A card dispute letter usually has a clock attached: under the FCA's Dispute Resolution rules, a firm has eight weeks to issue a final response before the customer may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. That deadline is about the substance of the complaint, not a reason to keep more personal data on file than the case needs. PCI DSS v4.0 still limits how the account number in the letter is kept. anonym.plus marks each value on your device, so the complaint stays clear while customer data is shielded.
When this applies
A dispute note quotes the customer's card, the amount, and personal contacts. You strip those identifiers under the standard before it is shared.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the complaint in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads a scanned, signed page.
- The tool flags card digits, names, and contacts.
- Keep the claim reference and date you must cite.
- Swap or black out the confirmed items.
- Save the clean copy locally.
What you need to provide
- The letter (PDF, DOCX, or scan).
- An operator (Replace keeps the prose readable).
- Optional name map for a repeat complainant.
PII & financial identifiers detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | CREDIT_CARD | ending 1111 → [CARD] |
| Names | PERSON | complainant Reyes → [BUYER] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | +44 117 496 0381 → [PHONE] |
| Amount | MONEY | £219.00 → [AMOUNT] |
| Location | LOCATION | home address → [ADDRESS] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | letter date → [DATE] |
Compliance achieved
- Limits stored account data per PCI DSS v4.0.
- Keeps the claim reference and date the case needs, relevant to the eight-week window the FCA's Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules set for a final response.
- Keeps the file ready to support a referral to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the complaint goes unresolved.
- Offline handling keeps the letter off any server.
Anonymise dispute letters offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
A complainant may describe a unique purchase that points to them indirectly. The tool flags named fields, so read the narrative before you forward it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a firm have to respond to a card dispute?
Under the FCA's Dispute Resolution rules, a firm generally has eight weeks from receiving the complaint to issue a final response. If that deadline passes without resolution, the customer may refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Will the claim reference survive?
Yes. Allow-list the reference and date so they stay while card and customer fields are removed — those are the facts a case handler or the Ombudsman would actually need.
Is the complaint uploaded?
No. The app is fully offline, so it stays on your device throughout.