Help & support
Here’s how to raise a dispute:
Dispute online - for debit cards and credit cards, log on to the CommBank app or NetBank.
Message us in the CommBank app to quickly get connected to the right help. Don’t have the app1? Download it now or contact us to raise a dispute.
For Travel Money Cards – complete and email us the dispute form
1 The CommBank app is free to download however your mobile network provider charges you for accessing data on your phone. You should refer to your mobile phone plan or contact your provider to find out more. Terms and conditions are available on the CommBank app. NetBank access with NetCode SMS required. Find out about the minimum operating requirements on the CommBank app page.
Use our Disputes guide to find the right dispute type for you.
For unauthorised disputes
For authorised disputes
If you authorised the transaction, you should attempt to resolve the matter with the business before raising a dispute. We may ask you for evidence to show how you tried to resolve it with the business. The dispute may be delayed if you haven’t reached out to the business first.
A chargeback is when the bank raises a request to reverse a disputed card transaction where it qualifies under specific rules and conditions set by the card schemes (Mastercard, VISA, eftpos). It’s a way to help recover money disputed transactions. Once a chargeback is raised, the business has the right to submit evidence to challenge it. This evidence can include proof of delivery or service, their refund or cancellation policies, receipts or contracts you have made with the business or communications with them.
At CommBank, we give cardholders a refund while waiting for the chargeback to be complete.
If the business provides enough evidence that you are responsible for the transaction, or if we find that you’ve received a refund twice, we will reverse the refund from your account. This will appear as an ‘Adjustment Reversal’.
Yes, when a business is told by their payment processor or bank that a chargeback has been raised, they can submit evidence to challenge it.
This evidence can include proof of delivery or service, their refund or cancellation policy, receipts or contracts you have made with the business or communications with them.
At CommBank, we give cardholders a refund while waiting for the chargeback to be completed.
We reserve the right to reverse a refund on reasonable grounds; for example, if the business provides enough evidence that you are responsible for the transaction, or if we find that you received a refund twice. If this happens we’ll let you know in writing.
If you get a new or replacement debit or credit card, you’ll need to update your card details with any businesses that take regular payments from your card. These may include utility, insurance and entertainment providers.
In some cases, we share your new card details with the business directly so you don’t have to update to the card schemes we belong to. Some businesses you have set up regular payments with may get your updated details through these card schemes. To make sure regular payments continue without any issues, we recommend updating your card details with the business.
You can find a list of regular payments from your credit card in NetBank, the CommBank app, or on your most recent credit card statement.
You can search “Statements” in the CommBank app or NetBank, or visit your nearest branch to get a printed list of your regular payments.
Please keep in mind that while we try to list as many regular payments as possible, the list may not be complete.
Yes, we recommend you continue making repayments to your credit card to avoid interest charges. You can transfer in the CommBank app, NetBank, or over the phone. You can also pay with BPAY using the biller code 1818 and the 16-digit card number as the reference number.
You’ll get updates from us via email, app notifications, and sometimes SMS throughout the process. Make sure your CommBank app notifications are turned on so you know when you’ve received a reply. Final outcomes are sent via email (or letter if you’ve opted in).
For credit cards, only the primary cardholder will receive dispute updates.
After all pending transactions have been processed, a dispute can take:
Your case number will be included in all emails sent to you about your dispute.
Only the cardholder whose card was used to authorise the transaction is able to raise a dispute. It’s important check with the other cardholder before raising a dispute, in case they authorised the transaction.
Disputes can be raised by the primary or additional cardholder.
While additional cardholders can raise disputes, they cannot view or update the address the cards are sent to, so please get the primary cardholder to check the address is correct before the dispute is raised.
A parent guardian authority may raise a dispute on behalf of their child under the age of 14. Children 14 years or older should raise the dispute themselves for transactions on cards in their name. Children below 14 years old who have been granted full control will need to raise disputes themselves as their parent or legal guardian will no longer have an Authorised Operator role. A child can still lodge a dispute investigation on their own without their parent or legal guardian if requested.
A pending transaction is a card payment that’s been authorised by the business but not yet fully processed. These transactions appear as “pending” on your account until the payment is fully processed by the business.
The pending amount is deducted from your available funds, not your account balance.
Generally, it takes 3–5 business days, but can take up to 10 business days for a pending transaction to either:
When a business requests to authorise a transaction, they are checking that your card is valid and that there’s money in the account to pay for the purchase.
Once the transaction has been authorised and appears on your account, it can’t be cancelled.
Sometimes a pending transaction may disappear from your account transaction history, and the amount will be returned to your available balance. This means the transaction has expired and business didn’t process it.
In some cases, the business may still process the transaction later, which can cause the transaction to reappear.
Yes. However, we need to wait for the transaction to be fully processed before we can start our investigation.
If you authorised the transaction, it can often be faster and easier to contact the business directly to cancel the order and to request a reversal of the pending transaction. Most businesses contact details can be found through online search.
An unauthorised transaction is a transaction that has been made using your card without your knowledge, or the knowledge of anyone who has access to your card.
An authorised transaction is a transaction which you made or had knowledge of. Under scheme rules, you can dispute authorised transactions in certain situations, for example if you didn’t receive the goods/service you paid for, or you were charged the incorrect amount.
Refer to our dispute guide to find the right dispute type for you
We understand it can be concerning to see a transaction on your account that you didn’t authorise. There are different ways that cards can become compromised including phishing scams, database breaches, or skimming.
Read more about Card fraud
There are many ways you can protect yourself from fraud and unauthorised transactions:
If your dispute is for unauthorised transactions, we’ll cancel your card and send you a new one to help protect you from further unauthorised transactions.
Things to remember:
If you need immediate access to your funds while waiting for your dispute to be resolved or card to arrive, there are options available to you.
When you dispute a pending transaction, it can sometimes appear on your new card when it processes. That’s because the card was replaced while the transaction was still processing, so it carried over to the replacement card.
If the amount and date match the transaction you already disputed, you don’t need to do anything else. If you see a new transaction that you haven’t disputed yet, you can raise another dispute.
When you raise an unauthorised transaction dispute, we’ll cancel your card to help prevent further unauthorised transactions. But cancelling the physical card won't always stop future transactions, including:
If you're concerned about your account security, you should review your digital wallets and delete any that you don’t recognise before you continue. If you don’t do this, your account may be at risk of more unauthorised transactions.
If you dispute a subscription payment that should have been cancelled by the business, this won’t block future charges. You need to contact the business directly to cancel the subscription.
No. If you signed up for subscription or recurring payment and authorised a business to debit your account, we cannot block future charges. You need to contact the business directly to cancel the subscription and to stop them debiting your account.
You can contact us to cancel your dispute.
For card transactions, we can only speak to the cardholder (the person whose name is on the card used) or their power of attorney. If you find fraud on an account you have authority over, and you’re not the cardholder or their power of attorney, we can cancel the card to protect the account. However, the cardholder will need to message or call us to lodge the dispute.
Parent guardian authorities for children under 14 may lodge disputes on their behalf.
It’s best to gather as much evidence as you can to support your claim. This includes any communication with the business, especially where you tried to resolve the matter. We’ll contact you by email if we need more evidence.
Read more about evidence we may ask for in our disputes guide
No, evidence is only for authorised disputes.
Once your dispute is submitted, you will receive an email with your case number. Respond to the email with your supporting evidence. Make sure to include the case number in the subject line
If you don’t have evidence to support a dispute it can significantly reduce the chances of a successful outcome.
You can ask the business to resend receipts or documentation. When submitting your dispute, provide as much detail as possible to help us investigate your claim.
Not always. We need to review the ePayments code, and scheme rules (Mastercard, VISA, Eftpos) before making a decision. This means you may not always be entitled to a refund. These external frameworks provide clear guidance around when a cardholder is entitled to a refund, which means you may not always be entitled to one.
Any transaction related fees are refunded to your account when the dispute is successfully resolved in your favour (e.g. international transaction fees). However, other fees and/or interest charged in connection with the disputed transaction may take additional time to calculate and be refunded sometime later. This includes overdrawing fees.
Once a chargeback is raised, the business has the right to submit evidence to challenge it.
This evidence can include proof of delivery or service, their refund or cancellation policies, receipts or contracts you have made with the business or communications with them.
At CommBank, we give cardholders a refund while waiting for the chargeback to be complete.
If the business provides enough evidence that you are responsible for the transaction, or if we find that you’ve received a refund twice, we will reverse the refund from your account. This will appear as an ‘Adjustment Reversal’.
