It takes only seconds for the payment to get deducted from the issuing bank (customer’s bank) if the transaction is successful. However, due to any reason when the refund is to be made of the same amount it takes hours to days for it depending upon the payment method to reach the customer. Due to this, the customers face this question as to why this delay in the refunds they get; whereas the payments to the merchant are instantaneous. 

This blog discusses the reasons for the refund, the time duration taken for the refund, and the reason why it takes longer.

PayKun Payment Gateway Refunds

It is necessary to understand the reasons for which the refund needs to be processed to further understand the respective PayKun Payment Gateway refund process and intervention:

1. When the transaction gets failed but the amount gets deducted from the customer’s bank account, the auto-refund is processed from the backend

In this situation, the payment does not reach up to the PayKun payment gateway. It is hampered due to the authentication & authorization failure or any other reason. There are various reasons for a transaction getting failed which are as follows:

When the payment status is not provided by the issuing bank or the acquiring bank because of the below possible reasons the payment gets failed:

• Internet Connection Lost
• Internet Speed is slow
• Customer clicks on the ‘Back’ Button
• Browser closed at the time of Processing of Payment 
• The number of transactions allowed exceeded
• Authentication failure, etc.

Many times, a ‘late response’ is received from the bank-side, and it needs to be reconciled from the PayKun Payment Gateway; which is known as the Reconciliation Process. This situation occurs when the status is not final from the bank side.

If the transaction is successful it is settled to the merchant from the PayKun Payment Gateway as per the settlement cycle. 

Now, if the payment was failed but the amount is deducted from the customer’s account then it is auto-refunded from the bank side and it would take around 7 – 14 working days depending on the payment method used. (the approximate days as per the payment option is mentioned in the further part of this blog)

All in all, for a failed transaction the amount does not reach up to PayKun, and thus in the refund process too, the PayKun payment gateway does not play any role. The refund is there in the process taking the normal duration from 7 – 14 working days.

2. Because of the reasons like the non-availability of the product, the merchant can decide to issue the refund to the customer
3. The customer requests a refund if they have any complaints, product not as per satisfaction, etc.

In both the above situations, the merchant is the one who will initiate the refund from his PayKun payment gateway merchant dashboard. 

PayKun payment gateway does not have the authorization to issue the refunds apart from certain rare exceptions.

Thus, the merchant would initiate the partial or full refund following the below steps:

• Go to Merchant Dashboard >  Transactions Tab 
• Under Payments,> Click on Transaction ID (for which you would like to issue a refund)
• On the right side, you will get a Drawer. At the bottom, you will find the “Issue Refund” option.

PayKun Payment Gateway Refund Process

Before we understand the refund process let us get an idea of the process taking place or the parties included when the payment is done through the PayKun payment gateway or any other gateway transaction.

The transaction is processed in the below sequence after the customer initiates the payment with the payment gateway:

• After the customer fills the checkout details at the merchant website, an Order ID is created on both sides – merchant, and gateway
• Further, with the payment details entered the details are received by the PayKun API 
• The gateway sends the request for a response from the acquiring bank
• After the authentication is received, the request is forwarded to the issuing bank for the payment deduction
• The authorization from the issuing bank is sent to the acquiring bank (accept or fail), which in turn sends it to the PayKun payment gateway.
• PayKun would further pass the response and the customer gets the same.

Because the process is automatic and happens in seconds.

Now, let us consider the reverse cycle of this and that is a refund. The merchant initiates the refund from his PayKun merchant dashboard. The further process depends upon the payment method used by the customer at the time of making the payment.

It has the involvement of the various parties. The process depends and varies as per their respective procedures and authentication methods.

It is not fully automatic like it is in making the online payment. It involves a manual process at different stages and parties.

Delay in one stage may result in further delays in other stages. It goes by the payment gateway, acquiring bank, and issuing bank with back and forth possible manual interventions for authentication and authorization.

The approximate days for the refund process could be as follows:

• UPI: Instant or Maximum 2 working days
• Debit/Credit Card: Minimum 5 working days and Maximum 10 working days
• Net Banking: Minimum 2 working days and Maximum 10 working days
• Wallet: Minimum 1 working day or Instant and Maximum 3 working days

Concluding-

The refund amount goes back into the same source of payment through which the payment was made. The normal refund window is 7 – 14 working days, if a further delay occurs, then the solution is to contact the PayKun payment gateway to know the status of the refund. However, once the refund is initiated it depends upon the banking process and the gateway is not responsible for any delays.
You may drop an email at support@paykun.com for any queries or concerns.