HOW ABSA’S TOOL WORKS

The debit order reversal and dispute feature is available to all Absa customers at Absa Online at www.absa.co.za.

Here, you can view all debit orders that have gone off your account during a given period, request that any unauthorised debit order that has taken place in the past 40 days be reversed – and you will receive the money back in your account instantly – and stop similar debit orders from going off your account in future.

“Such debit orders can be reversed or disputed, with such instruction to prevent the debit order from being processed remaining on Absa’s system for six months. After this, the service provider might attempt to debit the account again and it will be processed in terms of the rules of the payment stream,” Marius de la Rey, the chief executive of customer channels and distribution at Barclays Africa Retail and Business Banking, says.

If a reversal is made within 40 days of the debit going off and you have provided a valid reason, Absa will compensate you immediately. The party collecting the debit has a common-law right to dispute the reversal with you.

For disputes lodged after 40 days, Absa says it cannot guarantee compensation.

You cannot hold the bank liable if a valid mandate to debit your account is produced by the collecting party.

You can also can activate a stop-payment instruction. The instruction will remain in force for six months, after which the transaction is viewed as cancelled.

”Customers must remain vigilant and monitor their accounts for unauthorised debit orders on an ongoing basis,” Absa says.

Account holders often dispute debit orders to manage their liquidity to their own benefit, the bank says.

It says that before acceding to your request to reverse an unauthorised debit order, you are presented with an online declaration form containing the three valid reasons for disputing and reversing a debit order. You must select the most suitable option. This is in line with the requirements of the Payments Association of South Africa. The three reasons are: ◆ You did not authorise the debit order;

◆ The debit is in contravention of your authorisation; or

◆ You instructed the beneficiary concerned to cancel your authorisation.

It is your responsibility to inform the party that raised the debit of the stop-payment instruction.