Date effective: Informational
Requirements for issuers under dispute condition 13.3
When you receive a dispute under dispute condition 13.3—not as described or defective merchandise/services, the issuer is required to provide the following:
- A detailed description of how and when the cardholder attempted to return the merchandise
- The disposition of the merchandise (e.g., at the cardholder's home address)
- Certification that the merchandise is available for pickup
- Certification that the merchant:
- Refused the merchandise return
- Refused to provide a return merchandise authorization
- Instructed the cardholder not to return the merchandise
Cardholder letter requirements and dispute conditions 13.1 and 13.9
For disputes under dispute condition 13.1—merchandise/services not received or 13.9—non-receipt of cash or load transaction value, the issuer must provide a cardholder letter at the dispute stage if both of the following are true:
In addition, the issuer must provide a cardholder letter at the dispute stage for condition 13.9 if both of the following are true:
- The cardholder has disputed three or more transactions for non-receipt of merchandise or services at the same merchant
- All of the disputed transactions occurred within the same 30-calendar day period
In addition, the issuer must provide a cardholder letter at the dispute stage for condition 13.9 if both of the following are true:
- The cardholder has disputed three or more transactions for non-receipt of cash or load transaction value at the same ATM or load device
- All the disputed transactions occurred within the same 30-calendar day period
Compliance time limits and date of discovery
Background on arbitration and compliance
Visa bases its arbitration or compliance decision on all information available to it at the time of reaching the decision, including, but not limited to, the provisions of the Visa Rules effective on the transaction date. Visa may, at its sole discretion, consider other factors, such as the objective of ensuring fairness. The decision is delivered to both parties in writing and is final and not subject to any challenge, except for any right of appeal permitted in the Visa Rules.
An arbitration or compliance decision may result in either one party assigned full liability or parties sharing financial liability. The responsible party is financially liable for both the transaction amount and the review fee. Either party in an arbitration or a compliance case may also be liable for a non-compliance assessment for each technical violation of the applicable Visa Rules. The decision on any permitted appeal of an arbitration or compliance ruling is final and not subject to any challenge.
Date of discovery
When using date of discovery to determine compliance filing time limits, Visa reminds service providers to provide evidence that the date cited was the date on which the financial loss was discovered. If the evidence involves a step of the dispute process (e.g., fulfillment, dispute response, pre-arbitration response), the related case numbers or applicable documentation must be linked to, or otherwise attached to, its pre-compliance to extend the time limits.
General statements such as, “This is the date we were first notified of the error,” are not considered valid evidence. Some valid examples are as follows:
- The date of discovery is based on the first notification of the cardholder as specified in the attached letter
- The date of discovery is based on the date we received the pre-arbitration of dispute response showing the charges were for damages