Scenario: cardholder Jane Doe (sole owner account) puts in a claim for several transactions. It appears based on further research that the transactions that they were performed by a John Doe (same last name). Cardholder says she does not know anyone named John Doe. Further research of bank records shows Jane is on another account with a John Doe and this John Doe has same address (likely her son). So, it appears she lied. Is this fact alone enough to deny the claim?

Great question, but in my opinion the answer is no. The fact that she may or may not have lied about knowing the person who conducted the transaction in and of itself should have no bearing on whether this was an error, and specifically, an unauthorized EFT.

What does have bearing is whether or not they gave authority to this person to use their card. This, of course, will be difficult to determine without an affirmative statement from your customer or some sort of video evidence.

If you can get photos of the person performing the transaction, show her the photos and inform her that you are filing a theft report with the police department and taking legal action against the person initiating the transactions.

Thank you for your responses.