Dispute Analyst

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Action, decision, and track disputes within timeframes based on regulatory guidelines and SLA requirements.
• Investigate disputes and take action to prevent fraudulent financial transactions to mitigate loss to TDECU and its members and communicates as appropriate.
• Work without the need for close supervision, with a moderate degree of latitude for independent judgment and dispute decisioning. Consult senior peers and supervisors on complex issues to learn through experience.
• Review activity on alerted accounts to determine potential fraud related to items such as new accounts, identity theft, friendly fraud, and other identified risks. Conduct interviews of individuals involved to collect evidence that relates to the dispute claim as needed.
• Support various business partners and branch personnel in the processing of operational charge-off losses.
• Test and provide feedback on process and system improvements based on changing fraud trends and patterns.
• Work closely with internal functions including Financial Crimes, Recoveries, Member Service, BSA, and Compliance.
• Maintain a high level of member service while addressing member, law enforcement, merchant, and other outside requests.
• Work on projects of various degrees of engagement which are aligned with Corporate and Departmental Objectives using established guidelines; review, make decisions, and document results.
• Provide written documentation to local law enforcement offices to aid in successful criminal prosecution of those involved in committing criminal offenses against TDECU. Process and analyze dispute cases from all TDECU member centers. Responsible for full life cycle of the case (intake, research, processing chargebacks and determining provisional and final credit eligibility to the member).
• Serves as an advocate for the member by contacting the merchant(s) in question to attempt to rectify the dispute.
• Investigate disputes to ensure validity of claim, which may include contacting merchants, financial institutions and/or clarifying member statements as necessary. Gathering appropriate documentation to support final determination.
• Protect the member from further financial harm by placing a security hold on debit/credit cards and member accounts. Place lost/stolen statuses on ATM/debit/credit cards.
• Conduct thorough research to identify the source of the dispute. Reviews member account activity to determine member's eligibility for provisional credit and escalates issues as appropriate.
• Owns investigation process through adherence to proper case documentation. Investigate incidents and documents recoverable and or prevented losses for TDECU due to fraudulent activity. Assists with maintaining a Case Tracking Log of all investigative files to reflect the recoveries and losses that have been prevented.
• Attend training sessions and stays current with security and loss prevention methodology and procedures to maintain high professional standards.
• Assist with regulatory agencies, law enforcement and/or auditor inquiries.
• Develop and maintain a working knowledge of banking laws and regulations by reading various publications and circulars; attend seminars and meetings with peers.
• Respond to inquiries or refers inquiries to the appropriate department or person and exhibiting the necessary follow through with members and/or staff involved.
• Prepare correspondence letters and requests for information from members and employees.
• Partner with other Financial Institutions, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Retail establishments to exchange information and coordinate case investigation collaborations on identified organized crime rings, public corruption, financial crimes, and other violations of federal or state statutes.
• Assist in maintaining the Credit Union's Enterprise Fraud Risk Management Program to ensure conformity and adherence with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations.
• Advise the Manager of Security and Dispute Operations, of emerging fraud issues and consult and guide the Credit Union in the establishment of controls to mitigate risks.
• Provide support and guidance to the Credit Union's fraud risk management efforts and serve as an advisor.
• Assume responsibility for special projects, gather data and prepare reports for management, audit, and other personnel.
• Assist personnel in resolving inquiries or issues relating to fraud matters; participate in various internal committees assigned.
• Assume responsibility for various department functions in the absence of staff member or in overload situations.