After being notified by a cardholder about a disputed credit card processing transaction, the cardholder's issuing bank may order a copy of that particular sales draft through the merchant service provider to determine what occurred at the point of sale. This is called a copy request or retrieval. A retrieval request most often occurs when a Cardholder loses their copy of the credit card processing transaction receipt, does not remember the transaction or questions the transaction for any reason.



A retrieval can be requested by the cardholder's bank for up to 18 months from the sale date, therefore it is crucial that you keep your receipts for this time frame. When a copy of the credit card processing transaction receipt is requested, you will receive a Retrieval Request notice from your merchant service provider. When a retrieval is requested, you must supply a legible copy of the sales draft to your merchant service provider along with any supporting documentation such as a credit draft, if one was issued. During the retrieval process, the disputed amount remains in your deposit account.



It is very important that you always respond in a timely manner when a retrieval request takes place. If the retrieval request is not acted upon quickly, or you provide an illegible sales draft, it may evolve into a chargeback, at which time the your account will be debited by your merchant service provider for the amount of the disputed credit card processing transaction. Unfortunately, if you do not respond to a retrieval request you will not have any representment rights once a chargeback is issued and additional fees may be assessed by your merchant service provider.