A disputed transaction is a consumer complaint related to a credit or debit card purchase. It occurs when a cardholder claims that a purchase was illegitimate in some way, such as fraudulent, not as expected, services not performed, credit not issued, or the amount was incorrect. When a transaction is disputed, the money originally paid to the business may be revoked and returned to the cardholder. The dispute process can result in reputational damage that could impact the businesss ability to process future transactions. The transaction dispute process begins when the cardholder contacts the issuer (the bank associated with the payment card used in the transaction) and asks the bank to reverse the charge. The bank examines the circumstances and determines if there is a legitimate complaint. If the bank grants a chargeback, it takes the money from the merchant and returns it to the cardholder. The ability to dispute a credit card charge is a powerful consumer protection.