American Express · Chargeback reason codes
American Express P01 chargeback: Unassigned Card Number explained
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American Express reason code P01, Unassigned Cardmember Account Number, means the charge was submitted to a card number that is not assigned to any Cardmember. Authorized transactions are excluded. Answer with an imprint or magnetic stripe receipt showing the card was used, or proof the charge was authorized. Authorizing every charge prevents P01.
- Category
- Processing error
- 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
- Authorization record, imprint or card read
- Can it be prevented?
- Yes: authorize every charge
- Who usually wins
- The merchant with an authorization
What PlatformDTC does
Every PlatformDTC card payment is entered by the shopper in the processor's own card field and authorized before the order completes. PlatformDTC answers this kind of dispute with its standard evidence pack built from the order: customer name, email, IP address, billing and shipping address, items bought, carrier, tracking and ship date, the refund policy, and any refund already issued. With "Answer a chargeback automatically" switched on, it sends the response to the bank for you before the deadline.
What it means
The account number on the charge does not exist.
Why customers file it
Keying errors or offline charges without authorization.
Evidence that wins
For every Amex code, a credit that directly offsets the disputed charge is also an accepted response.
- An imprint or magnetic stripe receipt showing the card was used
- Proof the charge was authorized (authorized transactions are excluded)
How to prevent it
- Authorize every charge
- Avoid manual card entry
For developers
On Stripe the dispute object arrives with reason "general" 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
- Does an authorization defeat P01?
- Yes. Authorized transactions are excluded from P01.
- How is P01 different from P22?
- P01 is a number that belongs to no account; P22 is a number that does not match the Cardmember's account.
Sources
Related
- P22 — The charge was submitted with a card number that does not match the Cardmember's account.
- A02 — The charge was submitted although the authorization was declined, reversed or never obtained.
- 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.
- P05 — The amount charged differs from the amount on the Cardmember's receipt.
- P08 — The same charge was processed more than once.
- P23 — The charge was submitted in a different currency from the one the Cardmember agreed to.