IN THIS ARTICLE:
Learn about the difference between voiding a payment vs. refunding it, and which is called for given your specific situation.
- What is the Difference Between a Void and a Refund?
- How long will a pending charge show on a customer's account?
- What if the customer does not see the refund yet?
What is the Difference Between a Void and a Refund?
The difference between a void and a refund comes down to whether or not a transaction has been settled.
When a payment is processed, the card processor verifies that the cardholder's account is valid and that funds are available before sending a success/decline message. Once this is complete the funds are held and the transaction amount is deducted from the cardholder's available balance, but not yet transferred to your merchant account. At the end of the day, all transactions are batched out for settlement.
- An unsettled transaction can be voided which stops the transaction from processing and removes it from the customer’s account, effectively canceling the transaction.
- Once a transaction has been settled, it can only be refunded.
- A partial refund can only be made to a settled transaction.
Payment gateways may have different processing times for settling transactions, so iClassPro will automatically attempt a void before processing a refund. If you are only utilizing the iClassPro Payment Services gateway integrated with a third-party processor, there is a per-transaction fee for the void. If you are utilizing iClassPro Payments as both your Gateway and Processor, there is no charge for voiding a transaction.
What happens if I void a refund?
If you refund a payment and then void the refund transaction, the payment will not be refunded to the customer. However, as the system unapplies a payment from any charges to which it is applied when it is refunded, the refund amount will remain as an unapplied credit on the customer's account until a staff member re-applies it.
How long will a pending charge show on a customer's account?
A voided transaction will typically disappear from a customer’s credit/debit account statement within 24 hours. A refund, however, may take 3 to 5 business days to appear on a customer’s credit/debit account statement.
Some card-issuing banks could take 2 to 3 days to remove the pending charge. If a voided transaction is not removed from a cardholder's account statement within 3 business days, the cardholder may need to contact the bank to request that the bank makes the funds available again.
What if the customer does not see the refund yet?
If the refunded transaction shows as settled in the Merchant Portal, then it was approved by the card issuing bank. If the cardholder still does not have the refund, the cardholder should contact the card issuing bank.