Taming Chargebacks With Real AI Agentics

Too many merchants breathe easy under legacy chargeback ratios, only to be blindsided when their PSP tightens the screws. We sit down with Ben Herut, co-founder at ChargeFlow, (https://www.chargeflow.io/) to unpack the shift toward post-payment risk and why Visa’s VAMP is forcing acquirers and processors to act earlier—and harder—on portfolio-level exposure. If you rely on card rails for growth, this conversation shows how to protect revenue without clobbering conversions.

We trace Ben Harut’s path from engineering to payments risk and dig into how ChargeFlow uses post-payment data, alerts, and AI-driven workflows to cut chargebacks and protect revenue. We also break down Visa’s VAMP, why PSP thresholds change the game, and how merchants should respond.

• career path from engineering to payments risk
• bank-side underwriting, KYC, fraud and chargebacks
• founding in high-risk and lessons learned
• what ChargeFlow does post-payment and pre-fulfillment
• risk scoring using cross-merchant and outcome data
• handling alerts including TC40 and RDR
• strategies to refund or fight disputes
• AI agents for representment and QA feedback loops
• what VAMP changes for acquirers and PSP thresholds
• portfolio-level risk, BIN pressure, and early enforcement
• why proactive prevention protects processing access

We start with Ben’s journey from electronics engineering to bank-side risk, through launching an EMI in the high-risk space. That experience shapes a practical view: fraud prevention cannot end at authorization. ChargeFlow focuses on the critical window after approval and before fulfillment, where merchants can use post-payment data, cross-merchant signals, and scheme alerts like TC40 and RDR to flag risky orders, request verification, or cancel before losses mount. For digital goods and financial products, we explore how delayed access flows and behavioral patterns unlock smarter decisions than blanket declines.

When disputes hit, evidence wins. Ben explains how AI agents compress months of training into days, assembling compliant, precise representments and feeding results back into models. The goal isn’t buzzword AI; it’s a genetic workflow with guardrails, explainability, and QA loops that cut manual work and raise win rates. We also compare refund-first versus fight-first strategies, and where high-value transactions justify the extra effort.

Then we tackle VAMP’s impact. Even “safe” merchants can trigger portfolio pressure at the BIN level, prompting PSPs to hold payouts, request mitigation plans, or offboard accounts. Understanding tighter PSP thresholds, modeling risk appetite, and staying current with card scheme changes are now core operating skills. Whether you sell physical products or digital access, the path forward is clear: centralize post-payment risk scoring, handle alerts with discipline, and standardize dispute workflows so your team can focus on growth.

If this episode helps clarify your approach to chargebacks, subscribe, share with your ops or finance team, and leave a quick review—what’s your stance today: refund or fight?

**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

Visit Global Legal Law Firm today:
https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Surcharging, Dual Pricing, and Debit: The Compliance Traps No One Warns You About

Hidden fees, stacked fines, and a maze of rules—merchant pricing isn’t just a line on a receipt, it’s a legal and operational minefield. We dive into the real differences between dual pricing and cash discounting, why debit transactions should not be treated like credit, and how a simple surcharge can trigger state law violations, card brand penalties, and even deceptive practices claims. Along the way, we share field stories: demand letters over 45 cents, opaque reporting that invites abuse, and fines that stack across separate entities with common ownership.

Global Legal Law Firm team members Christopher Dryden, Leo Arzumanyan, and Jeremy Stock, unpack how dual pricing, cash discounting, and surcharging collide with card brand rules and state laws, and why debit often gets treated unfairly. We share real cases of opaque fines, stacked penalties, and deceptive practices demand letters, then lay out a practical playbook to get compliant and stay there.

• dual pricing versus cash discounting and consumer clarity
• state-by-state rules and conflicting caps
• debit costs and the “actual cost” requirement
• opaque enforcement and reporter abuse
• deceptive practices laws and demand letters
• small merchant burden and stacked fines
• technology limits in POS compliance
• a practical compliance playbook and documentation
• why proactive guidance reduces risk

We walk through a clear framework to cut through the confusion. First, understand what your state actually permits and where those permissions conflict with card brand caps. Second, build a pricing model that reflects “actual cost,” especially for debit, and make sure your disclosures are clear and conspicuous on menus, signs, and receipts. Third, pressure test your POS settings: can it identify card types and apply rules correctly, or will your “simple” setup create non-compliance at scale? Documentation, staff training, and routine audits matter as much as the pricing model itself.

Our goal is to replace guesswork with a practical playbook that reduces risk while maintaining customer trust. Whether you run a single restaurant or manage multiple entities, you’ll learn how to choose between dual pricing and cash discounting, align with the strictest overlapping standard, and prepare for scrutiny from card brands, regulators, and plaintiffs’ attorneys. If you have a story about unclear enforcement or surprising fines, share it with us—we’re collecting real-world cases to push for clarity. If this conversation helps, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to someone who handles pricing or compliance on your team.

**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

Visit us today: https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Candor Over Clever: How Honesty, Software, and Solid Contracts Build Real Payments Businesses

In a market where scripts and “solutions” blur together, candor is the unfair advantage. This episode features JJ Sedor of Paymint Solutions (https://www.paymintinc.com/)—a former construction-business owner turned ISO CEO—who wins by telling the truth, learning faster than rivals, and leading with software that actually fixes merchant problems. Join Christopher Dryden, and Jeremy Stock hosting JJ to break down how saying “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” disarms resistance, opens real discovery, and builds trust that survives pricing pressure. This is a field guide for agents, ISOs, PayFacs, and fintech operators who want durable growth, not churn.

From Job Sites to Merchant Counters: Transferable Skills That Win Deals

JJ maps the surprising overlap between running remodels and running payments projects: scoping, sequencing, clear milestones, and proactive communication. Door-knocking anxiety nearly derailed him; what saved him was acting before he felt “ready,” then operationalizing every lesson. Confidence followed competence—and competence came from doing installs, touching terminals, and walking the workflow with the merchant.

If You’re Not Selling Software, You’re Selling a Commodity

Modern acquiring is software-led. JJ shows how integrations with accounting, inventory, and POS unlock time savings merchants can feel: reconciliation, real reporting, faster cash, cleaner training. Lead with outcomes, not features. Translate “API” into “fewer clicks and fewer callbacks.” The result: stickier portfolios, lower support drag, and margins that survive rate-shopping.

Contracts Decide Tomorrow’s Revenue—Not Just Today’s Close

Newcomers miss the fine print. We unpack the traps that bury future earnings:

Residuals: Watch for clawbacks, one-sided true-up language, and vague net definitions.

Exclusivity and non-solicit: Keep them narrow, time-boxed, and tied to real consideration.

Reporting: Monthly, line-item detail that lets you verify your split—no “trust us” clauses.

Termination: Define cause, cure periods, data hand-off, and residual survivability.

Legal review isn’t overhead—it’s risk control. The right ISO alignment protects both sides and prevents relationship drift when people change or priorities shift.

The Sales Operating System: Practical Tactics You Can Use Today

Lead with candor: “Here’s what this does, here’s what it doesn’t, here’s the tradeoff.” Credibility beats clever.

Do the work on-site: Touch the hardware, map the workflow, document the current stack. Solve a real pain in the first week.

Sell the integration, not the widget: Demo the end state—“close batch, auto-post, reconcile”—not the menu tree.

Standardize discovery: Ten questions that surface risk, compliance gaps, and must-have integrations before you quote.

Instrument your portfolio: Track install-to-activation lag, support ticket drivers, and save reasons. Close the loop monthly.

Confidence Without the Spin: A Culture That Compounds

Knowledge compounds when you share it. JJ’s rule: teach the playbook, build a bench of mentors, and reward the person who asked the tough question—because that question saved ten others. Teams that hoard information burn out; teams that publish internal “how-to”s and run weekly debriefs scale.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Moving from construction to payments and transferring customer skills into process and project management

Overcoming doorknocking fear and building “Teflon” confidence through reps and real merchant work



**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincide

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm