Cardholder dispute

When can you initiate a cardholder dispute? What are the important factors to consider?

When do you need to initiate a cardholder dispute?

A cardholder dispute can only be initiated if the purchase or withdrawal has been made using your card. If the payment has been carried out via Swish, direct payment or transfer, please contact your local branch.

When something goes wrong in conjunction with a purchase

If you don’t receive the purchased goods or service, or if your account is debited twice, you should, as the first alternative, contact the place of purchase and ask for the error to be corrected.

If a correction is not made, you can initiate a cardholder dispute. In these cases, you must submit supporting documentation which verifies that you have been in contact with the place of purchase. Such documentation may include an order confirmation, communication between yourself and the vendor, or a police report.

If you are unsuccessful in contacting or receiving assistance from the vendor within 30 days, it is important that you initiate a cardholder dispute as soon as possible, as Mastercard and Visa have time limits for this.

If the company from which you have made your purchase goes bankrupt, and you are therefore not able to use the goods or service that you have paid for, you can initiate a cardholder dispute for “services not provided”.

Preliminary card purchases

It is not possible to initiate a cardholder dispute for preliminary card purchases or withdrawals. Preliminary card purchases are reported to the customer as "Prel”, followed by the name of the vendor. It may take 5-7 business days for a preliminary card purchase to be debited from your account.

Purchases and withdrawals not made by you

If you discover transactions that you haven’t carried out yourself, you have the right to initiate a cardholder dispute. Block your card as soon as possible in order to prevent further unauthorised purchases. You will also need to report the matter to the police and add this report to the cardholder dispute.

Stolen or lost card

If you are about to initiate a cardholder dispute concerning card purchases and withdrawals made with a lost or stolen card, it is important that you also block the card if you have not done so already. You will also need to report the matter to the police and add this report to the cardholder dispute.

When something goes wrong in conjunction with a cash withdrawal at an ATM

If you do not receive the requested amount at an ATM, you can use the cardholder dispute form that can be found further down the page. If something goes wrong in conjunction with a deposit to a cash deposit machine, you will need to contact one of our branches in order to fill in a special form.

How to initiate a cardholder dispute

Initiating a cardholder dispute digitally

Initiating a cardholder dispute digitally is a simple process. Once we receive notification of a cardholder dispute, we will process the matter and then contact you. You must have a Swedish BankID to be able to initiate a cardholder dispute digitally. If you are not able to initiate a cardholder dispute digitally, please contact your local branch.

Cardholder dispute form

Help and Support

Personal service 24 hours a day: +46 (0)771 77 88 99

Card block

You can block your private card directly in Online Banking or in the mobile app. You can also call us:

Within Sweden: 020 41 12 12

From outside Sweden: +46 8 411 21 22

When you have submitted a cardholder dispute

We’ll keep you informed

We will inform you via email when we start processing your cardholder dispute. If we need more information, we will contact you. A cardholder dispute may take up to six months, and any notifications will be sent to the email address that was stated when the dispute was initiated.

In some cases, we may need to contact you regarding the cardholder dispute. If we request additional information about the documentation, it is important that you reply within the given time frame. If we do not receive your reply within the specified time, your right to dispute the transaction will expire, and the case will be closed.

More about fraud and security

Fraudulent invoices

Fraudulent invoices, or invoice fraud, is a collective term for a payment claim for goods or services that you have never ordered or received. You can also be deceived into signing an agreement by letter or email that looks as though it came from a public authority.
Online shopping

When you make purchases online, you can choose between different payment methods. Handelsbanken provides card payments and direct payments.

Be careful about using payment services with an external party as an intermediary

Using an external party as an intermediary between you and the Bank (an Overlay Service Provider) is a relatively new payment method. The intermediary carries out the payment in your name. When you are asked to use your log-in details, you not only make the payment but also give the intermediary full insight into your online bank – something that you may not be fully aware of.

Closing your card for online purchases

You can close your card for online purchases when you are not using it. You open and close your card via your mobile or in Online Banking. Any change you make takes effect immediately.
Identity theft

Identity theft means that someone uses your identity to buy goods, take out subscriptions, or secure a loan in your name.

Remember:

To protect your identity, it is important that you only disclose your civic registration number when it is necessary to do so. Always check credit information and invoices to make sure that they only contain credits which you have taken out yourself. If anything appears wrong, contact the vendor directly. If possible, use a lockable letterbox to reduce the risk of letters being stolen.

You should also be careful about the information that you share online and in social media, particularly when you are away from home. Do not use the same password for your social media accounts, for example, or if you have several email accounts. This makes it more difficult for fraudsters to take over all of your accounts.
Card fraud

There are several ways in which your card can end up in the wrong hands. For example, someone may make a note of your PIN code when you withdraw cash from an ATM, or when you pay for something using your card. The person then steals the card and can empty your account.

Using a technique referred to as skimming, a fraudster can copy information on the card’s magnetic strip, or read the embossed information on the card when it is used. Skimming can take place at any location where the card is used, such as ATMs, petrol stations, point-of-sale terminals, or other places which use card readers.

Remember:

• Don’t let your card out of your sight at restaurants or hotels. When you use a point-of-sale terminal, check that the terminal doesn’t look strange or manipulated in any way.

• Never disclose your card’s CVC code

• Close your card for online purchases and purchases outside Sweden when you are not using it

• Check your account statements for any suspicious transactions
Phishing

Email

This usually involves someone sending you an email which appears to have been sent from a trustworthy organisation, such as your bank. The fraudster then tries to trick you into providing the information needed to log in to your online banking service. No bank asks for information of this kind – especially not by email.

Telephone and text messages

A person contacts you, saying that they represent a company with which you are familiar. The person may claim to work for a support company that wants to help you with a problem they allege that you have with your computer, such as a virus. This phenomenon is called false support. With the help of call technique, they try to trick you into revealing your password, response codes or card number. Trustworthy companies don’t contact customers in this way.

Social networks

On social media, we often take for granted that we are talking to our friends, but if we’re unlucky, it could be a completely different person. It is not uncommon for individuals to have their social media accounts hijacked. The fraudster then tries to trick friends of the individual into revealing their response codes so that they can log in to their online banking service. If one of your friends asks you about response codes or card numbers, it is very likely that it is not your friend who is asking the question.

Remember:

• Handelsbanken communicates with you via our email inbox here in Online Banking. Handelsbanken would never contact you by phone, for example, to request confidential information. All such information is handled through personal contact at your branch.

• Don’t let anyone control your computer remotely. If you receive an email in the name of Handelsbanken with questions about your log-in information, you should never answer it or click on any links which may be included in the message.

• Never use links to Handelsbanken that you receive as part of an email or text message. Enter the full address instead, www.handelsbanken.se, directly in the web browser.

• If you receive an email in the name of Handelsbanken with questions about your log-in information, you should never answer it or click on any links which may be included in the message. Instead, forward the email in its entirety to us: reportphish@handelsbanken.se
Viruses and trojans

• A virus or a trojan is a programme which contains harmful code. Using the virus or the trojan, the fraudster intends to steal personal information from your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Some trojans allow the fraudster to take control of your computer over the internet, without you being aware that this is happening. Viruses can be spread by email when you receive an email containing an attached file.

• Remember:

Use updated anti-virus software. Do not open links or attached files that you receive by email or text message if you don’t know what they contain. Don’t answer messages from senders unknown to you.

• Pay attention to whether websites you use regularly, such as the log-in page for Handelsbanken’s Online Banking, look different in any way. This may be an indication that your computer has been attacked and that in reality, you have ended up on a site other than Handelsbanken’s.

• Do not modify the operating system of your mobile phone by, for example, jailbreaking your phone. Jailbreaking involves unlocking Apple’s software blocks to get access to the complete file system of the iOS unit. By doing so, viruses and trojans may be part of any apps you download in the future.
Block unauthorised change of address

‘Block unauthorised change of address’ is an e-service from the Swedish Tax Agency which allows you to prevent an unauthorised person from changing your address. Using the e-service, you indicate that the Swedish Tax Agency is only to approve changes of address which are done using e-identification. This is to reduce the risk of anyone using your personal information for fraud or identity theft.

Block unauthorised change of address at the Swedish Tax Agency