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The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) is a federal law that was designed to provide protection to consumers from unfair and deceptive credit billing practices. Established in 1975, the FCBA works to protect consumers from fraudulent and deceptive practices in the credit card market while ensuring that consumers are well informed when it comes to their credit purchases.
The FCBA mainly applies to revolving credit accounts (most commonly, credit cards). This law ensures that consumers are not subject to surprise or unfair billing practices, allowing them to understand the terms of their accounts and dispute any billing errors to their card issuers. The FCBA covers any errors related to unauthorized charges, inaccurate dates or amounts on charges, and billing calculation errors.
Consumers have 60 days from the time they receive their credit card statement to dispute any erroneous charges with their card issuer. If a card issuer finds that the charge in question is incorrect, they are required to credit the consumer’s account for the disputed amount. Additionally, the card issuer is required to inform the consumer of the outcome of their dispute within two billing cycles or 30 days, whichever is shorter.
It’s important to note that the FCBA and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) are two separate laws. The FCBA protects consumers from unfair billing practices while the FCRA deals with the use of a consumer’s personal credit information, such as a credit report.
A chargeback is the process of returning the full or partial amount of money back to the cardholder following a successful dispute on the disputed transaction. It is a process undertaken by an acquiring bank or credit card processor to return the funds back to the cardholder. This process is important to ensure that merchants do not deceive consumers or provide false information about purchases.
Overall, the FCBA is an important law for consumers that helps to protect them from unfair or deceptive billing practices. By understanding what is covered under the law, consumers are empowered to dispute any billings errors and receive immediate credit for the disputed amount if it is proven to be wrong.
The FCBA mainly applies to revolving credit accounts (most commonly, credit cards). This law ensures that consumers are not subject to surprise or unfair billing practices, allowing them to understand the terms of their accounts and dispute any billing errors to their card issuers. The FCBA covers any errors related to unauthorized charges, inaccurate dates or amounts on charges, and billing calculation errors.
Consumers have 60 days from the time they receive their credit card statement to dispute any erroneous charges with their card issuer. If a card issuer finds that the charge in question is incorrect, they are required to credit the consumer’s account for the disputed amount. Additionally, the card issuer is required to inform the consumer of the outcome of their dispute within two billing cycles or 30 days, whichever is shorter.
It’s important to note that the FCBA and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) are two separate laws. The FCBA protects consumers from unfair billing practices while the FCRA deals with the use of a consumer’s personal credit information, such as a credit report.
A chargeback is the process of returning the full or partial amount of money back to the cardholder following a successful dispute on the disputed transaction. It is a process undertaken by an acquiring bank or credit card processor to return the funds back to the cardholder. This process is important to ensure that merchants do not deceive consumers or provide false information about purchases.
Overall, the FCBA is an important law for consumers that helps to protect them from unfair or deceptive billing practices. By understanding what is covered under the law, consumers are empowered to dispute any billings errors and receive immediate credit for the disputed amount if it is proven to be wrong.