Other Fraud - Card-Absent Environment, Condition 10.4

Your card processor has notified you that a cardholder is disputing a transaction that you processed.

The cardholder’s bank has filed a dispute stating that their cardholder did not authorize or participate in a transaction conducted in a card-absent environment (i.e., internet, mail-order, phone-order, etc.).

The most common causes of this type of dispute are:

You:

  • Processed a card-absent transaction from a person who was fraudulently using an account number.

The cardholder:

  • Had their account number taken by fraudulent means.
  • Due to an unclear or a confusing merchant name the cardholder believes the transaction to be fraudulent.

The transaction was authenticated with Verified by Visa.

Advise your card processor that the transaction was Verified by Visa-authenticated at time of authorization.

You have already processed a credit or reversal for the transaction.

Provide documentation of the credit or reversal; include the amount and the date it was processed.

For further details, refer to the Compelling Evidence Chart in Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants.

The cardholder no longer disputes the transaction.

Provide a letter or email from the cardholder that states they no longer dispute the transaction.

How to avoid this dispute in the future.

  • For card-absent transactions, consider using all available Visa tools such as Verified by Visa, CVV2 and the Address Verification Service (AVS) to help reduce fraud. Contact your card processor for more information on these important risk-management tools.
  • Always request authorization for mail order, telephone order, internet, and recurring transactions, regardless of the dollar amount.
  • Always make sure you properly identify card present and card absent transactions.

For more information, please see Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants.

Acquirer’s approach or timelines may be different and you should adhere with your current Acquirer’s process. Not all disputes apply to every country/region, please check with your acquirer for further information.