If you need to dispute a transaction - for example, for goods or services paid for but never received - please follow these steps.
Before disputing a transaction with BCU Bank
- If your card was stolen, report the theft to the police and obtain a police report number.
- Review your statements and receipts to identify the transaction you will be disputing.
Please note:
- The transaction will need to be debited from your account before we can lodge a dispute - transactions 'on-hold' cannot be disputed, as the purchase may not necessarily be debited from your account. On hold amounts can be in a pending stage for up to six days.
- The date may differ - this may be due to delays between when the purchase occurred and when the merchant processed the transaction to your account.
- The amount may differ - this could be due to exchange rates applied to an international transaction, or fees and charges applied by the merchant.
- The merchant name may appear differently - this may be due to the company using a different trading name.
Contact the merchant and attempt to resolve the matter. A merchant may assist when:
- Goods were paid for but have not been received.
- Goods were received, but were damaged or not as described.
- The amount was duplicated or was incorrect.
- Services were paid for but not provided.
- A service was cancelled but you were still charged.
Please keep copies of all correspondence with the merchant, and ensure any goods are returned before lodging a dispute.
How do I dispute a transaction with BCU Bank?
- Please contact us on 1300 228 228 during business hours, or any time via secure mail in iBank, so that we can review the transaction.
- Once confirmed we will ask you to complete the required form so that we can lodge your dispute.
- The form will list any documentation that is required to be provided to lodge your dispute.
What happens next?
Once we have received your dispute, BCU Bank will issue you an acknowledgement.
It may take up to 45 days to resolve the matter, depending on the nature of the dispute. If your dispute is successful, we will reimburse your account. If your dispute is not successful, we will provide a response to explain why.
Frequently asked questions
Card details can become compromised in many different ways. This could occur if your card has been stolen, skimmed at an ATM or point of sale, or if there has been a security breach of your phone or PC. It is important to protect your card and PIN at all times, and never provide these details to someone you do not know.
Chargeback is the term used for when we debit a merchant’s bank account with the amount of a transaction that had previously been credited. For example, when we claim funds back from a retail store and credit the funds back to your account.
There are several reasons why a transaction will be charged back. These fall into four categories:
- The merchant has made an error at the point of sale.
- The cardholder or the card issuing company (“the Issuer”) is disputing the transaction. For example, the card or cardholder were not present at the point of sale and possible fraud may have taken place.
- The goods were never received, or the service never provided.
- The transaction was duplicated.
You can apply for a chargeback by disputing a transaction. Please contact us with any queries about the transaction first.
If your card has been compromised or you suspect fraudulent activity, you can temporarily lock or list your card as stolen via BCU iBank or the BCU Bank app. Alternatively, you can contact our fraud department on 1800 648 027.
If you want to proceed with a card transaction dispute, please contact us on 1300 228 228, via Secure Mail, or visit our branches and provide the details of the transaction. We will complete a card transaction dispute form on your behalf to lodge your dispute.
After lodging your dispute, we will contact you with our findings within 21 days. If we are unable to complete our investigation within 21 days we will notify you in writing.
There is no fee charged to lodge a dispute, however if a Visa or EFTPOS dispute is declined, a fee may apply per disputed transaction. Refer to our Schedule of Access Fees and Charges for any applicable fees..
You should make every effort to report a disputed transaction to us as soon aspossible, so that we may reasonably ask for a chargeback where such right exists. You can notify us of your dispute by calling our Contact Centre on 1300 228 228 during business hours, or by visiting a branch.
Visa cardholders can only request a chargeback within 120 days of the original transaction or delivery date. For example, on certain transactions such as flights or travel the delivery date would be the date of the flight or travel booking, not the purchase date.
You should make every effort to report a disputed transaction to us as soon as possible, so that we may reasonably ask for a chargeback where such right exists.
A failure to report a disputed transaction and/or provide additional information within 120 days of the date of the original transaction or delivery date could affect our ability to claim a chargeback right (if any) under the card scheme rules.
When a dispute relates to an authorised transaction, it can be beneficial to contact the merchant first to provide them with an opportunity to resolve the matter.
If you are unable to resolve this with the merchant and would like to proceed with lodging a dispute, please contact us and we will assist you.
To assist your dispute, we may ask for you to provide any correspondence between yourself and the merchant.