American Express · Chargeback reason codes
American Express F10 chargeback: Missing Imprint explained
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American Express reason code F10, Missing Imprint, means the Cardmember denies an in-person charge and the merchant has no imprint or magnetic stripe record proving the card was present. The issuer must report the fraud first. Answer with an imprinted receipt or magnetic stripe capture, or show the transaction is excluded: mail, phone and internet orders, chip transactions with a transaction certificate, and digital wallets are excluded.
- Category
- Fraud (card present)
- Time limit for the bank to file
- Usually 120 days from the network processing date
- Time limit to respond
- 20 days from the Amex chargeback or inquiry in the US (your processor's deadline may be earlier); no reply means a "No Reply" chargeback
- Typical evidence
- Imprinted receipt or magnetic stripe capture
- Can it be prevented?
- Yes: read every card electronically
- Who usually wins
- The merchant with an imprint or card read
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC's in-store point of sale sends every card payment to a Stripe Terminal card reader on the store's own Stripe account, and online orders are card-not-present. Internet orders are excluded from F10 under the Merchant Rules.
What it means
An in-person charge without proof the card was physically there.
Why customers file it
Keyed-in sales after a failed read, or a fraudster using a stolen card number at a counter.
Evidence that wins
For every Amex code, a credit that directly offsets the disputed charge is also an accepted response.
- An imprinted receipt or magnetic stripe capture
- Proof the transaction is excluded (internet, mail or phone order, chip with a transaction certificate, digital wallet)
How to prevent it
- Read every card with a chip or contactless reader
- Take an imprint if a reader fails
For developers
On Stripe the dispute object arrives with reason "fraudulent" and the card network's own code in payment_method_details.card.network_reason_code; listen for charge.dispute.created and read evidence_details.due_by for the deadline.
American Express uses one letter plus two digits for US and Canada merchants; elsewhere it uses four-digit ISO codes, and each letter code sits under one.
Frequently asked questions
- Can an online order get an F10?
- No. Internet, mail and phone orders are excluded from F10.
- Does a chip read count?
- Yes. Chip transactions with a transaction certificate are excluded from F10.
Sources
Related
- F29 — The Cardmember says they did not make an online, phone or mail order purchase.
- F14 — The Cardmember admits one real purchase but disputes other charges from the same merchant.
- F24 — A fraud claim on a charge with no valid authorization, or on an invalid or expired card.
- F30 — A counterfeit chip card was used where the chip was not read.
- F31 — A lost, stolen or never-received chip card was used where the chip was not read.
- FR2 — Amex placed the merchant in Fraud Full Recourse, so any fraud dispute can be charged back.
- FR4 — The merchant is in Amex's Immediate Chargeback Program, so disputes skip the inquiry stage.