If a customer acknowledges they have their debit card saved on a Playstation console, and has had previous charges, but now states her son (11 yr old) stole her card and did the 2 most recent charges without her consent, are we able to deny her dispute? Given that there is a history of transactions, and also with her admitting the debit card is stored within the console.

Tell her that if you take the loss, then the debt of the son is now owned to the bank rather than the mother. Would she rather that the kid do dishes for a month, or the bank file theft charges against the son with the local police. These types of claims have a tendency to be withdrawn at that point.

It also might be time to cancel her debit card privileges. But, as Randy implied, she does have the right to dispute this transaction.

Lately I've been removing debit card holders "privileges" left and right...they seem to think it's a given right to have a card when they have a checking account wondering how else they would get their $. Well if you didn't file 10 disputes and come in asking for a new card every other week because you misplaced yours or someone "took it" and returned it perhaps they wouldn't have been suspended....

Part of your investigation should be to find out how the card number came to be on the Playstation. If she provided the card to her son to make purchases - on the Playstation or otherwise - his use of the card is considered authorized until she notifies your bank that he is no longer authorized to use her card. I would hope you then have procedures in place that, upon such notification, require her card be canceled and a new card number assigned.

1005.2(m) “Unauthorized electronic fund transfer” means an electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account initiated by a person other than the consumer without actual authority to initiate the transfer and from which the consumer receives no benefit. The term does not include an electronic fund transfer initiated:

(1) By a person who was furnished the access device to the consumer's account by the consumer, unless the consumer has notified the financial institution that transfers by that person are no longer authorized;