How to Request a Chargeback on Credit or Debit Cards

To request a chargeback on a credit or debit card, send your card issuer a written dispute — through its app, online portal, or the billing inquiries address on your statement — within 60 days of the statement date, identifying the charge, the amount, and why it’s wrong, and attaching whatever proof you have. The law your bank must follow depends on the card: the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) governs credit card disputes, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) with Regulation E governs debit card disputes. The steps are similar; the timelines, liability, and how you get your money back differ.

When You Can Request a Chargeback

The FCBA lists the specific “billing errors” you can dispute on a credit card:

Unauthorized charges someone made without your permission.
Charges for a different amount than you agreed to pay.
Goods or services you paid for but never received.
Items you didn’t accept, or that arrived damaged or materially different from what was described.
Refunds a merchant promised but never posted to your account.
Math or accounting mistakes on your statement.
Statements the creditor failed to send to your correct address.

Debit card disputes fall under Regulation E and cover unauthorized electronic transfers and errors on your account. If your complaint is about the quality of what you bought rather than a straight billing error, the FTC advises contacting the merchant first; you can still assert claims against the credit card issuer, but a separate FCBA provision adds conditions (including a $50 minimum and, in some cases, a geographic limit tied to your billing address).¹² For unauthorized charges or wrong amounts, contact the issuer right away.

How Long You Have to File

For a credit card, you must send your billing error notice within 60 days of the date the first statement containing the error was mailed or delivered to you.³ Miss it, and you lose the FCBA’s specific procedural protections. Card networks like Visa and Mastercard run their own dispute systems with separate, sometimes longer windows — Mastercard, for example, allows 120 days from settlement for most cardholder disputes and up to 540 days for interrupted ongoing services — but relying on those instead of federal law is a weaker position.⁴

For a debit card, Regulation E also uses a 60-day window from when the statement showing the problem was sent. Reporting late is more than a paperwork issue here: your dollar liability rises sharply the longer you wait, and after 60 days you can face unlimited liability for further unauthorized transfers.⁵

What to Gather Before You File

Pull the transaction details straight from your statement: merchant name, transaction date, exact amount, and — if your statement or online banking shows it — the transaction reference or authorization number. Then match your evidence to the kind of dispute you have:

Undelivered item: carrier tracking and delivery-status screenshots.
Wrong or defective item: photos of what arrived, plus the original order confirmation.
Unauthorized charge: anything showing it wasn’t you — location evidence, a police report if the card was stolen.
Missing refund: the merchant’s return confirmation or refund promise, and statements showing the credit never appeared.

Keep dated records of your contact with the merchant: emails, chat transcripts, phone notes. If the dispute involves a subscription or canceled service, save the merchant’s terms and refund policy too. For a quality complaint, the FTC’s guidance is explicit that you need to show you tried the merchant first before escalating.¹

How to Submit the Request

The FCBA requires your billing error notice to be in writing. It must include your name and account number, identify the charge, state the amount, and explain why you think it’s an error, and it must go to the address the card issuer has designated for billing inquiries — usually printed on your statement — not to the general payment address.³

Most issuers now accept disputes through their app or online banking portal, and those electronic submissions generally satisfy the written notice requirement. You’ll get a confirmation number or case ID; save it. If you’d rather mail your notice, use certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery. A phone call alone may not satisfy the written notice rule — if you start by phone, follow up in writing. If you’re disputing more than one charge from the same merchant, list each one separately with its date and amount.

What Happens After You File a Credit Card Dispute

Once your card issuer receives a valid billing error notice, it must acknowledge your notice in writing within 30 days, unless it resolves the dispute in that same period. From there, it has two complete billing cycles — and no more than 90 days — to finish the investigation and either correct the error or explain, in writing, why the charge stands.³

You don’t pay the disputed amount while the investigation runs, and the issuer cannot try to collect it or the finance charges tied to it. If you’re on autopay, the issuer must exclude the disputed amount from scheduled deductions, provided your notice arrived at least three business days before the payment date.⁶ The merchant will typically send rebuttal evidence — delivery confirmation, a signed contract, correspondence — and the bank weighs it against yours. If the issuer decides the charge was valid, it must send a written explanation and, on request, copies of the documents it relied on.⁷ It can then bill you for the original amount plus finance charges that accrued during the investigation, but it cannot add finance charges to the rest of your balance because you withheld payment on the disputed portion.

What Happens After You File a Debit Card Dispute

Debit disputes move on a different clock. Your bank must investigate within 10 business days of receiving your notice. If it needs longer, it can extend the investigation to 45 days — but only if it provisionally credits your account within those first 10 business days and notifies you of the credit amount and date within two business days after posting it.⁸ The provisional credit puts the disputed money back in your account while the review continues.

For point-of-sale debit transactions, international transfers, and new accounts (within 30 days of the first deposit), the bank gets more time: up to 90 days to investigate, with the initial review period stretched from 10 to 20 business days. When the investigation ends, the bank must correct any error in your favor within one business day and report the results to you within three business days.⁸

Your Liability While the Dispute Is Pending

On a credit card, federal law caps your liability for unauthorized use at $50, and most major issuers offer zero-liability policies that go further.⁹

On a debit card, your exposure depends on how quickly you report:

Within 2 business days of learning about the loss or theft: capped at $50, or the amount of the unauthorized transfers, whichever is less.
More than 2 business days but within 60 days of receiving your statement: up to $500.
More than 60 days after your statement is sent: unlimited liability for further unauthorized transfers.⁵

With a debit card, the money has already left your checking account, so speed protects both your dollar cap and your cash flow. With a credit card, waiting a week or two rarely changes your exposure.

Credit Reporting While the Dispute Is Open

The card issuer cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent or threaten your credit rating for not paying it while the investigation is running. It can note that the amount is being disputed, but withholding the disputed payment is not a missed payment.¹⁰

If the issuer concludes you owe the amount, it must give you at least 10 days to pay before reporting delinquency. If you still disagree and send another written notice inside that payment window, the issuer can report the delinquency only if it also reports that you dispute the debt and tells you every party it reported to. It must send any later resolution to those same parties.¹⁰

If Your Chargeback Is Denied

Start by asking the issuer for copies of the evidence it relied on; federal regulations give you that right, and the merchant’s documentation often shows the exact gap you need to fill.⁷ Card network rules add layers of review beyond the bank’s first decision. Under Mastercard’s system, the issuing bank can process a second chargeback if the merchant’s rebuttal didn’t address the original reason code or if you supply new evidence, such as a letter dated after the merchant’s response that speaks to the merchant’s explanation. If the second attempt fails, the dispute can escalate to arbitration through the network.⁴

If you believe the issuer itself mishandled the dispute — missed a deadline, didn’t investigate, ignored procedure — file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB forwards it to the company, which generally must respond within 15 days. You can file online or call (855) 411-2372, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.¹¹ For smaller amounts where the chargeback process is exhausted, small claims court may be an option depending on where you live.

1
Consumer Advice – FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1666i – Assertion by Cardholder Against Card Issuer of Claims and Defenses
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
4
Mastercard. Chargeback Guide
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1693g – Consumer Liability
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation Z 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution
7
eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution
8
eCFR. 12 CFR 205.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1643 – Liability of Holder of Credit Card
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1666a – Regulation of Credit Reports
11
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Learn How the Complaint Process Works