SmartPay TwitterSmartPay FacebookSmartPay LinkedIn


GSA SmartPay Training

Lesson 10 of 12

Questionable Charges

How do you handle questionable charges on the bill?

As an account holder, you are responsible for reviewing all charges on your statement. One of the first signs of fraud is at least one “mystery expense” showing up on your statement. Verify your statement by:

  • Looking for transactions or account withdrawals you do not recall making; and
  • Checking for unknown vendors.

If you do notice a questionable charge, act promptly so that you will have the necessary information before payment is due.

  1. Contact the merchant for clarification on the charge. If you need help identifying the merchant, call the contractor bank's customer service number listed on the back of your GSA SmartPay travel account. If the charge is erroneous, generally the merchant will reverse it, and it will appear as a credit on your next statement. Be sure to follow up and make sure the credit was posted to your account and deduct the credited amount from your payment. If the credit is not posted in a reasonable amount of time, dispute the charge with the bank. If the merchant says it is a legitimate charge to your account, ask for proof, such as a signed receipt. If, after receiving the additional information from the merchant, you do not agree that it is a legitimate charge, dispute the charge with the bank.
  2. Disputable charges include double billings and charges to your account that belong to another account. Non-disputable charges include sales tax, shipping, and returned or unused airline tickets. Usually, airline tickets are purchased by the TMC using the centrally billed account and the amount will never appear on your travel account. In the instance when you purchase airline tickets using your own individually billed account and you return the tickets, the airline will issue a credit against your account. You, the account holder, are responsible for notifying the contractor bank of any items in dispute and shall have 90 calendar days from the transaction date to initiate a dispute, unless otherwise specified by the agency/organization.
  3. Payment of the undisputed charges must be made by the payment due date. Once you have submitted the dispute to the bank, delinquency of the disputed amount will be held in abeyance until the matter is resolved.

Note: You relinquish your right to recover a disputed amount if you do not dispute it before 90 calendar days from the transaction date .

Additional Resources

© 2019 GSA


SmartPay TwitterSmartPay FacebookSmartPay LinkedIn