Chargeback: How to get the money back if the purchase failed

The largest banks are developing chargeback services, which are compulsory refunds in cases where the seller refuses to do this on their own. According to a study by the uForce marketing agency, such services work best in T-Bank and Gazprombank. The relevance of chargeback is growing against the background of an increase in the number of write-offs for subscriptions without the knowledge of customers, the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor reported. To combat such practices, the authorities have already passed a law prohibiting debiting money for online services without the explicit consent of the user. How to get your money back through the bank is described in the Izvestia article.

Which banks make it easier to refund money for illegal write-offs

The problem of illegal write-offs of money from Russians has become really large-scale, the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor told Izvestia. For example, up to 60% of users have experienced unauthorized or non-obvious auto-renewal of subscriptions. Representatives of the services often refuse to return the money, which is why customers have to contact the bank, Rospotrebnadzor or the court.

Against this background, banks are actively developing chargeback services, procedures for challenging payments in which the bank, on behalf of the client, demands a refund from the seller, the uForce agency reported. The demand for such a service is growing noticeably.

—In 2026, there is a steady increase in interest in the topic of bank refunds — and at the same time, there is a wide variation in how banks respond to this request," said Daria Prytkova, senior researcher at uForce.

The volume of payments disputed through chargeback in 2025 reached almost 40 million rubles against about 13 million a year earlier, said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company. According to him, the growth turned out to be almost threefold.

The uForce agency conducted a study in five major banks — Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Gazprombank and T-Bank. Analysts checked how convenient it is for the client to apply for a chargeback and how market participants accompany the refund procedure.

T-Bank showed the best result. It is equally convenient to apply there through the app, the web version and the call center, and the refund took 16 days. Gazprombank also noted the high level of service. The fastest refund turned out to be at Alfa-Bank, where the problem was solved in less than 10 days.

The last places in the rating were taken by Sber and VTB. Moreover, VTB turned out to be the only participant in the study, where none of the three channels of treatment failed to fully apply for the same scenario that the other banks accepted.

At the same time, T-Bank's free legal aid service is available to all residents of the country. Specialists provide legal assistance and help prepare claims, appeals and, if necessary, statements of claim to the court, said Alexey Dianov, head of the Claims and Refunds Department at T-Bank. According to him, such assistance becomes especially in demand in non-standard situations, when the usual procedure of chargeback is not suitable. For example, a separate surge in requests was observed during the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, when customers massively tried to refund money for flights and hotel reservations.

At the same time, the study lacks an assessment of chargeback services from banks in the largest marketplaces, which are becoming increasingly popular for paying for goods and services, Oleg Pavlov, chairman of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, added.

How to apply for a chargeback correctly

One of the most common cases where a chargeback will help is debiting money for a subscription. The user disabled the service, but the money continued to be debited, the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor reported. It is also common for debits to occur from an already deleted or reissued card. Another popular scheme is the "free" trial period, after which the service automatically debits a large amount without a clear warning.

The problem of illegal write-offs has become widespread due to the fact that many digital services have been building a revenue model for years on complex cancellation of subscriptions and inattention of customers, said Oleg Pavlov, chairman of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor. According to him, online cinemas, music services, ecosystem subscriptions, applications with a short trial period, loan matching services and educational platforms remain the most risky.

To issue a forced refund, the client usually needs:

• provide an extract or transaction data — date, amount, recipient's name and the last digits of the card;
• attach proof of subscription cancellation or card deletion;
• save screenshots of your personal account, correspondence with support, emails and confirmation of sending a claim;
• to show that the client first tried to resolve the issue directly with the service.

Some banks allow you to quickly challenge an operation directly in the app. For example, in T-Bank, it is enough to select a payment and click the "Dispute" button, said Alexey Dianov, a representative of the organization. After that, the client indicates the reason for the request, and the application is immediately accepted. The expert also stressed that money can be refunded not only for subscriptions, but also in cases where the seller did not deliver the goods or delivered them with a defect, the flight was canceled, the subscription was not used, and the company prematurely closed.

However, chargeback does not work in all cases, the financial advisor and founder of Rodin recalled.Capital Alexey Rodin. According to him, the mechanism does not apply to card—to-card transfers - it applies only to official payments for goods and services to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The bank may also refuse if the customer missed the due date, the chargeback is valid for four months from the date of purchase or delivery of the product, did not try to resolve the dispute with the seller, or could not confirm the cancellation of the subscription.

The Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor named the most common mistakes of Russians that lead to illegal write-offs.:

• Users believe that re-issuing or blocking the card automatically cancels the subscription.;
• they delete the account without saving the confirmation of the cancellation of the service.;
• They immediately contact the bank without sending a claim to the service.;
• they do not read the terms of the trial period and do not track the date of the first paid debit.

To carry out a chargeback, it is necessary to save screenshots of subscription cancellation, correspondence with support, receipts and statements on the operation, Oleg Pavlov concluded. If the money was debited anyway, you first need to send a complaint to the service, then contact the bank to challenge the operation, and in case of systematic violations, complain to Rospotrebnadzor.