Reg E vs. Red Flags

We have a customer who has given notice that he didn't authorize two charges on his account. His debit card was used to pay utility bills. The utility company wants a copy of the police report and an affidavit from him in order to share information about the transactions. I don't think it is fraud, but need the information from the utitliy company to prove. Can I make my customer provide me with a police report prior to jumping through the REG E hoops?

No. You have to complete your investigation whether or not your customer gives you help. All he must provide is the information describing the transaction, his account and why he thinks it's an error.

Yes, you may ask for help. No, you cannot require it. I suggest you ask the utility company if your customer was liable for either of the utility bills paid. If not, you've pretty much got the documentation you need to approve the claim.

If it was a Debit Card, I would assume it is branded by MasterCard or Visa, use the chargeback rules to your advantage by performing a chargeback, with a signed document and merchant will accept the loss or will represent you with their information to refute the chargeback. Based on the info provided on the representment doc, you can share with the cardholder to prove legitimacy or go back out with an updated cardholder letter to force the loss back to the merchant.