There are charges on my credit card, or transfers out of my bank or e-wallet account, that I never made. Will the bank or e-wallet have to return my money?

Why

Two laws do most of the work. The Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (Republic Act No. 11765, 2022) covers banks, e-money issuers, credit card issuers, lending and financing companies and other providers under the BSP, SEC, Insurance Commission or CDA. Section 2 lists the consumer's rights, including protection of consumer assets against fraud and misuse, and timely handling and redress of complaints. The Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA, Republic Act No. 12010, 2024) covers deposit, credit card, e-wallet and other financial accounts with BSP-supervised institutions (Section 3(d)).

While your dispute is pending, you should not be charged for it. Section 8(f) of Republic Act No. 11765 requires every provider to have a free consumer assistance mechanism, and 'in the case of alleged disputed amount or unauthorized transactions,' pending its final investigation report, to suspend the imposition of interest, fees and charges or provide similar reasonable accommodations. For credit cards specifically, Section 18 of the Credit Card Industry Regulation Law (Republic Act No. 10870) gives you up to 30 calendar days from the statement date to report a billing error or discrepancy, and the issuer must act within ten business days of your notice.

Whether you get the money back depends largely on the provider's security. Section 6 of AFASA requires institutions to protect account access with adequate risk management controls such as multi-factor authentication and fraud management systems. An institution that fails to employ adequate controls, or fails to exercise the highest degree of diligence in preventing loss from the offences under the Act, is liable to restore the funds to the account owner, and conviction of the fraudster is not a prerequisite. But an institution the BSP finds compliant with those requirements is not liable. Section 7 also lets institutions temporarily hold funds in a disputed transaction for up to 30 calendar days, unless a court extends it, and Section 9 makes an institution that fails to hold funds as required liable for the resulting loss.

Your own diligence also counts. Under AFASA's Section 4(b), obtaining your password, OTP or card details by pretending to be your bank, or through electronic messages, is a crime by the scammer. But if you handed over your OTP yourself, the provider may argue it was not at fault. For credit cards, Section 15 of Republic Act No. 10870 says that when a card is lost or stolen, any transaction made before you report it to the issuer is for the cardholder's account. That is why reporting within minutes, not days, makes a real difference.

If the provider's answer is unsatisfactory, you may elevate the complaint to its regulator, which for banks, e-wallets and credit card issuers is the BSP (Section 8(f), Republic Act No. 11765). Under Section 6(f), the BSP and SEC can adjudicate purely civil claims for payment or reimbursement of up to ₱10,000,000, and their decisions are final and executory, subject only to certiorari. Contract terms cannot take these rights away: Section 12 voids any provision that waives your right to sue or to have your complaint addressed and resolved. Unauthorized use of your card or account details can also be access device fraud under Republic Act No. 8484 as amended by Republic Act No. 11449, which requires card issuers to investigate reported fraud and report the results to the NBI and the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group.