Transaction disputes FAQ

A: A discrepancy between a merchant and cardholder in relation to goods or services the cardholder has purchased.

We aim to help you recover funds for goods/services you paid for, in the event you have not been able to come to an agreement with the merchant directly. Once you raise a dispute on the relevant transaction, we will raise a chargeback against the merchant, using your supporting evidence. It is important to note that the merchant may challenge the chargeback, and hence a successful outcome is not guaranteed.

A: Below are examples of reasons to dispute transactions:

• Unauthorised transaction (no monies or benefit received from the transaction or do not know the identity of the person who made the withdrawal)
• Duplicate transaction
• Cancelled recurring payment
• Returned goods or cancelled services
• Goods/services not received
• Discrepancy in amount charged
• Paid by other means

We may not be able to assist you with disputes that relate to:

• Quality of service provided by a merchant
• Contract related disputes
• Billing disputes
• Buyer's remorse

A: If there is a transaction on your debit or credit card that you don’t recognise, before lodging a dispute you should:

• confirm the transaction wasn’t made by another cardholder on the account,
• search online if you don’t recognise the merchant name that appears on your statement, to see if they trade under a different name (sometimes the trading name can be different to the business or brand name),
• check the transaction against any purchase receipts you might have - sometimes the amount is different because of exchange rates on an international transaction, or a surcharge applied by the merchant
• confirm you haven’t given your card details to someone when subscribing to a free trial that may be finished
• check it’s not a purchase from a few days ago, as there can be delays between payment and the transaction appearing
• contact the merchant directly and try to resolve the issue. This is usually the fastest way to resolve a transaction dispute.
• get more details about the transaction by logging into your other payment gateways like PayPal, App Store, Google Play, Shopify or Uber.

In some cases, when you make a purchase using your 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.

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

A: If the above suggestions don’t help resolve your query and you would like to dispute the transaction, please contact us immediately.

We may lose our right to exercise a chargeback right on your behalf under the card scheme if you do not contact us within 120 days of the statement date of when the transaction was charged. We will investigate disputed transactions under the ePayments Code where they are reported to us outside of the card scheme timeframes or where chargeback rights do not apply for another reason.

A: We are ready to help resolve card payment disputes. To help us investigate thoroughly, we will ask you to complete an Unauthorised Transaction form. This provides us with all the information we need to start our payment dispute process. Once you have filled in the form you can email it to us at fraudmonitoring@gcmutual.bank, send it by mail to PO Box A253, Sydney South NSW 1235, or drop it in to your local Service Centre.

When considering your dispute, we may ask you to provide:

• Details of your attempts (if any) to resolve this with the merchant
• Evidence of goods being returned to the merchant
• Sales receipts or invoices
• Evidence of cancellation for trial payments
• Police reports (if any) for lost/stolen cards

A: We’ll work to help resolve your dispute as quickly as possible however, please be aware once we initiate a dispute, the merchant will have up to 45 days to investigate and approve or decline the dispute.

The process for resolving your dispute includes:

1. You complete and lodge the Unauthorised Transaction form
2. We will investigate the transaction being disputed, and determine which chargeback reason code will apply
3. We will then contact the merchant's bank – they are 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.
4. Along the process we will provide you with any progress updates we may have, generally our card disputes are resolved within the 45 days.
5. In some instances, we may provide you an interim refund for the disputed payment while investigating the payment.
6. We will 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 (unless an interim refund has been provided).

If unsuccessful, we will let you know why and provide the details of our internal and external dispute resolution processes, in case you would like an independent review of our decision. If we have provided you with an interim refund this will then be reversed from your account.

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

For more information on disputes and chargebacks, please see our Account and Access Facilities Terms and Conditions.

A: As a subscriber to the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice, G&C Mutual Bank has made a commitment to:

• Claim a chargeback right where one exists and the cardholder has disputed the transaction within the required time frame;
• Claim the chargeback for the most appropriate reason;
• Not accept a refusal of a chargeback by a merchant's financial institution unless it is consistent with the relevant card scheme rules; and

We will make general information about the disputes and chargebacks readily available to our members in our product information and on our website. We will emphasise the need to promptly report problems to ensure a claim can be made within relevant chargeback periods.

For extra control and security we can put a temporary lock on your debit or credit card or we can permanently stop your card and order you a new one.

A: You can ask us to reconsider by providing us with additional information in writing. Alternatively, you may wish to raise a complaint.

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

You can contact us to make a complaint by phone, mail, visiting a Service Centre or via email. Refer to the Complaints page for more information.

In the event you feel that G&C Mutual Bank has not adequately addressed your complaint or if we have not resolved your complaint within 30 days, you have a right to escalate the matter to an external dispute resolution scheme.

A: Below is a general guide on what to do when you have attempted to withdraw funds from an ATM and do not receive the right amount of money.

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, contact our Member Service team, send us a secure message within Online Banking or email us at info@gcmutual.bank.

Please notify us immediately. We can then manage the claim on your behalf.

A: To make the investigation as easy as possible, we will need you to complete our ATM Card Dispute form. This provides us with the information we need to start the dispute process. Once you have filled in the form you can email it to us at info@gcmutual.bank, or drop it into your local Service Centre.

We may ask you to produce details of the ATM which the transaction occurred at to support your payment dispute.

We will keep you informed during the investigation, preferably by email.

Once we contact the ATM owner, they have 21 days to decline the dispute. They can only decline the dispute if they have sufficient evidence that there were no discrepancies with the ATM reconciling for that day.

Should the dispute be found in your favour, we will work with the ATM owner to credit the refund to your account. If your dispute is rejected, we will provide you with the evidence presented to support the ATM owner’s decision.

A: You can ask us to reconsider by providing us with additional information in writing. Alternately, you may wish to raise a complaint.

It’s important you understand the decision is dependent on the owner of the ATM not G&C Mutual Bank.

You can contact us to make a complaint by phone, mail, visiting a Service Centre or via email. Refer to the Complaints page for more information.

In the event you feel that G&C Mutual Bank has not adequately addressed your complaint or if we have not resolved your complaint within 30 days, you have a right to escalate the matter to an external dispute resolution scheme.

A: The ePayments Code introduces the term mistaken internet payment and a prescribed process for recovering these payments when made from a personal (consumer) transaction account via the ‘Pay Anyone’ feature in Online Banking

A mistaken internet payment is:

• where funds are paid into the account of an unintended recipient because the user enters or selects a BSB number and/or identifier that does not belong to the named and/or intended recipient as a result of the user’s error or the user being advised of the wrong BSB number and/or identifier or;
• an NPP Payment which, as a result of the user’s error, is directed to the wrong account.

More information on mistaken internet payments, including details on the process and timeframes is found in our Account and Access Facilities Terms and Conditions.

A: The ePayments Code definition of mistaken internet payments does not include:

• transfers between a members accounts at the same financial institution;
• payments made by BPAY;
• transfers you did not intend to make;
• transfer of funds to the recipient as a result of a scam;
• transfers to an account that has changed account owners since you first advised us of the BSB and account number.

A: 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). Otherwise, you can report a mistaken internet payment by contacting our Member Service team or emailing us at info@gcmutual.bank.

Our mistaken internet payments investigation process is governed by the ePayments Code.

A: A mistaken internet payment can be reported at anytime, however it is advisable to report a mistaken internet payment as soon as practical.

Where the sending institution is satisfied that the mistaken internet payment occurred and there are sufficient credit funds available in the account of the unintended recipient to the value of the mistaken internet payment, the process that will apply will depend upon when the report of the mistaken internet transaction is made.

In each case where the receiving institution is not satisfied that a mistaken internet payment has occurred, it may (but is not required to) seek consent of the unintended recipient to return the funds.

Where the funds are returned to the sending institution, it will return the funds to the holder of the account from which the payment was made as soon as practicable.

More information on mistaken internet payments, including details on the process and timeframes is found in our Account and Access Facilities Terms and Conditions.

A: The process for recovering mistaken internet payments is regulated by the ePayments Code, where that Code applies to the payment. The process will differ depending on whether we are the sending or receiving institution, how promptly the mistake has been reported to the bank and if there are enough funds in the unintended recipient's account to enable the receiving bank to recover the mistaken payment.

If we’re satisfied a mistaken internet payment has occurred, we’ll send the receiving financial institution a request to recover the funds. Within 10 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.

Please note that where a financial institution other than us is the receiving institution for mistaken internet payment, we cannot guarantee that it will follow the processes prescribed in the ePayments Code.

We will 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 timeframes is found in our Account and Access Facilities Terms and Conditions.

A: No, there is no fee to report a mistaken internet payment.

A: A mistaken internet payment is specific to payments, made by a member from their account via the ‘Pay Anyone’ feature in Online Banking, which have been sent to the incorrect account, i.e. the incorrect BSB and/or account number.

A trace and recall is for all other incorrect transactions completed via any channel (i.e. ATM, Service Centre, Online, etc), including duplication of the transaction or incorrect amount.

A disputed transaction is when a transaction has been made (usually a withdrawal) and the owner of the account is questioning the transaction.

A: You should contact us immediately on 1300 364 400 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 have 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 will 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.

More information please refer to our Account and Access Facilities Terms and Conditions.