Fair Credit Billing Act explained — your federal credit card protections

Last updated: 2026-05-01

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) is a 1974 federal law — codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1666–1666j as a 1974 amendment to the Truth in Lending Act — that gives credit card holders the right to dispute billing errors and unauthorized charges in writing, and forces card issuers to acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days (or two complete billing cycles, whichever is shorter). It applies to credit cards and other "open end" credit accounts. It does not apply to debit cards, prepaid cards, or one-off bank loans — those are covered by separate laws.

Quick answer

Statute: 15 U.S.C. §1666 (billing-error procedure) and §1666i (claims and defenses). Implementing rule: Regulation Z, 12 CFR §1026.13.
Window: write to the card issuer within 60 days of the statement that first showed the error.
Issuer duties: acknowledge in 30 days, resolve in two billing cycles (capped at 90 days).
Liability ceiling: $50 maximum for unauthorized use under 15 U.S.C. §1643 — most major issuers waive even that to $0.
Right to withhold: under §1666 you do not have to pay the disputed amount or related finance charges while the investigation is open.

What the FCBA actually covers

Passed in 1974 as Part D of the Truth in Lending Act, the FCBA lives at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1666 through 1666j. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) writes the implementing rules in 12 CFR §1026.13 (Regulation Z).

The statute defines a "billing error" at §1666(b). The list is broader than most consumers realize:

A charge that wasn't made by you or anyone authorized by you (an unauthorized charge).
A charge in the wrong amount — for example, $99 billed when the receipt shows $9.99.
A charge for goods or services that were never delivered, or not delivered as agreed.
A charge for goods you didn't accept (returned, refused at the door, etc.).
A computational error or a failure to credit a payment or other credit you made.
The issuer's failure to send the periodic statement to your last known address.
Any other error the CFPB designates by regulation.

The scope is broader than "I didn't make this charge." It also covers ordinary commercial disputes — wrong amount, item never arrived, item arrived broken — when you paid by credit card. That is the bridge to §1666i below.

The 60-day clock: what it actually means

Section 1666(a) requires written notice to the creditor "not later than sixty days after the creditor transmitted the first periodic statement which indicates such billing error." Three details matter:

The clock starts at the statement, not the transaction. A charge that posts on March 3 may not appear until the April statement closes on April 5. Your 60 days run from the statement date.
"Written notice" includes the app. Regulation Z §1026.13(b) sets the formal requirement. Major U.S. issuers — Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Capital One, Amex, Discover — all accept disputes through their online banking portals or apps, and those electronic submissions satisfy the writing requirement under industry custom. For large or complicated disputes, a paper letter to the "billing inquiries" address on the statement is still the safer move because it creates an unambiguous paper trail.
Late-discovered errors are not automatically dead. Past 60 days you lose the statutory right, but issuers often accept later disputes as a courtesy, and the card-network chargeback rules (Visa, Mastercard) typically allow up to 120 days from the transaction. The FCBA is the floor, not the ceiling.

What the issuer has to do, and how fast

Stage	Statutory deadline	What happens
You send written notice	Within 60 days of the statement showing the error	Triggers §1666 procedure. Notice must identify you, the account, the disputed amount, and why you believe it is wrong.
Issuer acknowledges receipt	30 days from receipt of your notice	The acknowledgment must be in writing, unless the issuer has already corrected the error by then.
Issuer investigates and resolves	Two complete billing cycles, capped at 90 days	Either correct the error (refund the amount and finance charges) or send a written explanation citing the evidence relied on.
You are not required to pay the disputed amount	Throughout the investigation	Section 1666(c) bars the issuer from treating the disputed amount as delinquent or from reporting it to credit bureaus as past due.
Penalty for issuer non-compliance	Forfeiture of up to $50 per disputed item	An issuer that fails to comply with §1666 forfeits the right to collect the disputed amount and finance charges, capped at $50 per item under §1666(e).

That last row is the part most articles get wrong. The $50 in §1666(e) is the issuer-non-compliance forfeiture cap. The other $50 — maximum cardholder liability for unauthorized use — comes from §1643, part of the original TILA, not the FCBA amendment. Two different numbers, both $50, easy to confuse.

Section 1666i: the right to refuse payment for bad merchandise

The FCBA provision most consumers have never heard of. Section 1666i says that when you buy something with a credit card, you can assert against the card issuer any claim or defense (other than tort claims) you could have asserted against the merchant. In plain English: if the merchant ships a defective product, breaches the contract, or refuses to deliver, you can refuse to pay the issuer for that purchase, and the issuer cannot dun you for it.

Three statutory prerequisites apply:

Good-faith attempt to resolve with the merchant first. You have to have tried to get the merchant to fix the problem. Documenting that you emailed them, called them, or filed a return request is normally enough.
Transaction over $50. Section 1666i applies to purchases that exceed $50.
Geographic limit. The transaction must have been in the same state as your billing address or within 100 miles of it. This was written for a 1974 world of in-store purchases. Courts and issuers have generally treated online purchases as occurring at the cardholder's billing address, satisfying the geographic prong for most e-commerce. Many issuers also waive the $50 / 100-mile limits as a matter of policy.

The amount you can withhold is limited to the unpaid balance on the disputed item at the time you first notify the issuer or merchant of the problem.

What the FCBA does not cover

Situation	Covered by FCBA?	What law applies instead
Unauthorized credit card charge	Yes — §1666 billing-error procedure; cap on liability is §1643 ($50 max)	FCBA + TILA §1643
Unauthorized debit card charge	No	Electronic Fund Transfer Act / Regulation E, 12 CFR §1005.6
Unauthorized prepaid card charge	No (FCBA), but Reg E was extended to most prepaid accounts in 2019	Regulation E
ACH or wire transfer dispute	No	Regulation E (consumer ACH); UCC Article 4A (wire)
Mortgage servicer billing error	No	RESPA / Regulation X §1024.35
Merchant return-policy dispute (without billing error)	Only via §1666i, when prerequisites are met	State consumer protection law; merchant's stated policy
Charge you authorized and now regret	No	None — buyer's remorse is not an FCBA error

Common confusion: people invoke "the Fair Credit Billing Act" against debit card charges. It does not apply. Debit disputes are governed by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E — different timelines, liability caps that scale with how quickly you report, and a 10-day provisional-credit rule. If you paid with a debit card, you want Regulation E.

How to invoke the FCBA in practice

Read the statement carefully. Identify the disputed line items, the dollar amounts, and the statement date.
Send written notice within 60 days of the statement date. The issuer's app or online portal works for routine cases. For larger disputes, also mail a letter (certified) to the "billing inquiries" address on the statement, including your name, account number, the disputed amount, and a brief description of why it's wrong.
Keep paying the undisputed portion of your balance. Section 1666(c) only protects you from having to pay the disputed amount. The rest of the bill is still due, and skipping it can produce late fees on the undisputed part.
Save the issuer's acknowledgment. They have to send one within 30 days. If they don't, that is itself a §1666 violation.
Respond promptly to any issuer requests for documentation. Receipts, screenshots, prior correspondence with the merchant. Failure to respond is a common reason an otherwise valid dispute gets denied.
If the issuer denies the dispute or misses a deadline: file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB routes the complaint directly to the issuer's regulatory-affairs team, which has higher escalation authority than ordinary customer service. reportfraud.ftc.gov is the right channel if the underlying dispute involves deceptive merchant conduct (subscription traps, fake free trials, undisclosed auto-renewals).

Anti-misconception: what people get wrong

"The FCBA caps my liability for fraud at $50." The $50 cap on unauthorized-use liability comes from §1643 of the Truth in Lending Act, not the FCBA. The FCBA's procedural protections (the 60/30/90-day timeline) apply to that $50 dispute, but the cap itself is a TILA provision. The distinction matters because §1643 applies to credit cards only — not debit cards.
"I have 60 days from the transaction." No. Sixty days from the statement date that first showed the error. A charge that posts late in a billing cycle effectively gives you nearly 90 days from the transaction.
"FCBA covers debit cards." No. Debit card disputes are governed by Regulation E under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. Different timeline, different liability rules, different procedure.
"I have to send a paper letter or it doesn't count." Modern issuer apps and portals satisfy the §1026.13(b) "written notice" requirement in practice. A paper letter is still recommended for complex or high-dollar disputes because it creates an unambiguous paper trail and triggers the statutory clock with no plausible argument that the issuer didn't receive it.

FAQ

Does the FCBA apply to debit card charges?

No. The FCBA covers credit cards and other open-end credit accounts only. Debit card transactions are governed by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E (12 CFR Part 1005), which has its own timelines and liability rules.

What is the maximum I can be liable for if my credit card is stolen?

Fifty dollars under 15 U.S.C. §1643, and zero once you have notified the issuer that the card is lost or stolen. Most major U.S. issuers (Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Capital One, Amex, Discover) waive even the $50 by policy and offer "zero liability" as a marketing promise.

What if my issuer doesn't respond within the 30/90-day deadlines?

Under 15 U.S.C. §1666(e) the issuer that fails to comply forfeits the right to collect the disputed amount and related finance charges, capped at $50 per disputed item. Beyond that statutory penalty, the practical remedy is to file a CFPB complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, which routes the dispute to the issuer's regulatory-affairs team and tends to produce a fast outcome.

Can I dispute a charge for a service that wasn't as described?

Yes, under §1666i. If you paid by credit card and the merchant breached the contract or delivered something materially different from what was promised, you can assert that defense against the card issuer and refuse to pay the unpaid balance on that purchase. You must first attempt to resolve the issue with the merchant, the transaction must exceed $50, and the geographic limit (same state or within 100 miles) historically applied — though this is generally treated as satisfied for online purchases shipped to your billing address.

Walk through a dispute step by step in our chargeback walkthrough, or get help identifying the merchant on an unrecognized statement line. Specific scenarios: the first 24 hours after spotting an unauthorized charge, free trial that auto-converted to paid, disputing a forgotten subscription. If your issuer stalls, here's how to file a CFPB complaint that actually moves. Or skip the reading and start a guided dispute.