Sources, Citations, and Methodology

Implements TILA for credit cards. Key sections used: 1026.12(b) (fraud liability, $50 cap), 1026.13 (billing-error claims, merchant-dispute right), 1026.5 (periodic statement disclosures). Issued and maintained by the CFPB.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1026

Implements EFTA for debit cards and ACH. Key sections used: 1005.6(b) (tiered fraud liability: $50, $500, unlimited), 1005.11 (EFT error resolution, 10-business-day provisional credit, 45-day investigation), 1005.9 (periodic statement requirements), 1005.18 (prepaid account rule). Issued and maintained by the CFPB.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1005

Implements the Durbin Amendment (Dodd-Frank Section 1075). Key sections used: 235.3 (interchange fee cap: $0.21 + 0.05% for regulated issuers), 235.7 (network routing requirement, dual unaffiliated networks). Issued and maintained by the Federal Reserve.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-235

Statutory basis for the $50 maximum credit-card fraud liability. Key section: 1643(a)(1) limits cardholder liability for unauthorised use to $50.

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1643&num=0&edition=prelim

Statutory basis for tiered debit-card fraud liability under EFTA. Section 1693g(a) establishes the $50/$500/unlimited tiers based on reporting timing.

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1693g&num=0&edition=prelim

CFPB's authoritative regulation page for Reg Z. Used for billing-error and fraud-liability section references throughout the site.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/

CFPB's authoritative regulation page for Reg E. Used for EFT-error resolution, tiered liability, and prepaid account rule references.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1005/

Plain-English consumer guidance on credit card billing rights, fraud reporting, and dispute processes.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/credit-cards/

Issuer-filed credit card terms collected by the CFPB twice a year and published as a spreadsheet, including the Foreign Transaction Fees and Foreign Transaction Fee (%) fields. All foreign-transaction-fee counts and per-card 0% claims on /foreign-transactions/ and /faq/ are our own tally of the filing for the reporting period ending 31 December 2025 (663 consumer plans, 195 institutions), downloaded and counted September 2026. We publish the counts rather than an average because the distribution is bimodal. Reproducible from the CFPB spreadsheet.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/credit-card-data/terms-credit-card-plans-survey/

The CFPB commentary that governs how a billing error notice may be submitted. Basis for the claim on /written-dispute-notice/ that an electronic submission only satisfies the written-notice requirement of 1026.13(b) where the creditor has stipulated in its billing rights statement that it accepts electronic notices and stated the means.

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/Interp-13/

FTC consumer guidance on fraud liability limits for credit and debit cards. Used for plain-English liability cap explanations throughout the site.

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/credit-atm-debit-cards-what-do-if-they-are-lost-or-stolen

FTC's rule requiring easy cancellation for subscription services. Referenced on /online-subscriptions/ for the click-to-cancel regulatory context.

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/negative-option-rule

FDIC consumer guidance on credit and debit card billing disputes, used for dispute-process context and cross-referencing with Reg E and Reg Z claims.

https://www.fdic.gov/consumer-resource-center

The gold-standard cross-walk for Reg E and Reg Z consumer protections, written for compliance professionals. The primary academic reference for the Reg E / Reg Z comparison on this site.

https://www.philadelphiafed.org/consumer-finance/consumer-compliance

Federal Reserve's Regulation II (Durbin Amendment debit interchange cap) primary page. Used for interchange fee data and Durbin implementation history.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii-about.htm

Visa's published interchange rate schedule for US transactions. Used for all credit and debit interchange rate figures on /interchange/ and throughout the site. 2026 schedule includes April 2026 revisions to the Commercial Enhanced Data Program and Issuer Will Never Approve fee.

https://usa.visa.com/support/merchant/library/visa-merchant-business-news.html

Mastercard's published merchant rate schedule. Used for interchange figures. April 2026 schedule includes the new Fallback Avoidance fee (effective 1 April 2026).

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/business/overview/merchant.html

Visa's policy governing pre-authorisation holds at Automated Fuel Dispensers. Basis for the $175 maximum hold figure cited on /gas-stations/ and /interchange/.

https://usa.visa.com/run-your-business/payment-security/fuel-pumps.html

Third-party interchange rate summary used to confirm April 2026 Visa and Mastercard changes. Used for /interchange/ 2026 freshness section.

https://www.windriverpayments.com/

Merchant-side primary source for chargeback mechanics, reason codes, and dispute timelines. Cited in /protection-comparison/ for chargeback context.

https://chargebacks911.com/

Cited on /hotels-rental-cars/ for rental car CDW (primary coverage) terms. Hold release timeline data.

https://creditcards.chase.com/

Used for Capital One zero-liability policy terms and Eno virtual card documentation.

https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/

Cited for Discover's zero-liability and fraud-protection terms.

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/card-smarts/

Named-agency debit card policies cited on /hotels-rental-cars/. Verified April 2026 against each agency's published FAQ pages.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=PaymentFaqs.jsp