Visa · Chargeback reason codes
Visa 10.3 chargeback: Other Fraud – Card-Present Environment explained
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Visa reason code 10.3, Other Fraud – Card-Present Environment, means the cardholder denies an in-person purchase whose card number was keyed in rather than read electronically. The bank has 120 days from the processing date to file. It does not apply when the card was read electronically. The strongest answer is a valid imprint of the card; US merchants can also use Visa Compelling Evidence such as an undisputed purchase on the same card.
- Category
- Fraud (card present)
- Time limit for the bank to file
- 120 days from the transaction processing date
- Time limit to respond
- Your processor's deadline (on Stripe usually 7–21 days); under Visa rules the acquirer must answer within 30 days of the dispute processing date
- Typical evidence
- Manual or electronic imprint; US: undisputed transactions on the same card or the cardholder's ID
- Can it be prevented?
- Yes: read every card electronically; never key it in
- Who usually wins
- The merchant with an imprint; the cardholder on a key-entered sale with no imprint
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; the till has no way to type a card number in. Online checkout orders are card-absent, so this card-present code does not apply to them. Because a key-entered card is exactly what 10.3 covers, a PlatformDTC till sale cannot become this dispute through manual entry.
What it means
The cardholder says they did not make an in-person purchase, and the card was key-entered at the terminal. Visa does not allow 10.3 when there was an electronic imprint, and excludes ATMs, transit and US automated fuel pumps at chip readers.
Why customers file it
A card reader fails and staff type the number in, or a fraudster gives a stolen card number at the counter.
Evidence that wins
Under Visa rules every response can also show that you already refunded and the bank ignored it, that the dispute is invalid, or that the cardholder withdrew it.
- A valid imprint of the card, manual or electronic (pencil rubbings and photocopies do not count)
- US domestic key-entered sales: an undisputed earlier or later transaction on the same card, or a copy of the cardholder's ID plus a receipt linked to it
- Proof of a refund the issuer did not account for
- Proof the cardholder withdrew the dispute
How to prevent it
- Read every card with a chip or contactless reader
- If a reader fails, take a manual imprint before completing the sale
- Write down a procedure for read failures
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.
Visa sends category 10 disputes straight to pre-arbitration.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as an imprint?
- An electronic read of the card or a manual imprint taken with an imprinter. Visa does not accept pencil rubbings or photocopies.
- Is a signature enough?
- Visa's listed remedies for 10.3 are an imprint, the general refund or withdrawal remedies, and for US key-entered sales its Compelling Evidence; a signature alone is not among them.
Sources
Related
- 10.4 — The cardholder says they did not make an online, phone or mail order purchase.
- 10.1 — A counterfeit chip card was used in person at a terminal that did not read the chip.
- 10.5 — Visa flagged the transaction under one of its fraud monitoring programs.
- 11.2 — The sale was completed even though the authorization was declined.
- 11.3 — No valid authorization was obtained, or the transaction was presented late.
- 12.2 — The transaction was processed with the wrong code, such as a credit processed as a sale.
- 12.3 — The transaction was processed in a different currency than the one shown to the cardholder.