Dispute Charges or Report Fraudulent Charges

Disputing an erroneous charge and reporting a fraudulent charge require different actions on the part of the cardholder.

Here is the distinction between the two types of charges:

Erroneous charge: PCard charge from a vendor that is not a result of fraud but that must be disputed; examples include

  • a charge for an item never received
  • a charge for a returned item
  • a charge that includes sales tax
  • a charge mistakenly placed on the account by the vendor                    

If cardholders notice any differences between the statement and their receipts, or if there are any items on the statement that appear to be incorrect, they should first try to resolve these direct with the merchant/supplier. 

If the item cannot be resolved directly with the supplier, cardholders should contact Citi Customer Service at 1-800-248-4553 (call collect 1-904-954-7314 when dialing outside of the U.S.), who will send by fax or US mail the pre-filled dispute form to pursue their dispute formally including reason for the dispute and a copy of the statement highlighting the error. This Form should be signed and returned by fax or US Mail with any additional documentation (e.g. copy of credit receipt) to Citibank Customer Service.

Citibank cannot accept dispute forms without the cardholder’s signature because they might be used as legal documents and Citibank needs to compare the signature on the dispute form with the signature that the merchant might present.

 For the dispute raised from the US, the time frame for advising Citi of the dispute would be 60 days from statement date where charge first appears.

Fraudulent charge: PCard charge not made by the cardholder, sometimes from an unknown merchant, usually a result of

  • theft of the physical PCard
  • loss of the physical PCard
  • theft of the PCard account number

Cardholders who identify potential fraudulent transactions on their statement should immediately notify Citibank Customer Service at 1-800-248-4553 (call collect 1-904-954-7314 when dialing from outside of the U.S.) who will work with the cardholder to either block or cancel the card immediately.  The account will then be transferred to a member of the Citibank Fraud Department who will work with the cardholder to review transactions and complete an investigation of the suspect activity.  Cardholders may be asked to complete anaffidavit detailing any fraudulent transactions.

Cardholders should be advised to report a card as lost or stolen or to report any suspected fraud activity on their account as soon as they become aware of the situation. This immediate action on the part of the cardholder may help to expedite the fraud investigation, limit unauthorized activity and reduce the liability your company may have.

Purchasing Card Used in Error by Cardholder

If a cardholder uses the Purchasing Card in error—for instance, makes a personal purchase thinking that he or she has used a personal credit card—the cardholder must immediately contact his or her Purchasing Card local administrator. In some cases, the vendor may be able to credit the Purchasing Card for the amount charged in error and accept a personal credit card instead. If this is not possible, the cardholder must write a check made payable to Harvard University for the full amount of the charge. A cardholder in this situation must contact his or her local administrator for details on the check process. All charges made in error must contain a detailed explanation in the settlement system, and copies of supporting documentation indicating that the University was reimbursed in full must be retained locally in the event of an audit.