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Refund

Refund a payment back to the shopper.

Refund in Customer Area

You can also refund payments in your Customer Area. For more information, refer to Manage payments.

If you want to return the funds to your shopper, for example if they returned an item, you need to make a /refund request.

In your call to the /refund endpoint, you need to specify the pspReference of the original payment. If you want to refund a payment for which you do not have the pspReference available, you can also make an unreferenced refund.

You can only refund a payment after it has already been captured. Payments that have not yet been captured have to be cancelled instead.

Refund a payment

In your request to the /refund endpoint, specify: 

  • merchantAccount: The name of your merchant account that is used to process the payment.
  • modificationAmount: The amount that you want to refund. This must be the same as or less than the captured amount.
  • originalReference: The original pspReference of the payment that you want to refund. This reference is returned in the response to your payment request, and in the AUTHORISATION webhook event.
  • reference: Your reference for the refund, for example for tagging a partial refund for future reconciliation. The reference parameter is required for GrabPay refunds.
{
    "merchantAccount" : "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",

    "modificationAmount" : {
        "value" : 500,
        "currency" : "EUR"
    },

    "originalReference" : "9313547924770610",
    "reference" : "YOUR_MODIFICATION_REFERENCE"
}

You will receive a /refund response containing: 

  • pspReference: The PSP reference associated with this /refund request. Note that this is different from the PSP reference associated with the original payment request.  
{
    "pspReference" : "8312534564722331",
    "response" : "[refund-received]"
}

REFUND webhook

Once we have processed your refund request, we send you a webhook with:

  • eventCode: REFUND.
  • pspReference: Same as the pspReference in the /refund response. 

  • success: Indicates whether the refund request was successful. Possible values:

    • true: The refund request was successful. This usually means that the refund was successful. For information on exceptions, refer to Failed refund exceptions.
    • false: The refund request failed. The webhook includes a reason field with a short description of the problem. Review the reason, fix the issue if possible, and resubmit the refund request.
{
   "live":"false",
   "notificationItems":[
      {
         "NotificationRequestItem":{
            "amount":{
               "currency":"USD",
               "value":50
            },
            "eventCode":"REFUND",
            "eventDate":"2018-11-01T00:19:34+01:00",
            "merchantAccountCode":"YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
            "originalReference":"8313547924770610",
            "paymentMethod":"visa",
            "pspReference":"8312534564722331",
            "reason":"",
            "success":"true"
         }
      }
   ]
}
{
   "live":"false",
   "notificationItems":[
      {
         "NotificationRequestItem":{
            "amount":{
               "currency":"USD",
               "value":50
            },
            "eventCode":"REFUND",
            "eventDate":"2018-11-01T00:19:34+01:00",
            "merchantAccountCode":"YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
            "originalReference":"8313547924770610",
            "paymentMethod":"visa",
            "pspReference":"8312534564722331",
            "reason":"Transaction hasn't been captured, refund not possible",
            "success":"false"
         }
      }
   ]
}

For more information about the included fields, see REFUND webhook reference.

Partial refund

With some payment methods, it is also possible to partially refund a payment. In case of a partial refund, you only return a part of the captured amount to the shopper. 

To partially refund a payment, make a request to the /refund endpoint, specifying:

  • value: The amount that you want to refund. This must not exceed the captured value.

You can also perform multiple (partial) refunds, as long as their sum doesn't exceed the captured amount.

Failed refund

An overview of failed and reversed refunds is available in your Payment accounting report.

A refund can fail if:

Unsuccessful refund request

When a refund request is unsuccessful, you receive the success value false in the REFUND webhook. Below are the most common reason values in the REFUND webhook:

The balance on the payment refers to the amount that remains from the original payment. For example, if a transaction has a total of EUR 10 and no refund or chargeback is processed, then the balance on the payment is EUR 10. After a refund or chargeback of EUR 3 is processed, the remaining balance on the payment is EUR 7.

reason Description
Requested refund amount too high No chargeback or refund has been processed, and the requested refund amount is more than the balance on the payment.
Already partially refunded, new requested refund amount too high Partial refund(s) has(/have) been processed, and the requested refund amount is more than the balance on the payment.
Already partially disputed, new requested refund amount too high Partial chargeback(s) has(/have) been processed, and the requested refund amount is more than the balance on the payment.
Already fully refunded, no balance available for new requested refund Full refund has been processed, and the remaining balance on the payment is 0.
Partially refunded and partially disputed, no balance available for new requested refund Partial refund(s) and chargeback(s) have been processed, and the requested refund amount is more than the balance on the payment.
Partial refund(s) and chargeback(s) have been processed, and the balance on the payment is a negative amount.
Already fully disputed, no balance available for new requested refund Full chargeback has been processed, and the balance on the payment is 0.
A full chargeback and partial refund(s) have been processed, and the balance on the payment is a negative amount.
Insufficient in-process funds on account for refunding this payment There is not enough balance on your merchant account to process the refund.
Transaction hasn't been captured, refund not possible The refund was requested before the transaction was captured. You need to cancel the transaction instead or wait until the transaction is settled.
The maximum period for this operation has expired The refund was requested past the expiration date permitted by the payment method to process the request.

Rejection by card scheme

Although rare, a refund can fail after you received a REFUND webhook with success: true.

The successful webhook means that the request has been sent to the card scheme, but it can still be rejected by the card scheme at this point. This may happen even a few days after you submitted the refund request.

Most of the time Adyen can fix the issue, so that the shopper will eventually receive the funds. Sometimes, however, you need to take action yourself. To learn why a refund can fail and what, if anything, you need to do in each case, refer to Reasons for failed refund after a success:true.

When a refund fails, we inform you of this with a webhook containing:

  • eventCode: REFUND_FAILED
  • pspReference: The pspReference of the refund request.

Reversed refund

For some payment methods, for example bank transfers, iDEAL, or Bancontact, the status of the payment can change from Refunded to RefundedReversed. This means that the funds have been returned to Adyen, and are back in your account. For example, this may happen if the shopper's bank account is no longer valid. To resolve these scenarios, check with the shopper the status of their bank account.

When a refund is reversed, we inform you of this with a webhook containing:

  • eventCode: REFUNDED_REVERSED
  • success: true

Testing failed refunds

In our test environment, you can check how your integration handles failed refunds:

  1. Make a card payment, specifying:

    • holderName: refund failed
    {
  "amount": {
    "currency": "EUR",
    "value": 500
  },
  "reference": "Refund failed test",
  "paymentMethod": {
    "type": "scheme",
    "encryptedCardNumber": "test_4111111111111111",
    "encryptedExpiryMonth": "test_03",
    "encryptedExpiryYear": "test_2030",
    "encryptedSecurityCode": "test_737",
    "holderName": "refund failed"
  },
  "returnUrl": "https://your-company.com/...",
  "merchantAccount": "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT"
}

  2. Refund this payment, either in your Customer Area, or by making a /refund request.

Once we have processed the request, you'll receive a webhook with eventCode: REFUND_FAILED.

This request may take several hours to process.

Unreferenced refund

Payouts

For sending funds to your customers, use our Payout solution instead.

When you migrate your payment data to Adyen or integrate with an Adyen point-of-sale solution, you might need to refund a payment for which you have no pspReference available. The /refundWithData endpoint allows you to make an unreferenced refund to either:

Refunding with data is limited by default due to anti-money laundering and payment industry regulations. To enable this functionality, contact our Support Team.

Refund to a bank account

To refund the funds to a shopper's bank account, make a request to the /refundWithData endpoint:

{
   "amount": {
      "value": 1500,
      "currency": "EUR"
   },
   "bankAccount": {
      "iban": "NL13TEST0123456789",
      "ownerName": "A. Klaassen"
   },
   "merchantAccount": "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
   "reference": "YOUR_MODIFICATION_REFERENCE",
   "selectedBrand": "bankTransfer_IBAN",
   "shopperEmail": "email@shopper.com",
   "shopperIP": "1.1.1.1",
   "shopperStatement": "YOUR ORDER 122345677889"
}

You will receive a  /refundWithData response containing a: 

  • pspReference: The PSP reference associated with this /refundWithData request. 
{
  "pspReference": "1835015179612534",
  "resultCode": "Received"
}

Once we have processed your request, we send you a REFUND_WITH_DATA webhook.

Refund with raw card data

If you are PCI-compliant at Level 1 or 2, you can include raw card data in your request to the /refundWithData endpoint:

{
  "amount": {
    "value": 1500,
    "currency": "USD"
  },
  "card": {
    "number": "4111111111111111",
    "expiryMonth": "03",
    "expiryYear": "2030",
    "holderName": "Simon Hopper"
  },
  "reference": "YOUR_MODIFICATION_REFERENCE",
  "merchantAccount": "YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT"
}

You will receive a  /refundWithData response containing a: 

  • pspReference: The PSP reference associated with this /refundWithData request. 
  • resultCode: Received. If Adyen wasn't the acquirer for this transaction, it may be Authorized. 
    {
"pspReference": "1835015179612534",
"resultCode": "Received"
}

Once we have processed your request, we send you a REFUND_WITH_DATA webhook.

Refund to a recurring contract

If a shopper has saved their payment details with you, you can refund a payment by using the recurring contract. In your call to the /refundWithData endpoint, specify:

  • shopperReference: your unique ID for the shopper.
  • selectedRecurringDetailReference: the recurringDetailReference for the recurring contract.
  • shopperInteraction: ContAuth.
 {
   "amount":{
      "value":1500,
      "currency":"USD"
   },
   "selectedRecurringDetailReference":"8315535507322518",
   "shopperReference":"YOUR_UNIQUE_SHOPPER_ID_IOfW3k9G2PvXFu2j",
   "reference":"YOUR_MODIFICATION_REFERENCE",
   "merchantAccount":"YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
   "recurring":{
      "contract":"RECURRING"
   },
   "shopperInteraction":"ContAuth"
}

You will receive a /refundWithData response containing a:

  • pspReference: The PSP reference associated with this /refundWithData request.
{
  "pspReference": "8835538461311270",
  "resultCode": "Received"
}

Once we have processed your request, we send you a REFUND_WITH_DATA webhook.

REFUND WITH DATA webhook

You receive the outcome of your /refundWithData request asynchronously, in a webhook event that includes:

  • eventCode: REFUND_WITH_DATA.
  • additionalData: the information in this objects depends on the additional settings that you enabled.
  • pspReference: the PSP reference of the original payment request.

  • success: indicates the outcome of the refund validations. Possible values:

    • true: Adyen's validations were successful and we sent the refund request to the card scheme. This usually means that the refund will be processed successfully. However, in rare cases the refund can be rejected by the card scheme, or reversed. For information about these exceptions, see REFUND_FAILED webhook, and REFUNDED_REVERSED webhook.

    • false: the refund validations failed. The webhook includes a reason field with a short description of the problem. Review the reason, fix the issue if possible, and resubmit the refund request.

{
   "live":"false",
   "notificationItems":[
      {
         "NotificationRequestItem":{
            "additionalData":{
                "fundingSource":"CREDIT"
            },
            "amount":{
               "currency":"EUR",
               "value":1500
            },
            "eventCode":"REFUND_WITH_DATA",
            "eventDate":"2018-07-16T17:46:51+02:00",
            "merchantAccountCode":"YOUR_MERCHANT_ACCOUNT",
            "merchantReference": "YOUR_MODIFICATION_REFERENCE",
            "paymentMethod":"mc",
            "pspReference":"NC6HT9CRT65ZGN82",
            "reason":"",
            "success":"true"
         }
      }
   ]
}

For more information about the included fields, see the REFUND_WITH_DATA webhook reference.

See also