Refund and cancel payments Policy

Learn how to cancel or refund a payment.

A refund is a reimbursement or repayment of money to a customer for a product or service they have purchased. It is typically issued when the customer is dissatisfied with the product or service, the product is defective, or the service did not meet the agreed-upon terms.

You can partially or fully refund any successful payment. (You can also cancel a payment when it’s in the appropriate state.) Refunds use your available PayCEC balance, which doesn’t include any pending balance. If your available balance doesn’t cover the amount of the refund, you can add funds directly to your PayCEC balance using a wire or bank transfer. You can proactively add funds to use for future refunds or chargebacks. These funds are held separately from your earnings, payouts, and funds from other PayCEC products.

Depending on the payment method used, you might incur fees to refund a charge (for example, a full or partial refund of a bank transfer). Additionally, PayCEC doesn’t return processing fees from the original transaction if it’s refunded.

Refund requests

We submit refund requests to your customer’s bank or card issuer. Successful refunds appear on the bank statement of your customers in real time, depending on the card network and issuing bank. You can’t cancel refunds after they’re issued. Disputes and chargebacks aren’t possible on credit card charges that are fully refunded.

If all of the following conditions apply, we send an email to your customer notifying them of the refund.

Some refunds—those issued shortly after the original charge—appear in the form of a reversal instead of a refund. In the case of a reversal, the original charge drops off the customer’s statement, and a separate credit isn’t issued.

Issue refunds

You can issue refunds by using the Refunds API or the Dashboard. PayCEC immediately processes refunds, which can’t be canceled. You can issue more than one refund against a charge, but you can’t refund a total greater than the original charge amount.

To refund a payment via PayCEC:

• Contact customer support: Reach out to the customer support department through the appropriate channels. This may include phone, email, or a dedicated support form on their website. Provide us with your details and explain the reason for your refund request.
• Follow instructions: Customer support will guide you through the refund process. They may ask for additional information or documentation to support your claim. Be prepared to provide any requested details promptly.
• Provide evidence if necessary: Depending on the circumstances, you may need to provide evidence to support your refund request. This could include photographs, videos, or any other relevant proof of the issue or dissatisfaction with the product or service.
• Follow up: If you haven't received a response within a reasonable timeframe, follow up with the company to inquire about the status of your refund request. Maintain clear and polite communication throughout the process.
• Escalate if required: If your initial attempts to obtain a refund are unsuccessful or if you believe you are not being treated fairly, you may need to escalate the issue. Request to speak with a supervisor or ask for information about the company's escalation process to ensure your concerns are addressed.

Refund destinations

Refunds can only be sent back to the original payment method used in a charge. You can’t send a refund to a different destination, such as another card or bank account.

Refunds to expired or canceled cards are handled by the customer’s card issuer and, in most cases, credited to the customer’s replacement card. If no replacement exists, the card issuer usually delivers the refund to the customer using an alternate method (for example, check or bank account deposit). In rare cases, a refund back to a card might fail.

Trace a refund

After you initiate a refund, PayCEC submits refund requests to your customer’s bank or card issuer. Your customer sees the refund as a credit approximately 5-10 business days later, depending upon the bank. A customer might contact you if they don’t see the refund. A refund might not be visible to the customer for several reasons:

• Refunds issued shortly after the original charge appear in the form of a reversal instead of a refund. In the case of a reversal, the original charge drops off the customer’s statement, and a separate credit isn’t issued.
• Refunds can fail if the customer’s bank or card issuer has been unable to process it correctly. The bank returns the refunded amount to us and we add it back to your PayCEC account balance. This process can take up to 30 days from requesting the refund.

If a customer is asking about a refund, it can be helpful to give them the Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) corresponding to the refund. An ARN is a unique number assigned to a card transaction as it moves through the payment flow. Your customer can then take the ARN to their bank, which can provide more information about when the refund will be available. Having a reference number can also increase your customer’s confidence that the refund has been initiated.

ARNs are available under the following conditions:

• They’re only supported for Visa and Mastercard transactions.
• It takes 1-3 business days after initiating the refund to receive the ARN from downstream banking partners.
• An ARN isn’t available in the case of a reversal, since the original charge isn’t processed.

Where available, PayCEC shows the ARN corresponding to a refund in the Dashboard on the payment detail page of the refunded payment.