American Express · Chargeback reason codes
American Express F31 chargeback: Fraud Liability Shift – Lost/Stolen/Non-Received
Checked
American Express reason code F31, Fraud Liability Shift – Lost/Stolen/Non-Received, means a lost, stolen or never-received chip card was used in person and the chip was not read. The issuer must report the fraud first. The accepted answer is proof the issuer authorized a magnetic stripe read when the card's service code was not a chip code. PIN-capable terminals in the US, its territories and the Caribbean 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
- Proof the card's service code was not a chip code
- Can it be prevented?
- Yes: chip and PIN-capable terminals
- Who usually wins
- Usually the Cardmember unless the chip was 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. Online orders cannot receive an F31.
What it means
The real card was lost or stolen and used where the chip was not read.
Why customers file it
A thief uses a stolen chip card at a terminal that swipes.
Evidence that wins
For every Amex code, a credit that directly offsets the disputed charge is also an accepted response.
- Proof the issuer authorized a magnetic stripe read and the card's service code was not a chip code
How to prevent it
- Use chip terminals that support PIN
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
- Are PIN-capable terminals excluded?
- Yes, in the US, US territories and the Caribbean.
- How is F31 different from F30?
- F30 is a counterfeit card; F31 is the real card, lost, stolen or never received.
Sources
Related
- F30 — A counterfeit chip card was used where the chip was not read.
- F29 — The Cardmember says they did not make an online, phone or mail order purchase.
- 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.
- FR6 — Disputes below a set amount are charged back immediately with no inquiry first.
- P01 — The card number submitted does not belong to any American Express account.
- P03 — A refund was processed as a charge, so the Cardmember was billed instead of credited.
- P04 — A charge was processed as a credit by mistake.