Coinbase Customers Suffer Erroneous Charges

With customers experiencing erroneous credit card charges for cryptocurrency purchases, Coinbase has blamed Visa for the charges but claims it is working with Visa to ensure all affected customers are reimbursed.

Coinbase said the charges were caused by Visa reversing and recharging transactions.

Coinbase Makes Its Case
Over the last few months, banks and card issuers have asked the networks to change the MCC for digital currency purchases, Coinbase noted in another tweet, saying Visa changed the MCC for digital currency purchases to a code that enables banks and card issuers to charge customers additional fees. MCC is a system of categorization for merchants so tax agencies can follow the trail.

Coinbase claims it is working with major card networks to create a new MCC for digital currency purchases. The company said it hopes this will not include an additional cash advance fee.

Some buyers said they have been charged up to 50 times the intended purchases, according to thenextweb.

Reddit Users Slam Coinbase
One Reddit user accused Coinbase of training their bank account, leaving them with nothing.

Another said they were charged 17 times and suspected Coinbase has been hacked. This poster said they were overseas and said calling Coinbase takes hours.

One Reddit user told Coinbase to stop giving out its main bank account information for businesses to debit.

Some have advocated people stop using Coinbase. One noted that Coinbase issues charges first with refunds to follow when they get around to it.

Coinbase noted in a tweet and on its website the issue is related to the recent MCC code change by the card networks and by additional fees charged by card issuers. Coinbase claims it is working with major card networks to create a new MCC for digital currency purchases. The company said it hopes this will not include an additional cash advance fee.

Coinbase Tries To Assure Customers
Coinbase claims it has found a solution to the problems and future purchases will not be impacted any customer affected will be fully refunded for incorrect charges, the company stated. The refund is expected to be done automatically through the customer’s bank.

Coinbase invites anyone who believes to have been affected by the problem to contact its customer support. The company plans to review all card transactions form the last few weeks to make sure affected customers get notified, and will post updates on its blog and on Twitter.

The company also encourages customers to contact their banks and card issuers first of any incorrect charges.

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