State Employees' Credit Union (SECU, North Carolina): dispute with a merchant through the bank

Collect

• statement showing the transfer
• receipt
• record of contact with the merchant

Steps

1. Call Member Services Support, or send a dispute request through Member Access.

   PhoneMember Services Support - 24/7 member helpline; fraudulent account activity, lost or stolen card, electronic transfer errors +1-888-732-8562 Account holder only

2. Or write to SECU with your name, account number, the transfer and the amount.

   MailElectronic transfer errors and lost or stolen card notices (written) State Employees' Credit Union, PO Box 28540, Raleigh, NC 27611

3. If SECU does not resolve it, complain to the NCUA or the CFPB.

   RegulatorNational Credit Union Administration, Consumer Assistance Center +1-800-755-1030

More contacts for this issue

Facts you can cite

• Deadline

  For electronic fund transfer errors, SECU must hear from you no later than 60 days after the statement on which the problem first appeared was sent or made available. If you tell SECU orally, it may require the complaint in writing within 10 business days.

  Source: ncsecu.org, verified 2026-10-13

• Process

  SECU determines whether an error occurred within 10 business days, or may take up to 45 days if it provisionally credits your account within 10 business days; up to 90 days for new accounts, point-of-sale and foreign-initiated transactions. If it finds no error it sends a written explanation and reverses the provisional credit.

  Source: ncsecu.org, verified 2026-10-13

Rules in force

• Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)
  12 CFR 1026.13; 12 CFR 1026.12(c) (Regulation Z)

  For credit card and other open-end credit accounts, a written billing-error notice that the creditor receives within 60 days after it sent the first statement with the error starts a dispute process. The creditor must acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve it within 2 complete billing cycles (no later than 90 days). Until then, the consumer need not pay the disputed amount and the creditor may not collect it or report it as delinquent. A separate rule lets a cardholder assert claims and defenses about a card purchase against the card issuer.

  Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  2 citable points

  • Policy

    Claims and defenses (12 CFR 1026.12(c)): when a merchant does not resolve a dispute about property or services bought with a credit card, the cardholder may assert against the card issuer all claims (other than tort claims) and defenses from the transaction, and may withhold payment up to the amount of credit outstanding for that purchase plus related charges. The issuer may not report that withheld amount as delinquent until the dispute is settled or judgment is rendered.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

  • Limit

    Claims-and-defenses limits: the cardholder must first make a good faith attempt to resolve the dispute with the merchant, the purchase must exceed $50, and it must have occurred in the same state as the cardholder's current designated address or within 100 miles of it. The $50 and location limits do not apply when the merchant is the card issuer, is controlled by or controls the issuer, is a franchised dealer in the issuer's products, or got the order through a mail solicitation the issuer made or took part in.

    Source: consumerfinance.gov, verified 2026-10-12

If that fails, escalate

Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.

1. Customer service

   PhoneMember Services Support - 24/7 member helpline; fraudulent account activity, lost or stolen card, electronic transfer errors +1-888-732-8562 Account holder only

2. Written complaint

   OnlineSecure message in Member Access (members' complaints and feedback, dispute requests) Sign-in required

3. Federal regulator

   RegulatorNational Credit Union Administration, Consumer Assistance Center +1-800-755-1030

4. State agency

   Your state’s financial regulator. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON: states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).

   SECU names the North Carolina Credit Union Division (cud.nc.gov).

5. Federal regulator

   RegulatorConsumer Financial Protection Bureau +1-855-411-2372

Watch out

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