Discover Reason Code IC: Illegible Sales Data

What Discover reason code IC means

IC is a processing-error code. The issuer asked for transaction documentation, typically through a Ticket Retrieval Request, and what came back couldn’t be read. Without a readable record, the issuer can’t confirm the card number, date, amount or merchant, so it charges the transaction back.

IC rarely applies to ecommerce. Online orders generate digital records: order confirmations, gateway logs, and processor reports. Those are legible by nature. IC belongs to the world of paper sales slips, carbon copies, faded thermal receipts and low-quality faxes or scans.

If an online merchant does receive IC, the likely cause is a retrieval response uploaded as a blurry image or a corrupted file. The fix is the same: send a clean copy.

Common causes

• Faded thermal-paper receipts
• Low-resolution scans or faxes of signed slips
• Images that were cropped, rotated or compressed during upload
• Corrupted or unreadable file attachments in a retrieval response

Evidence for an IC dispute

1. A legible transaction record: a clear copy showing the card number (masked as your processor requires), transaction date, amount, merchant name and location.
2. The electronic equivalent: if the paper slip is unreadable, the terminal or processor record of the same transaction.
3. Supporting order details: the itemized receipt, invoice or order record, so the issuer can match it to the statement.

How to prevent IC chargebacks

• Store electronic copies of receipts instead of relying on paper.
• If you must keep paper slips, scan them promptly at good resolution before they fade.
• Check every retrieval response file opens and reads correctly before you submit it.
• Respond to Ticket Retrieval Requests with digital records wherever possible.

Should you fight or accept?

Fight whenever you have a legible record of the transaction. IC disputes turn on documentation quality, not on what the cardholder says, so a clear copy usually resolves them.

Accept only when no readable record exists. That is a reason to move record-keeping off paper.