I know REG E doesn't cover businesses, and my guess is that its up to each financial institution as to whether or not they want to pay cardholder claims on business accounts. Does anyone have a feel for whether or not most financial institutions flat out deny card disputes on business accounts? Are there any statistics available on banks that treat the business cardholder the same as the consumer?

Any financial institutions that flat out deny business claims are in violation of their contract with VISA to provide Zero Liability protections for their small business debit card program and they risk some pretty hefty non-compliance fines from VISA.

There are definitely no statistics for me to give you.

That certainly makes sense and our institution has always honored the business dispute. I was just inquiring if there were any loopholes; so thanks for the comment as from what you've stated it would appear there are none.

I know Visa is shortening the Chargeback windows for merchants to respond to disputes from 45 days to 30 days so that should speed up final resolution of disputes which will help card issuers.

I have another question:

If an FI has set dollar limits on there card base for both ATM and POS purchases when the card was originally mailed to the customer, and a cardholder calls their FI requesting to have their card limit increased, can the customer be held liable for unauthorized transactions caused by the limit increase?

In other words, since the customer's request increases the risk for loss can they be held liable for amounts above the limits originally establish by the financial institution?

No.

The commentary to 1005.6 makes Randy's answer abundantly clear for consumers.

3. Limits on liability. The extent of the consumer's liability is determined solely by the consumer's promptness in reporting the loss or theft of an access device. Similarly, no agreement between the consumer and an institution may impose greater liability on the consumer for an unauthorized transfer than the limits provided in Regulation E.

VISA/Mastercard also will not take kindly to the bank asking its cardholders to waive Zero Liability protections. You are contractually obligated to provide them.