Refund of an unauthorised payment or card chargeback — letter to your bank (Germany)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
Your letter to your own bank in Germany when your account or card was charged without your consent — after card fraud or phishing, say. You dispute the transactions and demand the refund, which the bank must make by the end of the next business day at the latest (§ 675u of the German Civil Code, BGB). Report without delay and at most 13 months after the debit (§ 676b BGB). If you paid by card yourself but received nothing, the letter instead asks for a chargeback under the card scheme's rules. With the blocking date and the police report. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Customer
- Customer's address
- Bank
- Address of the bank that holds the account
- City
- Date
- Account number or last digits of the card
- Disputed transactions (date, amount, payee)
- Total amount
- Date discovered
- Date the card or access was blocked
- Police report (station, case number)
- Ground for the dispute (unauthorised payment, or a chargeback)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How fast must a German bank refund an unauthorised payment, and by when must I report it?
- The bank must refund the amount without delay, at the latest by the end of the business day after the day you reported the unauthorised payment (§ 675u of the German Civil Code, BGB). You must report without undue delay once you notice the debit; 13 months after the debit your claims are excluded (§ 676b BGB). Have the card or access blocked at once and report the matter to the police.
- Do I have to bear part of the loss from card fraud or phishing in Germany?
- For a lost, stolen or otherwise misused card you are liable up to €50; for fraud, intent or gross negligence, in full (§ 675v BGB). According to the Federal Court of Justice, giving TANs to a caller posing as bank staff can be grossly negligent, even when the bank's number appears on the display (judgment of 22 July 2025, XI ZR 107/24). It is for the bank to prove gross negligence, so describe what happened factually and completely.
- What is a chargeback, and when does it help with a German bank card?
- If you paid by credit or debit card yourself and the merchant neither delivers nor refunds, the payment was authorised, so § 675u BGB does not apply. Your bank can, however, start a chargeback against the merchant under the Visa or Mastercard rules. This is not a statutory right: the card scheme, not the law, sets the deadlines, which can be short, and the credit stays provisional until the merchant has answered. Ask early.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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