The federal deadline is 60 days from when the charge appears on your statement

You have 60 calendar days from the date a charge appears on your credit card statement to file a dispute with your card issuer. This deadline is set by the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), a federal law that applies to all credit cards issued in the United States. The 60-day clock starts on the statement date itself, not the date you receive the statement in the mail or online.

If you miss the 60-day window, your card issuer is no longer required to investigate the charge or reverse it. You lose your federal protection at that point. Some issuers may still review disputes filed after 60 days, but they are not obligated to do so, and most will deny them outright.

The reason for the 60-day limit is practical: the longer a charge sits on your account, the harder it becomes for the issuer to contact the merchant, retrieve transaction records, and investigate what actually happened. Merchants also have their own deadlines for responding to chargebacks, which typically fall between 7 and 10 days after the issuer notifies them.

Key Takeaways

  • You must file a dispute within 60 days of the statement date showing the charge, or you lose federal protection under the FCBA.
  • The dispute clock starts on your statement date, not when you notice the charge or when you receive the bill.
  • Contact your card issuer by phone, mail, or online account to start a dispute; email alone may not create a documented record.
  • The issuer must acknowledge your dispute in writing within 30 days and complete an investigation within 90 days of receiving it.
  • If you dispute a charge before paying it, the issuer can still require you to pay other undisputed charges on the same bill.

How the 60-day deadline works in practice

The statement date is what matters, not when you open the bill. If a charge appears on a statement dated March 15, your 60-day window closes on May 14. If you file a dispute on May 15, you are outside the window and the issuer can reject it without investigating.

This creates a real problem if you do not review your statements regularly. A fraudulent charge from early in a billing cycle might not catch your eye until weeks later, and by then you could be close to or past the deadline. The safest practice is to review your statement within a few days of receiving it and flag anything unfamiliar immediately.

If you discover a charge on the last day of the 60-day window, you can still file a dispute that day. You do not need approval or permission; you simply need to contact your issuer and initiate the process. Written documentation of that contact—a confirmation number, an email receipt, or a letter—protects you if the issuer later claims they never received your dispute.

What counts as a valid dispute under the FCBA

Not every charge you disagree with qualifies for FCBA protection. The law covers specific situations: unauthorized charges (fraud or identity theft), charges for goods or services you never received, charges that were processed twice by mistake, charges for the wrong amount, charges made by someone else without your permission, and billing errors in the issuer's records.

The law does not cover disputes over the quality of goods or services you received, disagreements about a merchant's refund policy, or charges you authorized but later regret. If you ordered a shirt online, received it, and then decided you did not like it, that is a merchant return issue, not a billing dispute. If you authorized a charge but the merchant never delivered, that is covered—but only if you can show you made a good-faith attempt to resolve it with the merchant first.

Your issuer will ask you to describe the reason for the dispute in specific terms. Saying "I do not recognize this charge" is weaker than saying "I did not authorize this charge" or "I received a partial refund but was charged the full amount." Be as specific as possible about what went wrong.

How to file a dispute within the deadline

Contact your card issuer directly through the method that creates a written record. Phone calls work, but follow up with a written dispute letter or online submission so you have proof of when you filed. Many issuers have a dispute form on their website or in your online account portal; using that form automatically timestamps your submission.

Your dispute notice should include your account number, the transaction date, the merchant name, the amount, and a clear explanation of why you are disputing it. Keep it factual and brief. The issuer does not need your life story—they need enough information to contact the merchant and ask what happened.

If you file by mail, send it to the address listed on your statement for billing disputes, not to the general customer service address. Use certified mail with a return receipt so you have proof of delivery. If you file online or by phone, save or note the confirmation number and the date and time of your submission.

What happens after you file a dispute

Once you file, the issuer must acknowledge your dispute in writing within 30 days. This acknowledgment should include your dispute reference number, a summary of what you reported, and an explanation of their investigation process. They will also tell you whether they have provisionally credited your account while they investigate.

The issuer then has up to 90 days from the date they receive your dispute to complete their investigation. During this time, they contact the merchant, request transaction records, and determine whether the charge was authorized and whether the merchant can prove you received what you paid for. The merchant typically has 7 to 10 days to respond.

At the end of the investigation, the issuer will either reverse the charge, deny the dispute, or in rare cases ask for more information from you. If they reverse it, the credit is permanent and the merchant loses the money. If they deny it, you can request a second review, but you must do so within 10 days of receiving the denial.

What happens if you miss the 60-day deadline

Once 60 days have passed since your statement date, you lose the right to file a dispute under the FCBA. The issuer is no longer required to investigate, and most will simply deny any dispute filed after that point. You do not get a second chance or a grace period.

If you discover fraud or an unauthorized charge months after it occurred, you still have options—but they are weaker. You can contact the merchant directly and request a refund. You can file a fraud report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at IdentityTheft.gov. You can contact your state's attorney general. But none of these routes carry the same legal weight as an FCBA dispute filed within 60 days.

Some card issuers offer fraud protection or zero-liability policies that go beyond the FCBA and may cover unauthorized charges even after 60 days. Check your cardholder agreement or call your issuer to ask whether they have such a policy. But do not rely on this—the 60-day deadline is the legal standard, and missing it puts you at risk.

Disputes and your account during the investigation

While a dispute is under investigation, the charge remains on your account unless the issuer grants a provisional credit. Many issuers do provisionally credit the disputed amount while they investigate, which means the charge is removed from your balance temporarily. If the issuer later denies the dispute, they will re-add the charge and you will owe it again.

If you dispute only one charge on a statement with multiple charges, you still have to pay the other charges on time. Disputing one charge does not give you the right to withhold payment on the entire bill. If you do not pay the undisputed charges, the issuer can report you as late to the credit bureaus, even though you are disputing another charge on the same statement.

If the disputed charge is large enough to push you over your credit limit, or if the provisional credit brings you below your limit, your available credit will change. This can affect your credit utilization ratio, which is a factor in your credit score. The impact is usually temporary and reverses once the dispute is resolved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 60-day deadline change if I dispute by phone versus mail?

No. The 60-day deadline is the same regardless of how you file. What matters is when the issuer receives your dispute, not the method you use. Phone disputes should be followed up in writing so you have proof of the date you filed. Mail disputes sent via certified mail have a clear delivery date. Online submissions are timestamped automatically.

What if my statement date and my billing cycle date are different?

The 60-day clock starts from your statement date, which is the date printed on your bill. Your billing cycle date (when charges post to your account) is separate. A charge that posts on the 10th of the month may not appear on a statement until the 15th, and the 60 days runs from the 15th, not the 10th.

Can I dispute a charge if I authorized it but the merchant never delivered?

Yes, but only if you made a good-faith effort to resolve it with the merchant first. Contact the merchant and ask for a refund or proof of delivery. If they do not respond or refuse, then you can file a dispute with your issuer. Keep records of your attempts to contact the merchant—emails, phone call notes, tracking numbers—because the issuer will ask for them.

What if the issuer denies my dispute after investigating?

You have the right to request a second review within 10 days of receiving the denial. Submit any new evidence you have—receipts, emails, proof of non-delivery, anything that supports your claim. The issuer will review it, but they are not required to reverse their decision. If they deny it again, your only remaining options are to contact the merchant, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or pursue the charge through small claims court.

Does the 60-day deadline apply to debit cards?

Debit cards have different protections under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), not the FCBA. The deadline for debit card disputes is typically 60 days as well, but the investigation process and your liability are different. If you use a debit card, check with your bank about their specific dispute process and timeline.