Reason code · Visa
Visa reason code 12.4: incorrect account number
Visa 12.4 is a processing-error dispute: the charge was processed using the wrong card number. The cardholder’s bank has 120 days to file.
Key takeaways
- Usually a keying error. 12.4 tends to follow card numbers typed in by hand.
- 120 days. That’s the bank’s window to file.
- A chip read protects you. Visa’s rules list chip transactions with a valid cryptogram as invalid for 12.4.
What Visa 12.4 means
Visa’s rule: the transaction was processed using an incorrect payment credential. In merchant language, the charge landed on the wrong card number. The bank either certifies that the wrong number was used, or that the number doesn’t match any card it has issued and no authorization was obtained.
It’s a processing error, not a fraud claim. Nobody is saying the purchase didn’t happen. The bank is saying the wrong card paid for it.
What the customer told their bank
Often the “customer” has never heard of you. Someone else’s card number was charged by mistake, and that cardholder’s bank caught it. In other cases the number matches no card at all. If you can, find out which card should have been charged before you respond.
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 charge went to the right card, or proof you already refunded it. Visa’s rules make a 12.4 invalid for chip transactions with a valid cryptogram, so a chip read is strong protection. They also make it invalid when the number matches no issued card but you obtained an authorization or an imprint.
One common mistake
Typing card numbers from paper forms or phone calls and charging without an authorization. One transposed digit and the charge lands on a stranger’s card. Get an approval on every charge, and use the card reader whenever the card is present.
Dispute Daddy builds the response from your notice and your own records, ready for you to review, approve and submit. A flat $99 a month. See pricing.
