Before an underwriter ever speaks with you, they read your website. So does the issuing bank when a customer disputes a charge. Clear, easy-to-find policies reduce confusion, lower chargebacks, and give you evidence when you need to fight one. Here is what high-risk merchants should publish, and where.
đź’ˇ Key Insight: Your website is part of your application. Underwriters compare what the live site says against what you submitted, and a gap between the two is one of the fastest ways to stall an approval or trigger a later review.
Why Your Policy Pages Matter to Underwriters and Issuers
Underwriters review a site for the same reasons a customer would: Can I tell who this business is? What am I buying? How do I get help or my money back? A site that answers those questions plainly looks like a business that will handle disputes responsibly.
Policies also matter after approval. When a cardholder disputes a charge, the terms they accepted at checkout are part of the evidence you can submit. A policy that exists only in a hard-to-find footer link, or that you cannot prove the customer saw, helps very little.
The Policy Checklist: What to Publish
đź“‹ Refunds and Cancellations
State the refund window, the conditions, and exactly how to request one. For subscriptions, explain billing frequency, renewal terms, trial conversion, and how to cancel.
đźšš Shipping and Delivery
Give honest delivery timelines, carriers, and what happens if an order is late or lost. For digital goods, explain how and when access is delivered.
đź“ž Contact and Legal
Publish a real support email and phone number with hours, your legal business name, a privacy policy, and terms of service.
Two more items round out the list. First, disclose your billing descriptor, the name that will appear on the customer’s statement, so a charge is easy to recognize. Second, add a checkout acceptance step, such as a checkbox or clear notice linking to your terms, and log the customer’s consent with a timestamp. That record is useful evidence if a charge is later disputed.
Where to Put Them
Visibility matters as much as wording. Link your policies in the site footer, but also on the product page and at checkout, before the customer pays. A customer who can find your refund terms in ten seconds is more likely to contact you than their bank. Use plain language, short paragraphs, and a dedicated page for each policy rather than one long document.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Links buried in the footer only. If the policy is not visible where the purchase decision happens, customers will not see it and neither will a dispute reviewer.
- A vague “all sales final” on recurring products. Subscriptions need clear cancellation and renewal terms. A blanket no-refund line on a recurring charge invites “I thought I canceled” disputes.
- Policies that contradict marketing claims. If your ads promise a money-back guarantee, your policy page must say the same thing.
- A site that does not match your application. Products, pricing, and business details on the live site should match what you submitted to the processor.
- No proof of acceptance. Without a logged consent step, you cannot show the customer agreed to your terms.
⚠️ Warning: This article offers plain-language guidance, not legal advice. Have an attorney review your final refund, subscription, and terms wording, especially if you sell regulated products or serve customers in multiple states.
A Quick Pre-Launch Review
Before you submit an application or go live, open your site as a first-time customer. Can you find the refund policy, support contact, and terms from the product page? Does the checkout link to them? Do the policies agree with your ads and with each other? Fix any gap now, and keep the site consistent as your business changes. Policy pages are cheap to improve, and they pay off in smoother underwriting and fewer disputes.
Preparing an application? See how our high-risk merchant account process works.
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