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Customer Liability for Unauthorized Transactions

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Question: 
Is ​this​ customer liable for unauthorized transactions​?​ The cardholder noticed ​one​ charge but did not notify the bank or attempt to cancel the card. A week later the cardholder notice​d​ more unauthorized transactions and at that point contact​ed​ the bank and file​d​ a dispute. Should the bank allow her to file a dispute for all the unauthorized transactions​,​ ​since she could have prevented the ​later ​transactions had she notified the bank after the first transaction?
Answer: 

A consumer always has the right to make a claim of an electronic funds transfer error for any debit card transaction. The bank cannot prevent the consumer from filing a claim. The investigation under 1005.11 can include an analysis of when the cardholder learned of the loss or theft of their access device and when it was ultimately reported.

If in the course of the investigation, the bank concludes that the customer did not exercise reasonable care in safeguarding the card from loss or theft and did not provide timely notice according to the cardholder agreement, the cardholder may not qualify for VISA//Mastercard Zero Liability protections. However, the bank must still follow the liability schedule in 1005.6. If the cardholder did not report the loss or theft of the access device within two business days of learning of the loss or theft, 1005.6(b) states that their liability could be as high as $500.00.

We cannot automatically deny or refuse to accept claims for the later transactions since we must determine the consumer's liability based on 1005.6. We cannot use negligence as a reason for increasing liability above the $500.00 threshold. Also, the $500.00 threshold only applies to those transactions that occurred more than two businesses days after the consumer learned of the fraud.

First published on 10/15/2017

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