Episode Six and Decisionly partner on card dispute automation

Episode Six and Decisionly have announced a strategic partnership aimed at helping card issuers combine issuing infrastructure with automated dispute management. The companies said the arrangement responds to demand from issuers operating across multiple regions, currencies and product lines, where older chargeback systems can struggle with more complex card programmes.

Episode Six, a global provider of enterprise-grade card issuing technology, said the partnership will allow its clients to connect to Decisionly’s AI-powered dispute automation platform alongside its core card infrastructure. Decisionly said its system is designed to automate the full dispute lifecycle, including regulatory obligations, network rules and individual programme settings.

The companies said Decisionly’s platform can deliver automation rates above 95% from day one and reduce manual dispute work by more than 80%. Those figures were presented by the companies in their announcement and were not independently verified.

Dispute management is a significant operational function for card issuers because it sits between cardholders, merchants, payment networks and regulatory requirements. When a cardholder challenges a transaction, the issuer must gather data, assess the claim against card network rules, meet applicable deadlines and, in some cases, manage chargebacks and representment. Automation tools seek to reduce manual handling by applying rules, routing cases and passing data between systems through software interfaces.

John Mitchell, chief executive and co-founder of Episode Six, said the company was built to provide issuers with infrastructure for modern card programmes and that this includes more than the core processing layer. He said purpose-built payments systems are gaining traction and described disputes as an operational area ready for change. Mitchell said the partnership with Decisionly would allow Episode Six to offer clients additional capabilities for that part of the card stack.

Pallavi Kuppa-Apte, chief executive and co-founder of Decisionly, said the companies share a view that modern card programmes need updated technology across layers including disputes. She said Episode Six gives Decisionly access to banks and fintechs already using modern infrastructure and described those issuers as a relevant market for dispute automation.

The companies said their platforms share an API-first architecture and have overlapping markets in the US, Canada and Europe. Application programming interfaces allow separate systems to exchange data through defined software connections, which can make it easier for issuers to link transaction processing, cardholder records and dispute workflows without relying on manual file transfers or custom one-off processes.

Episode Six describes itself as an API-first, cloud-native card infrastructure provider operating in more than 50 countries. The company said it serves banks and fintechs globally and can run either alongside existing systems or as the base for a new technology stack.

Decisionly provides AI-powered, API-first dispute infrastructure for fintechs, banks and processors. The company said its founding team previously built Chargehound, later sold to PayPal, and processed more than $1 billion in disputes for global payments and technology companies.

The partnership does not include disclosed financial terms. The companies framed the agreement as a way for issuers to connect card infrastructure and dispute operations as payment programmes become more complex across products and jurisdictions.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.