Friendly fraud, where shoppers dispute legitimate transactions, is rising for more than 83% of enterprise merchants over the past three years and moving from a back-office nuisance to a material business risk, according to Chargebacks911’s 2026 Chargeback Field Report. Nearly three-quarters of merchants, 74.4%, now describe it as a moderate or significant concern, and 38% say chargeback costs have influenced their pricing, up from 32.5% a year earlier. Refund abuse compounds the pressure, accounting for 27.1% of all returns, with 62% of merchants calling it a moderate or significant concern. The report also found nearly two-thirds of merchants are using or preparing to use AI-based fraud-prevention tools, while 40% said BNPL raises their chargeback exposure.
