Worried that disputing a questionable charge on your credit or debit card will hurt your credit score? The short answer is no.

Filing a dispute or chargeback is a protected consumer right handled strictly between you, your bank, and the merchant via the card network. Credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—are never notified, and dispute filings do not appear on your credit report.

While the dispute itself cannot harm your score, specific secondary actions can: failing to pay undisputed balances, ignoring re-billed amounts after an unsuccessful dispute, or committing “friendly fraud” through false claims.

Read our comprehensive guide to learn how the dispute process works, how provisional credits temporarily alter credit utilization, and the federal regulations that protect your right to dispute billing errors without penalty.