The reg says that we have to "notify" customer of investigation results. If we give them provisional credit and leave it in the account after investigation shows in customer's favor, does the customer have to receive a written notification or are they considered notified by giving them the credit?

Thanks

Simply providing provisional credit and then never debiting it does not constitute notice to the customer that the provisional credit is final.

1005.11(c)(2)(iv) requires that the customer be notified of the results within 3 business days of the conclusion of your investigation including the fact that their provisional is final. This notice can be orally or in writing, but if you elect the oral route, make sure that the date/time/method of the notice is documented so their is an audit trail that you have complied.

If you determine that no error occurred, 1005.11(d)(1) does require a written explanation of your findings including the customer's right to request the documentation you relied on to deny the claim and the fact that you will honor checks and debits to third parties for 5 business days after you debit the provisional credit.

If at the time that they file the unauthorized then Customer Service Rep tells them that they funds will be credited to their account within 10 days, would that constitute oral notice.

That would not constitute oral notice that you've completed the investigation and the results of the investigation, since you haven't started the investigation yet. Complying with section 1005.11 is something that has to follow a routine pattern that is dictated by the steps in the rule. You can shortcut the process by simply agreeing to reimburse the customer without investigation, but that's typically reserved for low-value transactions.

If the investigation is completed within the time frame of providing provisional credit, could the bank send one letter that a determination has been made and the account has been credited, rather than sending 2 letters (provisional and final determination)?

If you complete your investigation prior to 10 business days, you must correct the error in one business day and notify the customer in three business days. If you have not provided provisional credit and simply are providing the final credit, a single notice that you have credited the account and are closing your investigation is fine.

If you provided provisional credit on day 1 and concluded your investigation on day 9, two notices would be required.

Thank you BrianC. that makes perfect sense. Visa has been resolving errors so quickly that we have been sending provisional credit letters and final credit letters on the same day. Confusing for the customer to say the least!

Just to touch on this comment, remember that, short of a few reasons, such as maybe a signed sales slip with a the customers signature or photo evidence, what your processor does or what you can recover through a chargeback does not determine whether a claim is valid or not.