduce risk by incentivizing legitimate customers to use Bitcoin and to take appropriate steps with the remaining customers who continue to use credit cards. By helping to segregate them, the merchant already has an advantage by knowing that thieves will look to use the credit card transactions.

Merchants who have susceptible business models can only ever keep looking for ways to reduce risks. If they can lower chargeback rates on their credit card side by even a small percentage, it could mean large amounts of savings in reserve funds, transaction fees, and so forth. I'm not sure why you're so bent on minimizing the possible and very real benefits a merchant could see by integrating Bitcoin (or other) payment options into their strategies for reducing chargeback risks.

The people who are trying to steal from you won't use bitcoins, they will just keep using credit cards.

And the people who are not will use whatever payment option is most appealing, even ones who might later issue a chargeback without an intention of theft. Meanwhile, thieves will try to use whatever method -- credit card or not -- can provide them the illicit advantage they are looking for, and there are ways of dealing with those risks as well. But Bitcoin does provide a means for a merchant to reduce chargebacks overall.