A chargeback is the process of refunding the amount paid to the relevant credit card when a payment was made by credit card but the goods or services that should have been received in exchange were not received, or when transactions not carried out by the cardholder are identified. In Turkish, it is translated as "ters ibraz" (reverse presentment).
Banks must comply with the spending dispute rules set by Visa/Mastercard and American Express for chargeback requests. Banks must explain to their customers that the chargeback procedure applied is by no means a bank-specific procedure, and that the dispute mechanism operates in the same way everywhere the card schemes' rules apply.
However, exception rules can be issued by BKM (Interbank Card Center) to be used solely in domestic chargeback practices. These rules are determined based on the decisions of BKM Working Committees. Only representatives of banks that are members of BKM sit on these committees.
Are there domestic exceptions applied to the international Visa and Mastercard chargeback rules?
Yes, there are. These exceptions are:
- When the MO/TO indicator value of the clearing record is blank, the POS entry mode value in the authorization log is 01, and the acquiring bank does not send documentation in response to a copy request, it will not be possible to determine whether the card was physically present at the merchant; in such cases a chargeback can be raised using either of the Visa fraud-related chargeback codes (reason codes 81 or 83).
- In international Visa transactions, the issuer is required to place the card on the exception file for a minimum of 30 days with a capture-the-card message before raising a fraud-related chargeback; this requirement does not apply in domestic practices.
- For disputes related to the delivery of goods/services: in transactions where the card was used physically (signed/PIN-verified), if the issuer submits a document as chargeback documentation stating that the goods/service will be represented on a later date, the acquiring bank must provide a document (other than the receipt) proving that the goods/service was delivered. (For Mastercard reason code 4855 and Visa reason code 30.)
- In international Visa transactions, the issuer has the right to apply directly to Arbitration on the grounds that it did not receive a representment document from the acquiring bank; this right does not exist in domestic transactions. Under domestic practice, the issuer is required to file a pre-arbitration first.
- In domestic Mastercard chargeback transactions, filing a pre-arbitration is mandatory before applying to Arbitration.
- The Mastercard FNS Chargeback Counter practice is not applied domestically. The practice under which liability is shifted to the issuer for the 36th and subsequent fraud chargeback transactions on the same card is not applied domestically.
- For disputes over domestic Visa card transactions carried out without the cardholder's approval (fraud-related disputes):
- In the chargeback process for debit cards, the acquiring bank's representment period, counted from the clearing date of the transaction, is 30 days for POS purchase transactions and 10 days for ATM cash withdrawal transactions.
- In the chargeback process for debit card ATM transactions, the maximum period for submitting documentation is 3 days.
- For debit cards, the presentment period for all online/offline debit card transactions is 7 days from the authorization date.
- For debit card transactions, the Arbitration period is 20 days from the representment period. This period includes the time allowed for pre-arbitration.
