Refunding payments
Payments collected via GoCardless can be refunded in full or partial amounts via the dashboard or API.
Please note: The ability to process your own refunds is enabled on a case-by-case basis subject to meeting certain requirements. If you would like to have this feature enabled, please submit your request here.
As the bank debit system is not well suited to refunding payments, refunds are processed by GoCardless outside of the bank debit network.
Once processed, a refund event will be shown as a debit in the report of the payout the payment was settled against.
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Refund request timeline
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Processing your own refunds
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Refund safety
Refund request timeline
| STEP | EVENT | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Confirmation |
You will receive a reply within 1 working day to confirm if we have enabled the refund functionality on your account. |
|
2 |
Refund processed |
By default, refunds can only be actioned 7 days after the payment charge date. If you have opted out of this safety period, you will be able to process the refund on or after the payout date. Your customer will receive an automated notification when the refund is actioned. |
|
3 |
Customer receives refund |
In most cases funds will be received within one business day of the refund being actioned. On some occasions it may take two business days. |
|
4 |
Refund settled |
If a payment is refunded that has already been paid out to you, we will settle the amount of the refund against your next payments. The refund will be marked as a 'debit' within the payout it was settled against. |
Refund safety
Funds processed through the bank debit network do not settle immediately. Although rare, there can be instances where a payment is initially marked as successful by the paying bank, only to be subsequently marked as having failed (late failure payments).
For this reason, we strongly recommend that payments are not refunded within 7 days of being charged. This allows sufficient time for the payment to be settled into your bank account, ensuring that it was successfully collected and protecting you from refunding unreceived funds.
A 7-day refund restriction is imposed on payments by default, however you may opt-out of this safety feature by contacting our support team.