Understanding the Credit Card Dispute Time Limit
As credit card usage in the U.S. keeps increasing, so does the number of credit card disputes. In fact, Americans disputed more than $65 billion in credit card transactions in 2023 alone[1].
When you encounter a transaction you didn’t authorize, find an incorrect amount on your card statement, or receive a defective product, you have the right to dispute the charge with your credit card issuer or financial institution. However, there’s a credit card dispute time limit that you should be aware of to dispute a charge successfully.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the credit card dispute timeframe for different transactions and the steps to dispute a charge. To help you avoid the stress of filing disputes altogether, we’ll also show you how virtual cards can help you minimize the need to dispute a transaction in the first place.
Disclaimer: The information in this guide is accurate as of February 2025. For up-to-date information, please visit the official website of each listed provider or contact customer support directly.
What Is the Credit Card Dispute Time Limit?
The credit card dispute time limit is the amount of time you have to dispute a credit card charge with your issuer or financial institution. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA)[2] sets this timeframe to protect consumers from unauthorized charges and billing errors.
Under the FCBA, you can submit a dispute in writing within 60 days from the date of the statement with the disputed charge. After receiving your dispute, the credit card issuer has 30 days to confirm they received it and investigate the charge. From there, the issuer has two billing cycles (up to 90 days) to resolve the dispute[3].
If the issuer determines the charge was wrongful, incorrect, or fraudulent, it will issue a chargeback. In the meantime, you might receive a provisional credit covering the disputed amount while the investigation is still ongoing.
If your dispute is denied, the issuer must provide a written explanation of its findings. In this case, the charge will remain on your statement, and any provisional credit you’ve received will be reversed.
Transaction Issues That Affect the Credit Card Dispute Timeframe
While the FCBA sets the 60-day timeframe as a minimum requirement for credit card issuers, some providers may offer longer timeframes for disputing credit card charges.
Among different card providers, the credit card dispute time limit may also vary depending on whether you're disputing unauthorized charges, billing errors, or product or service issues. Check out the specific issues you can base your dispute on that may determine your dispute deadline:
To be able to dispute a credit card payment on the grounds of product quality issues, the charge in question must fulfill the following three conditions[4]:
- The transaction must be over $5.
- You made the purchase in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address.
- You’ve tried resolving the issue with the merchant first.
Credit Card Dispute Timeframe by Issuer
Because the time limit varies by provider, it's always best to check with your specific issuer for their dispute policies and procedures.
Still, to help you get an idea of the time limit range providers usually offer, we'll cover the credit card dispute timeframes for some of the major issuers below:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
Visa Credit Card Chargeback Time Limit
Visa credit card holders generally have up to 120 days from the transaction date to file a dispute, although there are a few instances when the Visa chargeback timeframe may be limited to 75 days. The table below outlines transactions that fall under the 120- or 75-day time limit[5]:
Mastercard Chargeback Time Limit
Mastercard offers its cardholders a 120-day timeframe to dispute a charge in most cases. However, if the charge you’re disputing relates to an incorrect transaction amount, an account number not on file, or a warning bulletin file, the chargeback time limit drops to 90 days[6].
Below are the different payment disputes that have a 120-day limit:
- Product or service not as described
- Credit not processed
- Billed for a canceled recurring transaction, like a subscription
- Credit posted as purchase
- Questionable merchant activity
- ATM disputes
- Liability shift for PIN or chip transaction
- No cardholder authorization
American Express Chargeback Time Limit
American Express cardholders have 120 days from the transaction date to dispute a charge, though this period can be extended in the following cases[7]:
- Goods or services not received
- Goods or services canceled or returned
- Redisputes
No matter the nature of your dispute, the company limits members to only two disputes per charge in most cases[7].
What Is the 540-Day Rule for Chargebacks?
The 540-day chargeback rule refers to the maximum time limit for initiating a dispute with your credit card issuer for undelivered goods. Under this rule, a payment dispute time limit shouldn't exceed 540 days from the transaction date.
Remember that this rule doesn’t always apply—it’s valid only in situations that meet the criteria. For example, if you paid for a couch to be delivered in six months but the merchant never shipped it on the expected delivery date, you may have up to 540 days from the date of purchase to dispute the charge, depending on your card issuer’s or card network’s policies.
How Do Credit Card Disputes Work?
When you spot a valid reason to dispute a charge, the first step in the dispute process is to contact the merchant. It's the quickest and easiest way to resolve the issue—the merchant may issue a refund, exchange the item, or correct the billing error without involving your credit card company.
If you're unable to resolve the issue with the merchant, you can reach out to your credit card issuer either by phone or through their online dispute portal. You’ll need to attach supporting documentation such as receipts, emails, or photos to strengthen your claim. The issuer will then initiate an investigation and may issue a provisional credit during the process.
Once the investigation is complete, the issuer will notify you of their findings and either resolve the dispute in your favor or reject it. If you disagree with the outcome, you can appeal the decision with your issuer within the appropriate timeframe, which you can also find by browsing their website or contacting customer support.
How To Protect Yourself Against Unauthorized Payments and Avoid Disputes
Most credit card issuers make the dispute process convenient to protect customers against fraud and sneaky merchants. However, initiating a dispute can be challenging due to several reasons:
- A strict timeframe to file a dispute
- Unclear filing procedures that differ from one issuer to the next
- The need for gathering evidence and documentation to support your claim
- Lengthy investigation processes that can take weeks or months to complete
- No guarantee of a favorable outcome
Fortunately, you can avoid some of the reasons for filing a dispute in the first place by paying with virtual cards every time you shop online. Virtual cards substitute your real payment card data with randomly generated numbers, adding a protective layer to your online transactions.
If you opt for an independent virtual card provider like Privacy, you can enjoy robust security and advanced card controls that let you pause, cancel, or set a spending limit for each virtual card. Setting spending limits on cards may help prevent common dispute reasons such as duplicate billings and hidden fees.
Privacy Cards—Your Safest Bet Against Disputes
After connecting your debit card or bank account to Privacy, you can request and generate multiple virtual cards for single use or recurring payments. While these cards are linked to your actual bank account, they have a unique card number, expiration date, and security code, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized charges and billing errors that may lead to payment disputes.
Privacy offers three card types, each with a different level of protection against potential misuse leading to disputes:
You can set a spending limit and pause or close your virtual cards without affecting the linked funding source.
The spending limit feature protects you against billing errors—overcharges, duplicate payments, and hidden fees—as Privacy will decline all transactions above your preset limit. Privacy will also block all future transactions on a paused or closed card, limiting the risk of accidental charges—like those that sneaky merchants may impose while you’re in the process of stopping a subscription.
How To Dispute a Charge on Privacy
If you don’t take advantage of Privacy’s detailed card controls and still want to dispute a transaction, Privacy makes it easy to complete the dispute process directly from the platform.
After submitting your dispute, Privacy’s fraud protection team will investigate the claim and, if there are grounds for it, initiate a chargeback on your behalf.
Convenience Beyond Robust Security
Privacy offers additional convenience features designed to make your online transactions more seamless. For example, the Privacy Browser Extension, which is available for all major browsers (including Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari or Safari for iOS), auto-populates your virtual card details at checkout, facilitating faster and more secure payments.
You can also install the Privacy App on your Android or iOS device to create, manage, and monitor your virtual card usage on the go. After setting transaction alerts, the mobile app will send instant push notifications to help you detect potential suspicious activity every time your Privacy cards are charged or declined.
Other convenience features you can enjoy include:
- 1Password integration—Privacy’s seamless integration with 1Password enables you to manage your passwords and payment information from a centralized location.
- Card Notes—Privacy lets you attach helpful notes to each virtual card for easy tracking and organization. For example, you can label a card "Subscription Services" to quickly identify its purpose.
- Shared Card—This feature lets you securely share your virtual card details with trusted friends and family members. It makes sharing your budget easier while keeping you in control of the card. For example, you can label a card with the day you’re expecting the next payment to go through.
How To Get Your Privacy Cards
To join Privacy and secure your online transactions with virtual cards, complete these four steps:
- Create an account
- Provide the required KYC information to verify your identity
- Connect a funding source—your bank account or debit card
- Request and generate your first Privacy Card
Privacy offers four plans to cater to different budgets and user needs:
Privacy cards are accepted by most vendors that process U.S. Visa® or Mastercard® payments, including subscription services such as Shopify, Twitch, and Tinder Gold.
