Reason code · Mastercard
Mastercard 4870: chip liability shift
4870 is a counterfeit-card chargeback. A chip card was copied, the copy was used in person, and the sale went through without the chip being read. The bank has 120 days to file, and the liability lands on whoever had the weaker technology.
What 4870 means
4870, Chip Liability Shift, is about counterfeit cards used in person. The bank can file it when all of this is true:
- The real card is a chip card.
- Someone used a counterfeit copy at your counter.
- Your terminal took it by magnetic stripe, without reading a chip.
- The bank reported the fraud to Mastercard.
The idea behind the liability shift is simple: whoever had the weaker technology pays. If the bank issued a chip card and your terminal didn’t read the chip, that’s you.
What the customer told their bank
“I didn’t make this purchase, and I still have my card.” That second part matters. It’s why the bank calls it counterfeit rather than lost or stolen, which is 4871. The bank backs the claim with the cardholder’s statement, sometimes with its own certification that the card was counterfeit.
Time limit
The bank has 120 calendar days from the transaction for most transactions, and it must report the fraud to Mastercard on or before the day it files. Your response is due on the date your processor gives you, carved out of the 45 days Mastercard gives your bank.
What proof matters
Your terminal’s record of how the card was read. If the chip was read, or the sale falls outside the liability shift, that’s your answer. If the chip wasn’t read, there may be little to argue.
What 4870 can’t cover
Mastercard excludes mail order, phone, online and recurring transactions from 4870, along with sales where a valid chip was read. Contactless sales correctly identified as contactless are excluded too. So check how the sale was taken before you assume you’re stuck.
The common mistake
Swiping a chip card because the chip reader is “acting up,” or running an old stripe-only terminal. Each swipe of a chip card moves the counterfeit risk onto you. If you still have a stripe-only terminal, replacing it is the cheapest fix for 4870 there is.
Dispute Daddy builds this for you
Dispute Daddy reads the notice and your transaction records and builds the response around the facts that matter, for you to approve and submit. See how the method works.
