TC40

TC40 is the name of the report that issuing banks send to Visa to report fraudulent transactions as part of its Risk Identification Service. Issuing banks utilize TC40 data to assess the risk associated with a merchant in terms of fraud and chargebacks. Given the direct correlation between fraud occurrences and the frequency of chargebacks, any data that aids in identifying fraud issues can consequently assist in managing chargebacks.

The TC40 report includes:

• Merchant details, including name, location, MCC
• Bank details for those involved in the transaction
• Transaction details such as when and where it occurred

While not exclusively tied to confirmed fraud, TC40s allow card issuers to monitor merchants for suspicious activity. However, it is worth knowing that TC40 reports may be triggered by legitimate purchase disputes, forgotten subscriptions, or policies restricting minor transactions.

Merchants do not receive these reports directly and accessing them requires coordination with their acquirer. TC40s offer valuable insights about transactions cardholders deem suspicious.

While TC40 data enables merchants to evaluate fraud management controls, relying solely on early TC40 alerts over direct chargeback monitoring to drive refunds often leads to overpayment on legitimate transactions. Hence prudent merchants should leverage TC40s only to augment vigorous, multi-layer chargeback avoidance across their business.