Retrieval request: what it is and how to respond

A retrieval request is a card issuer's request for a copy of the record behind a card transaction. It travels through the card network to your acquirer, and your processor passes it to you. Usually a cardholder has asked their bank about a charge, and the bank wants your documentation before it decides whether to file a chargeback. No money leaves your account when a retrieval request arrives, but an unanswered question has a way of turning into a dispute.

The rules have changed since 2020. Visa ended retrieval requests in October 2020, and Mastercard still uses them on some transactions. Both networks now push pre-dispute tools that share order details with the cardholder's bank before anyone files anything. This guide covers where retrieval requests stand as of October 2026, how they differ from chargebacks, what to send, and how fast. For the full dispute process, see how a chargeback works.

What is a retrieval request?

It's a request for information, not a claim. Processors sometimes call it a copy request, an inquiry, or a request for information. Whatever the label, the issuer is asking you to show what was sold, when, and to whom.

The path looks like this:

1. The cardholder contacts their bank about a charge they don't recognize or have a question about.
2. The issuer sends a retrieval request through the card network to your acquirer.
3. Your processor notifies you and gives you a deadline.
4. You send the transaction record and any supporting documents.
5. Your acquirer forwards them to the issuer.
6. The issuer shares the answer with the cardholder, and either the question is settled or the issuer moves on to a chargeback.

Visa ended its retrieval requests alongside making signatures optional, which hints at what they were mostly for: a copy of the signed receipt. Without a signature to look at, what settles a question now is a clear record of the order and a billing descriptor the cardholder recognizes.

What is the difference between a retrieval request and a chargeback?

A chargeback takes the money back. A retrieval request only asks for paperwork. That one difference drives everything else.

A retrieval request is your early warning. Treat it as a free chance to settle the question before it turns into a chargeback with a fee and a reason code attached. Our guide to chargeback reason codes explains what you'd face if it does, and the dispute deadlines on our chargeback management page show what would happen next.

Does Visa still send retrieval requests?

No. Visa's notice on the sunset of retrieval requests says that after October 16, 2020, issuers could no longer raise them, and the function was withdrawn from Visa Resolve Online. Acquirers had already been allowed to leave retrieval requests unfulfilled since mid-May 2020.

The groundwork came earlier. When Visa made signatures optional for chip-enabled merchants in the US and Canada, its signature-optional flyer said Visa was removing the requirements for those merchants to keep transaction receipts and for acquirers to fulfill retrieval requests.

That doesn't mean Visa issuers stopped asking questions. They now get answers a different way:

• Order Insight. Visa says it shares order details with issuers so they can clear up confusion about a legitimate charge, which helps prevent unnecessary disputes.
• Compelling Evidence 3.0 inside Order Insight. Since an April 2026 update, merchants can send banks that evidence through Order Insight too. Our Compelling Evidence 3.0 guide explains what that evidence is.
• Disputes. Without a retrieval step, a Visa question that isn't settled in a pre-dispute tool goes straight to a dispute with a condition code.

If a processor tells you about a "Visa retrieval request" today, ask what it actually is, since Visa's own process ended in 2020.

How do Mastercard retrieval requests work?

Mastercard still has them for some transactions. In the Dual Message System, retrieval requests and fulfillments are handled in Mastercard's Mastercom system, and Mastercard's Chargeback Guide (December 2018 edition) says the acquirer must provide the requested documentation within 30 calendar days of the Central Site Business Date of the issuer's request.

Two more points from that guide shape how much a Mastercard retrieval request can hurt you:

• They no longer carry a chargeback of their own. Mastercard eliminated chargeback message reason code 4802, so a retrieval request in the Dual Message System has no chargeback component.
• The Single Message System doesn't support retrieval requests at all.

So ignoring one won't produce a chargeback just for being ignored. It also won't answer the cardholder's question, and the issuer can still file a chargeback under an ordinary reason code, such as 4837 if the cardholder says they never made the purchase. Your processor sets its own deadline for you, and it needs time to forward your documents, so expect that date to come well before Mastercard's 30 days.

Mastercard also has pre-dispute options that work like Visa's. Ethoca Consumer Clarity gives cardholders recognizable purchase details in their banking apps. In Mastercard's developer documentation, a cardholder's question in the bank's app or call center sends a request to the merchant, which answers in real time with the purchase details. Ask your processor whether you can connect to either network's tools.

Which pre-dispute tools have replaced retrieval requests?

Retrieval requests were the original pre-dispute step. Both networks now offer newer ones, and your processor decides which you can use. As of October 2026, these are the options we could confirm in network sources:

In a Visa case study on Rapid Dispute Resolution, the sample rule was to always refund disputes under $40. Settling things early matters for more than convenience: Visa's monitoring ratio leaves out disputes resolved through pre-dispute solutions, so a question answered before a dispute never counts against you. Our guide to your chargeback ratio explains that math, and the one on chargeback alerts compares alerts with retrieval requests.

What should you send in response to a retrieval request?

Send whatever answers "what was this charge?" in one look. The best response is short, specific, and labeled.

Add a cover note of three or four sentences: what the customer bought, when, how they received it, and what name appears on their statement. That last part matters more than it sounds. If your descriptor shows a legal or holding company name, say so plainly.

Never send a full card number. The last four digits identify the card, and a full number has no business in an email or an upload.

Take a restaurant in New Orleans bills under the name of its parent company. A guest's bank sends a Mastercard retrieval request for a $186 charge. The restaurant sends the itemized check ($160 for food and drinks), the receipt showing a $26 tip ($160 + $26 = $186), the date and table time, and one line explaining that the parent company's name is the restaurant's legal name. In this example, the guest recognizes the dinner, and nothing more happens. The real fix is upstream: Visa says the name submitted for the merchant should be the name most prominently displayed by the merchant, the one customers recognize. Our restaurant payment processing guide covers other setup points for restaurants.

How long should you keep transaction records?

Longer than the networks require you to, because your evidence needs outlast the paperwork rules. Visa dropped the receipt-keeping requirement for chip-enabled merchants, but you'll still want those records when a question or dispute arrives. A few time frames set the minimum:

The middle row is easy to underestimate. Take a ski rental shop in Salt Lake City that sells season rentals online in mid-November. Under Mastercard's 120-day window, a November 15 sale can still come back as a 4853 dispute on March 15, after the season's busiest weeks have buried the paperwork.

The last row sets our advice. Compelling Evidence 3.0 can lean on purchases from up to a year before a dispute, and a dispute can arrive months after a sale, so we'd keep order and transaction records for at least 18 months.

What are the most common retrieval request mistakes?

1. Ignoring it because no money moved. The question is still open, and a chargeback is the next step.
2. Sending a bare receipt. Without a note explaining the descriptor or the order, the cardholder may still not recognize the charge.
3. Missing your processor's deadline. It's earlier than the network's, and it's the one that counts.
4. Sending too much personal data. Last four digits only, and nothing the issuer didn't ask for.
5. Not asking about fees. Check your merchant agreement for any charge per retrieval request or inquiry, along with the other hidden fees that tend to show up later.

One more judgment call. If your records show you made a mistake, such as a double charge or a missed refund, don't just send the paperwork. Fix it with a refund now. A refund before a chargeback costs you the sale; a refund after a chargeback can cost you twice. Our chargeback vs refund guide explains the timing.

These are network rules, so the same process applies to merchants anywhere in the United States.

Next step

Retrieval requests are easy to win when your records are easy to find. If yours live in three different systems, start there. Clearo's payment processing includes chargeback management tools, and every client has a dedicated rep who can help you read a request and decide what to send. Phone and email orders taken in our virtual terminal keep the order details in one place. To see what disputes cost you now, send a recent statement for a free statement review, or contact us.