Transaction disputes

When you’ve noticed something incorrect on your account, what do you do? Firstly, you should confirm a few things, and check:

• the transaction date, to see if you’re able to relate the purchase to something you recently bought or services you paid for. Note, the date the transaction is charged to your account (the posting date) may differ from the date you used your card,
  
  
• whether your additional card holder made the purchase (if you have one),
  
  
• if the merchant name that appears on your statement trades under a different name (sometimes the merchant’s trading name is different from its business name, company name or brand names. You can conduct an online search to check if you are unsure,
  
  
• the transaction against any purchase receipts - sometimes the amount is different because of exchange rates on an international transaction, or a surcharge applied by the merchant/store.

Once you’ve done this, have a chat to the individual or organisation the money went to. Often, contacting them is the fastest way to resolve a transaction dispute, because many have their own payment dispute processes (like Apple, Google and PayPal).

If the above suggestions don’t help resolve your query and you’d like to dispute the transaction, read up on the information about your specific transaction dispute (i.e. Visa card dispute) and send us a Secure Mail within Online Banking.

Alternatively, we’re always happy to chat if you call us on 1300 747 747.

Please note that there are different time frames that apply to different types of transaction disputes, so when in doubt, let us know immediately.

If your disputed transaction occurred using a Visa Debit or Credit Card we may be able to arrange a chargeback for you in some instances under Visa’s Zero Liability policy. Otherwise, we will investigate your Visa card dispute under the ePayments Code.

If you’ve checked everything (under How to find a disputed transaction) and you’re still unable to find an answer, please let us know straight away as we’re limited by the timeframes set by Visa.

If you’re sure that an unauthorised transaction has occurred and you’re worried that it could happen again, you should call our 24/7 Lost and Stolen Cards Hotline on 1800 621 199 to immediately to cancel the card or log into Online Banking or the Mobile App to list the card lost or stolen. This may prevent further unauthorised transactions taking place on your card. You need to let us know about any suspected unauthorised transactions straight away.

What’s a chargeback?

In some cases, when you make a purchase using your Visa Debit or Credit Card, we can dispute a transaction for you from the merchant’s financial institution. This is called a chargeback.

Usually, we can only do this after you’ve tried to resolve your dispute with the merchant first, and you were unsuccessful.

Below are some of the typical transactions that have and don’t have chargeback rights.

May have chargeback rights:

• Transactions you didn’t authorise
• Transactions you suspect are fraudulent
• Goods and services that are not received
• Transactions where the payment amount differs
• Goods are not as described
• Duplicated transactions
• Recurring debits which were cancelled
• Goods which are defective
• ATM withdrawals that you did not authorise

No chargeback rights:

• BPay payments (refer to BPay disputes)
• Some payment gateways that have their own dispute resolution process (such as PayPal debits)
• Money Transfer Platform transactions using a Visa card
• Where you have changed your mind about a product or service
• Contract disputes
• Failing to cancel an ongoing membership or subscription you have agreed to (like a trial period)

You’ll need to fill out our Card Dispute Form within 30 days of the date of the statement which shows the disputed transaction and we may also ask you to provide us with any information we need to support your request.

If you don’t follow these steps, we might be unable to resolve your dispute and you may still be liable for the transaction.

How does the chargeback process work?

Step 1 - You lodge your card dispute form

This is where you tell us about the transaction you don’t recognise on your statement in our card dispute form and provide any documents supporting your claim (such as receipts, contracts, images of the goods purchased etc).

Once you lodge the form, the chargeback process will depend on the Visa rules.

If you lodge our card dispute form online, we might ask you to sign a paper version.

Step 2 - We determine the chargeback reason

Typical chargeback reasons include:

• Cancellations/returns
• Fraud
• Customer dissatisfaction
• Transactions processed multiple times
• Authorisation errors
• Processing errors

For specific chargeback examples, see our sample list of Visa chargeback codes.

Step 3 - We contact the merchant's bank

At this stage, the merchant is responsible for providing satisfactory evidence that the transaction is valid. The merchant must respond to this request within timeframes set out by the Visa rules.

Step 4 - Progress updates

Generally, our claims are resolved within 45 days.

If the matter is unresolved after 45 days we’ll provide you with monthly update.

Step 5 - Outcome issued

We’ll let you know the outcome of your dispute, normally over the phone and/or in writing.

If successful, the amount of your disputed transaction will be credited into your nominated bank account along with any interest charged.

If unsuccessful, we’ll let you know why and provide the details of our internal and external dispute resolution processes, in case you’d like an independent review of our decision.

It’s important you understand that we don’t create the rules and regulations of Visa chargebacks or card disputes – Like all the other banks, we’re governed by the card scheme, rules and regulations.

If you are experiencing hardship as a result of the dispute please let us know immediately.

For more information on chargebacks, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Remember, these are just a sample of Visa chargeback reason codes. If you have any questions, please contact us.

We can investigate an ATM dispute, which is when you don’t receive the right amount of money requested through an ATM withdrawal.

Before lodging your ATM dispute, you should keep all receipts issued by the ATM, note down the type of ATM used (i.e. Westpac, Bank of Melbourne) and its street and suburb location.

Once you have these details, call us on 1300 747 747 or send us a Secure Mail within Online Banking or the Mobile App.

When you make a mistake

If you know who received the mistakenly transferred funds, contact them directly and ask for the payment to be returned (this may generally be quicker).

If you’ve made a mistake using an incorrect BSB, Account Number or PayID, you must let us know immediately so we can investigate. Our mistaken internet payments investigation process is governed by the ePayments Code.

Generally, it goes like this:

• If we’re satisfied a mistaken internet payment has occurred, we’ll send the receiving financial institution a request to recover the funds.
• Within 5 business days the receiving financial institution will acknowledge our request and let us know if there are enough funds in the account of the unintended recipient to cover the mistaken internet payment.
• Depending on when you reported the mistaken internet payment to us, and whether the funds are available or unavailable, will determine what happens next. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions.
• We’ll let you know the outcome of any reported mistaken internet payment in writing, within 21 days of the date you reported it to us.

More information on mistaken internet payments, including details on the process and time frames is found in our Terms and Conditions.

Notice a transaction you don’t believe you authorised?

If there’s an unauthorised transfer on your account, call us immediately on 1300 747 747. Once we’re notified, we’ll restrict your Online Banking access and contact the receiving financial institution to recover the funds if it’s possible.

The ePayments Code sets out how we investigate unauthorised transactions and who is liable for loss arising from an unauthorised transaction. Generally, if you did not contribute to the loss and contacted us as soon as possible, you won’t be held liable. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions.

When investigating your claims, we may ask for additional information to understand what happened. We’ll investigate and provide you with a written outcome within 21 days (and no later than 45 days) from when you notify us of the unauthorised transaction.

To help protect you, we may ask you to clean your computer with anti-virus software.

You should contact us immediately on 1300 747 747 to investigate a mistaken or incorrect BPAY transaction, if you:

• paid the wrong biller
• used the incorrect account number, biller code or Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• sent a payment but the biller did not receive it
• don’t recognise a BPAY payment
• think you’ve been fraudulently induced into making a BPAY payment

If your BPAY dispute is about the wrong amount, before you contact us you should:

• contact the Biller directly if you overpaid them and ask for the overpayment to be returned (this can often be quicker), or
• make up the difference by making another BPAY payment, if you paid less than what you were supposed to pay.

Once you’ve notified us, we may ask you to provide details of the BPAY transaction and/or a written consent addressed to the biller (allowing us to investigate the mistaken BPAY transaction).

We’ll normally let you know the outcome in writing within 21 days of you notifying us.

If you’re responsible for a mistaken BPAY payment and we can’t recover the amount from the person who received it within 20 business days, you will be liable for that payment.

For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

If a merchant or business debited your account for an incorrect amount or frequency, you should contact them directly.

You need to call us straight away on 1300 747 747 if you find an unauthorised transfer on your account. We may ask for additional information to understand what has happened and will investigate any loss in accordance with the ePayments Code and provide you with your outcome in writing within 21 days.

We can place a stop on a direct debit transaction immediately if it is set up on your transaction or savings account. If you’d like to cancel a direct debit authority, please contact us and we’ll guide you through the process.

Cancelling a Direct Debit being processed through a Visa Debit or Credit Card isn’t as easy and you should contact the merchant directly. Please contact us if you are having difficulties.

When in doubt, please contact us on 1300 747 747 or send us a Secure Mail from within Online Banking or the Mobile App.

If you notice a cheque has been presented on your account and you don’t recognise the transaction, call us immediately on 1300 747 747.

We may ask for additional information to investigate what has happened and will let you know the outcome within 21 days.

If you no longer need your cheque book, please call us on 1300 747 747 or send us a Secure Mail within Online Banking or the Mobile App to cancel the facility.

For more information on cheques, please see our Terms and Conditions.