a chapter on fraud
What is provisional credit? The bank has 10 business days
The money comes back on a clock, with a condition attached. What the credit means, the three deadlines the bank works against, what happens if it decides the charge was yours, and why a credit card dispute runs the other way.
Provisional credit is money your bank puts back in your account while it investigates a debit card dispute. Under Regulation E, the bank has 10 business days from your report to either finish the investigation or give you that credit, and it can then take up to 45 days, or 90 in some cases, to reach a final answer.1 Provisional means it can be reversed.
The short answer
- Provisional credit is a temporary refund. Under Regulation E, a bank has 10 business days from your report to either finish investigating a debit card error or put the money back while it keeps looking.1
- The investigation can then run up to 45 days, or 90 days for new accounts, point-of-sale purchases, and foreign transactions. The credit stays in your account the whole time.
- If the bank decides the charge was valid, it takes the credit back. You are owed the finding in writing and, on request, the documents it relied on.
- Credit cards run the other way: under the Fair Credit Billing Act you withhold payment on the disputed amount instead of waiting for money to come back.2
Text tbd and it runs this on your own statement.
What is provisional credit?
Provisional credit is a temporary deposit for the amount you disputed. The bank posts it so you are not out the money while it decides whether the transaction was an error. Your balance goes up, you can spend it, and nothing on the statement flags it as conditional. The word does that work: provisional means the bank has not decided yet, and it can take the money back if it decides against you.
The credit exists because of how a debit card works. When someone uses your card number, the money leaves checking at once, and a six-week investigation with no credit would be six weeks without rent money. Regulation E, the federal rule for electronic transfers out of a bank account, puts a clock on the bank instead.1 It covers debit card purchases, ATM withdrawals, and transfers, not credit cards, which run under a different law covered below.
When does the bank have to give provisional credit?
Within 10 business days of your report. Once you tell the bank about an unauthorized transaction or an error, it has 10 business days to do one of two things: finish the investigation and give you a final answer, or post provisional credit and keep looking.1 Ten business days is about two calendar weeks, assuming five business days a week and no holidays, so a report on a Monday gives the bank until the Friday of the following week.
The clock starts when the bank hears from you, not when the charge posted, so the day you notice is the day to call. And if the bank takes the report by phone and asks you to confirm it in writing, do that the same day. The provisional credit can depend on it.
How fast you report also sets how much of the loss can land on you, which is a separate question from the credit:
| When you report the transaction | Your maximum liability |
|---|---|
| Within 2 business days of learning about it | $50 |
| After 2 business days but within 60 days of the statement showing it | $500 |
| More than 60 days after that statement | Can be unlimited for transactions after that point |
The $50 tier is the one to aim for, and it is why an unauthorized charge on your debit card is a two-day problem, not a someday problem.
How long can the bank take to investigate?
Up to 45 days from your report in the standard case. For three kinds of transactions the limit is 90 days: new accounts, point-of-sale purchases, and transactions made outside the United States.1 Point-of-sale means a card purchase at a merchant, so many debit card disputes sit under the 90-day limit, not the 45.
| Stage | Deadline | About how long (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Bank resolves the dispute or posts provisional credit | 10 business days | About 2 weeks |
| Final answer, standard transactions | 45 days | About 6 weeks |
| Final answer, new account, point-of-sale, or foreign transaction | 90 days | About 3 months |
The credit stays in your account for the whole investigation. If the bank posted it on day 10 and takes the full 90, you have held the money for about 11 weeks before the answer comes, an estimate that counts 90 calendar days less roughly two weeks. That is the point of the rule, and also the trap. Eleven weeks is long enough to forget the money was conditional.
What happens if the bank decides against you?
It reverses the credit. The bank debits your account for the amount, and your balance drops by the disputed sum on a day you did not pick. If you spent the credit, the drop lands on whatever is left.
You are owed more than the debit. The bank has to give you its finding in writing, and if it decided the transaction was valid, you can ask for the documents it relied on.1 Ask every time. The bank's evidence is typically a merchant record: a delivery address, a device, a login. That record is either right or it is not, and if it is not, send the bank what shows it: a receipt from where you were, the cancellation email, a police report if the card was stolen.
If the bank still says no, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which forwards it to the bank and tracks the response.3 The script for disputing a charge has the wording for the first call and for the complaint.
How is a credit card dispute different?
On a credit card the money has not left you, so the law does not need to send it back. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act you dispute a billing error in writing within 60 days of the statement date, and while the dispute is open you do not have to pay the disputed amount or interest on it.2 The issuer must acknowledge within 30 days and resolve within two billing cycles, at most 90 days. Liability for unauthorized use is capped at $50.
Same destination, opposite roads. With a debit card the bank took the money and the rule makes it give the money back on a clock. With a credit card you hold the money and the rule stops the issuer from charging interest on it while the question is open.
| Debit card (Regulation E) | Credit card (Fair Credit Billing Act) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the money is during the dispute | Out of your account until provisional credit posts | With you, and you withhold payment on the disputed amount |
| How to report | Report it, and confirm in writing if asked | In writing, within 60 days of the statement date |
| First deadline on the bank | 10 business days to resolve or post provisional credit | 30 days to acknowledge |
| Final answer | 45 days, or 90 for new accounts, point-of-sale, or foreign | Two billing cycles, at most 90 days |
| Liability for unauthorized use | $50 within 2 business days, $500 within 60 days, then unlimited | $50 |
The 60-day window is on both sides, and it is the one people miss on recurring charges. If a subscription kept charging after you cancelled, each charge older than 60 days from its statement is one the dispute rules stop helping with, whichever card it hit.
What should you do, in order?
- Report the transaction the day you see it. Within 2 business days of learning about it, your liability on a debit card is capped at $50.
- Get a reference number and the date of the report. If the bank asks for written confirmation, send it that day.
- Count 10 business days. If there is no provisional credit and no final answer by then, call and ask for the provisional credit by name. Banks know the term.
- Write down the 45- or 90-day outer date and do not treat the credit as final before the written finding arrives.
- If the credit is reversed, request the documents, respond with your own, and if the answer is still no, file with the CFPB.
Questions people ask
Is provisional credit permanent?
No. It is a temporary credit the bank posts while it investigates, and the bank can reverse it if it decides the transaction was valid. It becomes permanent when the bank finishes the investigation in your favor, which under Regulation E can take up to 45 days, or 90 for some transactions.
How long does provisional credit take?
Up to 10 business days from your report, roughly two calendar weeks. Under Regulation E the bank must either resolve the dispute or post provisional credit within that window. The bank can post it sooner, but the rule sets the outer limit, so if day 10 passes with nothing, call and ask for it.
Can the bank take provisional credit back?
Yes, if its investigation concludes the transaction was authorized or correct. It debits the amount from your account and must explain the finding in writing. You can ask for the documents it relied on, respond with your own evidence, and escalate a denied dispute to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which forwards it to the bank.
Do credit cards give provisional credit?
Not in the same way, because the money has not left you. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act you dispute in writing within 60 days of the statement date, then withhold payment on the disputed amount, interest-free, while the issuer investigates. The issuer has 30 days to acknowledge and at most 90 days to resolve it.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "How do I get my money back after I discovered an unauthorized transaction or money missing from my bank account?" (Regulation E timelines and liability limits). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-get-my-money-back-after-i-discovered-an-unauthorized-transaction-or-money-missing-from-my-bank-account-en-1017/
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "How do I dispute a charge on my credit card bill?" (Fair Credit Billing Act: 60 days in writing, 30 days to acknowledge, two billing cycles to resolve). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-do-i-dispute-a-charge-on-my-credit-card-bill-en-1289/
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "Submit a complaint." https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Checked 2026-09-27. If a number here has moved, tell us and we fix it the same week.