What Changed
On January 28, 2026, Shopify updated how they display chargeback rates in your dashboard. You may notice your chargeback rate metric now appears higher than before. This is because Shopify is now including chargebacks that were resolved through Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) program in their displayed rate.
According to Shopify’s official announcement: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/updates-to-chargeback-rates
This display change is intended to give merchants a more complete picture of their total dispute activity before RDR intervenes. Shopify has also added the ability to filter and analyze chargebacks by type (RDR vs. standard chargebacks) in your reports.
Why This Doesn’t Increase Your Risk
This is critical to understand - Shopify changed their frontend analytics (what you see in your dashboard), but they did not change the backend risk metric they use to evaluate your account.
What this means for you:
Visa monitoring programs: RDR-resolved disputes do not count toward Visa’s chargeback thresholds (VDMP/VFMP). Your actual Visa chargeback rate remains unchanged.
Shopify account standing: Shopify evaluates your account based on actual chargebacks that hit the network, not the inflated display rate.
Payment processing: Your relationship with payment processors is based on network-reported chargebacks, not Shopify’s display metrics.
Yes, it may be concerning to see a higher number in your dashboard. But the metric that actually matters for your account health is your post-RDR dispute rate (the chargebacks that make it through after RDR does its job) which you can always get from Disputifier.
How to See Your True Chargeback Rate
You can always pull your post-RDR dispute rate directly from your Disputifier dashboard. This is the number that reflects your actual risk exposure and what Visa and Shopify use on the backend to evaluate your account..
How to Further Optimize Your Chargeback Prevention
If you want to minimize even the displayed chargeback rate on Shopify, consider adding Ethoca alerts and CDRN to your prevention stack.
Why Ethoca and CDRN are different: Unlike RDR, chargebacks prevented through Ethoca and CDRN alerts leave no trace on Shopify’s dispute metrics. These alerts intercept disputes before they enter the chargeback process, so they won’t appear in your displayed chargeback rate at all.
CDRN coverage: CDRN is particularly effective for Visa chargebacks, providing another layer of protection specifically for Visa card disputes.
If you’re not currently using Ethoca or CDRN alerts, you can contact our support team to add these to your Disputifier subscription.
Key Takeaways
Your displayed Shopify chargeback rate may look higher, but your actual risk has not changed.
Shopify changed frontend analytics only; the backend risk metric is unchanged.
No increased risk of reserves or account termination.
The metric that matters is your post-RDR dispute rate (available in Disputifier).
Ethoca and CDRN alerts can reduce your displayed rate since they leave no trace in Shopify’s metrics.
Official Shopify Announcement: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/updates-to-chargeback-rates
Questions? Contact our support team or reach out to your account manager. We’re here to help you navigate these changes and optimize your chargeback prevention strategy.