ATM Dispute Claim

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Question:

If you have a customer with an ATM dispute claim, who has in writing stated that his wallet was stolen with his card, his PIN and his account number in it, are we allowed to reverse provisional credit under Reg E?

Answer:

If the customer claims that his wallet was stolen with both his card and his PIN number in it, that is a legitimate EFT error. If he notified you within 2 business days after discovering the theft, his maximum liability is $50. Unless you can PROVE that the customer made (or authorized) the withdrawal(s) in question, you're going to have to eat the loss and try to go after whoever it was that did make the withdrawals (if you can identify them).

If you made provisional credit during the investigation, you are obligated to make that credit final within 45 calendar days of the notice of error unless you do in fact determine that no EFT error occurred. For example, if you've got a photo from the ATM showing your customer making the withdrawal, then yes, you can reverse the provisional credit. Otherwise, the loss is yours until you can identify who really did make the withdrawal.

First published on BankersOnline.com 11/06/06