Recognizing recurring and non-recurring debit card

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Question:

Can a merchant force a debit card transaction by claiming that the transaction is a recurring transaction event though it's not? For example, the customer opted out of overdraft service for ATM and one-time POS debit card transactions, but a merchant forced the transaction by claiming it's recurring.

Answer:

A merchant will have no way of knowing whether your customer did or did not opt out of your overdraft service. In fact, a merchant won't even know if you offer an overdraft service. Whether a transaction is recurring or not is moot for this conversation. Visa/Mastercard require a merchant to obtain a valid preauthorization prior to submitting a charge. If a merchant failed to do that, and you are unable to collect from your customer, then the bank has chargeback rights for "declined authorization" or "no authorization" as applicable.