Other Fraud - Card-Present Environment, Condition 10.3

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

A cardholder is claiming that they did not authorize or participate in a key-entered or unattended transaction conducted in a card-present environment.

The most common causes of this type of dispute are that you:

  • Did not ensure that the card was either swiped or that the chip was read.
  • Did not make a manual imprint of the card account information on the transaction receipt for a key-entered transaction.
  • Completed a card-absent transaction, but did not identify the transaction as an internet or mail order / phone order.

The card was chip-read or swiped and the transaction was authorized at the point of sale.

Provide a copy of the authorization record as proof that the card’s magnetic stripe or chip was read.

A manual imprint was obtained at the time of sale. (Does not apply to the Europe region)

Provide a copy of the manual imprint.

You agree the transaction was not chip-read, swiped or manually imprinted.

Accept the dispute.

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. 

The cardholder no longer disputes the transaction.

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

How to avoid this dispute in the future

  • Make sure all card-present transactions are either chip-read or magnetic stripe-read.
  • If you are unable to swipe or read the chip, make a manual imprint of the card.

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.