Last updated 16 September 2025

If the account holder believes an unauthorised transaction was made on their account, they should complain to their financial institution as soon as they become aware of the transaction.

If the reason for the loss occurring was the fault of a third party (e.g. merchant), the financial institution cannot ask the cardholder to complain to the third party to rectify the problem. The financial institution is obliged to act.

The ePayments Code sets out how various problems will be solved for financial institutions who have signed up to this code.

Some obligations will also be covered in the Banking Code of Practice.

If the complaint remains unresolved, cardholders can ring the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and lodge a complaint.