The laws, regulations, and industry practices that protect consumers who use electronic payment systems: credit and debit cards

Summary: This is the first in a series of three papers that examines the protections available to users of various electronic payment vehicles who fall victim to fraud, discover an error on their statement, or have a dispute with a merchant after making a purchase. Specifically, it examines in detail the federal and state laws that protect consumers in the three situations described above as well as the relevant association, network, and bank policies that may apply. The protection information included in this paper is derived from a wide range of public and non-public sources, including federal and state statutes, consumer-issuer contracts, and interviews with scores of payments industry experts. This first paper focuses on the two most widely used electronic payment methods: credit cards and debit cards. The second paper in the series will examine two newer electronic payment vehicles: ACH debits and prepaid cards. The third paper will discuss the broader industry and policy implications of the authors’ findings.