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Research: Credit Card Refund - Credit-Land.com

A credit card can give its owner a whole range of conveniences, perks and privileges, such as: great buying power, payment flexibility and various other types of protections. With a major credit card, such as a MasterCard or Visa, you can make purchases anytime and anywhere it is accepted. Furthermore, your card purchases are often protected with a special type of insurance that enables you to get a refund from your card issuer in case a product purchased with your card is defective or damaged or in certain other situations.

A credit card refund provision is very useful for those who do most of their shopping online where they have no chance to check the product's quality or completeness. It also provides protection if you shop on a fraudulent website that accepts your credit card payment, but does not deliver the goods.

Such refunds are provided by the card's purchase protection insurance feature, which is a standard type of coverage available on most major credit cards, as well as on most secured and prepaid cards. However, many consumers are unaware of their right to claim such refunds or they don't know when and how they can do it, even though the refund is available to them.

If purchase protection insurance is important to you, then we suggest that you carefully review the credit card terms in order to make sure that it is available with your chosen card. This insurance provision generally allows you to return a defective product bought with a credit card to the merchant and to claim for your money back. The merchant is then required to send the money to your card issuer who then credits your card account.

While the advantages of credit card refunds are obvious, some common pitfalls exist that you should know about, so be sure to carefully explore the scope and limitations of the purchase protection insurance provided. Pay special attention to the maximum amount of coverage that you may claim, as well as to the period of time it takes to credit your account with the refunded money.

Many people expect to see the refunded money in their account as soon as their claim has been processed by the merchant. However, the fact is that most credit card companies specify in their terms that they can take up to three or four weeks to investigate the refund and credit your account with the refunded amount. Unfortunately, until the refund appears on your account, your purchase is considered valid and you may be charged interest on it on it. So, make sure your credit card provides the quickest refund process, which is currently around two days.

In addition to purchase protection, your credit card may also provide travel insurance coverage and zero fraud liability coverage. These types of card purchase protections also have subtle nuances to watch out for, so be sure to do your homework about the various types of insurance available and read the specific insurance terms and conditions offered by a credit card before you apply.

Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer(s), and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer(s). Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate information, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult a card's issuing bank for the terms & conditions.
All rates and fees, and other terms and conditions of the products mentioned in this article/post are actual as of the last update date but are subject to change. See the current products' Terms & Conditions on the issuing banks' websites.