Disputing a charge with your bank in New Zealand, scams and chargebacks

Last updated 20 June 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

When money leaves your account that you did not intend, the first and most important thing to know is that your options depend entirely on how it happened. A stranger using your card details, a purchase that never arrived, and a scammer who talked you into paying them yourself are three different problems with three different remedies, and people often reach for the wrong one. The rules also changed recently, with New Zealand banks now committing to compensate some scam victims for the first time.

This guide sorts out which situation you are in, what your bank should do in each, the new scam compensation rules, and how to escalate for free if the bank gets it wrong. It is general information, not legal advice.

Three different situations

Almost every disputed payment falls into one of three categories, and naming yours correctly is half the battle.

• An unauthorised transaction. You did not make it and did not approve it, for example someone used your stolen card details or got into your account. This is fraud against you.
• A card purchase that went wrong. You did pay, on your card, but the goods never arrived, were faulty or not as described, or the company has gone under, and they will not refund you. This is where a chargeback comes in.
• A scam payment you authorised. You made the payment yourself, but only because you were deceived, for example a fake invoice, a romance scam, or someone pretending to be your bank telling you to move your money. This is an authorised payment scam, and it is the hardest of the three, though the rules have just improved.

Whichever it is, contact your bank straight away, because for all three, acting fast gives the best chance of stopping or recovering the money.

An unauthorised transaction you did not make

If money has gone from your account or card through a transaction you did not authorise, this is the strongest position to be in. Under the Code of Banking Practice, your bank will generally reimburse you for transactions made without your authority, such as card fraud or someone accessing your account, provided you have looked after your security and report it promptly.

The key conditions are on your side of the security line. You need to have kept your PINs and passwords secret, not written them down with your card, and reported the problem to the bank as soon as you noticed it. Where a customer has been careless with their security, for example sharing a PIN or password, the bank may reduce or decline reimbursement, so protecting your own credentials matters. But for a straightforward case of fraud you did nothing to enable, reimbursement is the expected outcome. Report it immediately, ask the bank to block the card or secure the account, and confirm your dispute in writing.

A chargeback on a card purchase

A chargeback is a powerful and underused remedy for a card purchase that went wrong. If you paid by credit or debit card and the goods never arrived, were faulty or significantly not as described, or the business has closed down before delivering, and the seller will not put it right, your bank can reverse the payment by charging it back to the seller’s bank under the card scheme rules.

A few things make a chargeback work. You generally have to request it within a time limit, commonly 120 days from the transaction or from when you expected to receive the goods, so do not sit on it. You should usually have tried to resolve it with the seller first, and kept the evidence, the order, the correspondence, and proof the goods did not arrive or were wrong. Then you apply to your own bank, not the seller, and ask for a chargeback. It applies to card payments, not to bank transfers, which is one reason paying by card for online or distant purchases gives you more protection than a direct transfer. The Banking Ombudsman has a clear guide to how chargebacks work.

A scam you were tricked into paying

This is the situation that used to leave people with nothing, and it is where the law has just shifted. In an authorised payment scam you made the payment yourself, usually a bank transfer, because you were deceived, so it is not technically unauthorised and a chargeback does not apply to a transfer. For years that meant banks generally did not reimburse these losses.

That changed on 30 November 2025, when amendments to the Code of Banking Practice took effect. Banks signed up to five anti-scam commitments, including giving warnings before certain payments, identifying and responding to high-risk transactions, running a 24/7 channel to report scams, sharing scammer account information between banks and freezing funds, and offering Confirmation of Payee. Crucially, banks now commit to compensating eligible customers for authorised payment scam losses, reportedly up to a combined $500,000, in cases where the bank failed to meet one of those commitments.

The threshold is reasonable care. Whether, and how much, you are compensated turns on whether you took reasonable care, so a customer who ignored clear warnings may get less or nothing, while one who was deceived despite acting carefully and whose bank dropped the ball has a real claim. Very large losses, above the cap, or repeated scams, can be treated at the bank’s discretion. This is a genuine improvement, but it is not a guarantee of a full refund, so the practical message is to report a scam the instant you realise, push your bank on whether it met its commitments, and escalate if you are knocked back.

Confirmation of Payee

One of the most useful new protections is Confirmation of Payee, which is now available across New Zealand banks. When you set up a payment, it checks whether the account name you have entered matches the name on the account you are paying, and warns you if it does not.

This is aimed squarely at the scams where you are tricked into paying a fraudster’s account believing it belongs to someone else, such as a fake tradesperson invoice or a fake bank account. If you get a no-match or partial-match warning, stop and check, because it is one of the clearest signals that something is wrong. Beyond using the tool, the old advice still holds, independently verify any request to pay or change bank details, especially if it arrives by email or text or comes with urgency, by phoning the organisation on a number you find yourself.

How to act fast

Whatever the situation, the first hour matters most. Here is the sequence.

1. Contact your bank immediately. Use the bank’s 24/7 fraud or scam line. Ask them to stop the payment if it has not cleared, freeze or secure your account, and block any compromised card. Money recently sent can sometimes still be recalled.
2. Say clearly which situation it is, an unauthorised transaction, a card purchase dispute, or a scam you were tricked into authorising, because that determines what the bank does next.
3. Gather and keep your evidence. Transaction details, messages, invoices, the seller or scammer’s details, and a timeline of what happened.
4. Report the scam more widely. You can report scams to Netsafe, and to the police through 105, and reporting helps others even where recovery is uncertain.
5. Put your complaint in writing to the bank, setting out what happened and what you want, so there is a record if you need to escalate.

If the bank says no, the Banking Ombudsman

If your bank declines to refund or compensate you and you believe it has acted unfairly or failed its obligations, you do not have to accept that as final. Every bank must belong to a free, independent dispute resolution scheme, and for most banks the main one is the Banking Ombudsman.

The process is to complain to the bank first and give it a chance to resolve the matter through its internal complaints process. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, or the bank does not resolve it within its timeframe, you can take the complaint to the Banking Ombudsman, which is free to use and can investigate and make decisions that are binding on the bank if you accept them. This is particularly worth doing for a declined scam claim, where the question of whether the bank met its anti-scam commitments and whether you took reasonable care is exactly the kind of thing the Ombudsman weighs up.

The takeaway

Money wrongly gone from your account is not always lost. Work out which of the three situations you are in, because an unauthorised transaction, a card purchase gone wrong, and a scam you were deceived into paying each have their own remedy. Report it to your bank immediately, use a chargeback for a card purchase, and know that since late 2025 even some authorised scam losses can now be compensated where the bank fell short and you took reasonable care. If the bank says no and you think it is wrong, the Banking Ombudsman will look at it for free. And going forward, a Confirmation of Payee warning is one of the cheapest pieces of protection you have, so never ignore one.

Related guides

• A debt collector is chasing me in New Zealand, my rights
• Your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act

Frequently asked questions

How do I dispute a transaction with my bank

Contact your bank straight away and say clearly whether it was an unauthorised transaction you did not make, a card purchase that went wrong, or a scam you were tricked into paying. For an unauthorised transaction the bank should generally reimburse you if you kept your security and reported it promptly. For a card purchase gone wrong, ask for a chargeback. Put your complaint in writing and keep your evidence.

What is a chargeback and when can I use one

A chargeback reverses a card payment by charging it back to the seller’s bank. You can use it where you paid by credit or debit card and the goods never arrived, were faulty or not as described, or the business closed before delivering, and the seller will not refund you. Apply to your own bank, usually within 120 days, after trying to resolve it with the seller. Chargebacks apply to card payments, not bank transfers.

Will my bank refund me if I was scammed

It may, which is a recent change. Since 30 November 2025, banks have committed to compensating eligible victims of authorised payment scams, reportedly up to a combined $500,000, where the bank failed to meet one of its anti-scam commitments and you took reasonable care. It is not an automatic full refund, and a customer who ignored clear warnings may get less, but it is worth pushing your bank and escalating to the Banking Ombudsman if declined.

What is Confirmation of Payee

It is a service, now available across New Zealand banks, that checks whether the account name you have entered for a payment matches the name on the account, and warns you if it does not. It is designed to catch scams where you are tricked into paying a fraudster’s account. If you get a no-match warning, stop and check before sending the money.

How long do I have to dispute a transaction

Report an unauthorised transaction or a scam as soon as you notice it, because speed affects both recovery and your reimbursement. For a card chargeback the time limit is commonly 120 days from the transaction or from when you expected the goods, so do not delay. Always check your own bank’s specific timeframes, and act quickly rather than waiting.

The bank declined my claim, what now

Complain through the bank’s internal complaints process first. If you are still not satisfied, take it to the Banking Ombudsman, the free and independent dispute resolution scheme that is the main one for banks. It can investigate and make a decision that is binding on the bank if you accept it. A declined scam claim, turning on whether the bank met its anti-scam commitments, is exactly the kind of case the Ombudsman considers.

Is paying by card safer than a bank transfer

For online or distant purchases, usually yes, because a card payment can be charged back if the goods do not arrive or are not as described, while a bank transfer cannot. A bank transfer relies on recovering the money from the recipient, which is much harder once it has gone. If you are buying from someone you do not know, paying by card gives you more protection.

Have you disputed a bank transaction or recovered money after a scam in New Zealand? Tell us how it went in the comments below.