Reason code · Visa
Visa reason code 12.3: incorrect currency
Visa 12.3 is a processing-error dispute about currency: the transaction currency didn’t match what was sent to Visa, or the customer was charged in their home currency without clearly choosing it. The bank has 120 days to file.
Key takeaways
- Mostly a foreign-card issue. 12.3 often follows dynamic currency conversion at checkout.
- Choice is the rule. The customer must expressly agree to pay in their own currency.
- The whole sale is at stake. Visa lets the bank dispute the entire transaction amount.
What Visa 12.3 means
Visa’s rule covers two things. Either the transaction currency is different from the currency sent through Visa’s network, or dynamic currency conversion (DCC) happened and the cardholder didn’t expressly agree to it, or wasn’t given the choice to pay in the merchant’s local currency.
DCC is the “Pay in your home currency?” prompt on the terminal or checkout page. It’s allowed. Skipping the choice isn’t.
What the customer told their bank
“I was charged in dollars when I should have paid in euros,” or “Nobody asked me which currency I wanted.” The bank certifies the correct currency, or that the cardholder wasn’t given the choice. Travelers and shoppers buying from abroad are the usual filers.
The time limit
The cardholder’s bank has 120 calendar days from the date the transaction was processed.
Your own deadline is much shorter. Visa gives your bank (the acquirer) 30 calendar days from the dispute to respond. Your processor keeps part of that time, so the due date on your notice is the one that counts.
What kind of proof matters
A receipt or record showing the currency was right. For DCC, proof the customer expressly agreed to pay in their own currency, on a device where only the customer can make that choice. Without that proof, Visa lets your bank respond in your local currency, for the amount before conversion.
One common mistake
Letting staff press the DCC choice for the customer “to save time.” If the customer didn’t make the choice themselves, the whole transaction is open to dispute. Hand the device over, let the customer pick, and make sure the receipt shows the currency they chose.
Dispute Daddy reads your notice, lines up the reason the customer gave against your own records, and builds the response. You review it, approve it and submit it. See how the Dispute Daddy Method works.
