What is a retrieval request.

A retrieval request or copy request is an enquiry by the cardholder or the customer or by the card issuing bank about a charge they have received on their card or account. A customer may see a charge on their statement and not recognize because either they don’t remember the service or maybe they don’t identify how the service has been charged in the statement. Other times may because the amount appears different from what they thought the service would cost.

How a retrieval request happens.

The customer will approach his/hers card issuing bank and launch an enquiry about a charge in their card . The banks will have the customer answer some questions or fill in some forms. If the bank determines that the enquiry is suitable or qualifies as a retrieval request then the customers bank will contact the acquiring bank(This is the bank that collected the money on behalf of the merchant) and launch the retrieval request.The merchant bank will then contact the merchant and inform them of the retrieval request and request them to provide documents to show that the customer consumed the service. The documents maybe invoices, e-tickets, receipts, voucher etc.

The acquiring bank will then forward the received documents from the merchant to the customers bank (the issuing bank) and the customers banks will notify the customer and provide the documents. At this time the cardholder enquiry about the charge on their card is usually resolved.

Risk with Retrieval Request.

One of the biggest risks with retrieval requests is being able to respond on time. Various credit card issuers will have a set time that the merchant or acquirer has to respond to the retrieval request. However the best practice is ensuring that the request is handled as soon as possible. If the cardholder does not get any response there is huge possibility that the retrieval request will result in a chargeback which means that the money is debited from the merchant account.