# Refund a Payment

## Overview

**Refunding** a payment is an essential function that allows Main Account holders to return funds to customers for payments that have already been captured or settled.

Please note that Ryft allows for captured payments to be **partially refunded**. This means that you can choose to refund only a portion of the captured amount, with the remaining balance still available to the merchant. This feature provides flexibility in managing refunds, especially in scenarios where only a partial refund is necessary.

For all payments routed under the Main Account holder, and therefore of type [Single Payment](/documentation/get_started/initiate_payments/single_payment), or [Recurring Payments](/documentation/get_started/initiate_payments/recurring) and [Unscheduled Payments](/documentation/get_started/initiate_payments/unscheduled) without a Sub-Account involved, Main Account holders have the ability to refund payments using either the Ryft Dashboard or the Ryft API.

For any other payment types, refunding can only be done through the Ryft API via the [paymentSessionCreateRefund](/documentation/api/reference/openapi#operation/paymentSessionCreateRefund) endpoint.

## Prerequisites

A payment can only be refunded **if it has been captured or settled**. Payments that have not yet been captured or settled cannot be refunded and require a [void](/documentation/get_started/manage_payments/void) instead.

For payments that have been captured but not yet settled, the status will typically show as **Captured** in the Payment Session and the Ryft Portal.

## Refunding a Platform Fee Payment

To refund payments made using the [Platform Fee](/documentation/get_started/initiate_payments/platform_fee) model, the Main Account holder can choose to refund the payment either **fully** or **partially**, and decide who will bear the cost of the platform fee involved in the transaction.

**Platform Fee Payment setup:**

1. The Main Account creates a payment of £100 on behalf of a Sub-Account, with a platform fee of £5.
2. The customer is charged £100, with:
  - £95 going to the Sub-Account
  - £5 going to the Main Account as the platform fee.


At a later date, the Main Account holder decides to refund the full £100 to the customer. They can choose to either **include** or **exclude** the platform fee from the refund.

Refund Including Platform Fee
**Request Example:**


```json Including Platform Fee - Payload Example
{
    "amount": 10000,
    "refundPlatformFee": true
}
```

With this setup:

- The full £100 is refunded to the **customer**.
- The **Sub-Account** receives a deduction of £95 from their balance.
- The **Main Account** receives a deduction of £5 from their balance due to refunding the platform fee (minus any Ryft fees associated with the original transaction).


Refund Excluding Platform Fee
**Request Example:**


```json Excluding Platform Fee - Payload Example
{
    "amount": 10000,
    "refundPlatformFee": false
}
```

With this setup:

- The full £100 is refunded to the **customer**.
- The **Sub-Account** receives a deduction of £100 from their balance.
- The **Main Account** receives no deduction and retains the £5 platform fee (minus any Ryft fees associated with the original transaction).


## Refunding a Split Payment

For payments made using the [Split Payment](/documentation/get_started/initiate_payments/split_payment) model, the Main Account holder can choose to refund the payment either **fully** or **partially**, and decide how the refund is distributed among the Sub-Accounts involved in the transaction, including any platform fees.

**Split Payment setup:**

1. The Main Account creates a payment of £100, splitting the amount between two Sub-Accounts:
  - Sub-Account A receives £60 minus a platform fee of £0.60
  - Sub-Account B receives £40 minus a platform fee of £0.40
2. The customer is charged £100, with:
  - £59.40 going to Sub-Account A
  - £39.60 going to Sub-Account B
  - £1 going to the Main Account as the platform fee.


At a later date, the Main Account holder decides to refund £60 to the customer, specifically from the amount that was allocated to Sub-Account A. They can choose to either **include** or **exclude** the platform fee from the refund.

Refund Including Platform Fee
**Refund Request Example:**


```json Refund Including Platform Fee - Payload Example
{
    "splits": {
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "sp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXX",  // The ID of the split to refund referring to Sub-Account A
                "amount": 6000,
            }
        ]
    }
}
```

With this setup:

- The **Customer** is refunded £60.
- **Sub-Account A** receives a deduction of £59.40 from their balance.
- **Sub-Account B** remains unaffected.
- The **Main Account** receives a deduction of £0.60 from their balance due to refunding the platform fee associated with this split (minus any Ryft fees associated with the original transaction).


Refund Excluding Platform Fee
**Refund Request Example:**


```json Refund Excluding Platform Fee - Payload Example
{
    "splits": {
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "sp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXX",  // The ID of the split to refund referring to Sub-Account A
                "amount": 6000,
                "fee": {
                    "amount": 60  // The platform fee amount to refund for this split
                }
            }
        ]
    }
}
```

With this setup:

- The **Customer** is refunded £60.
- **Sub-Account A** receives a deduction of £60 from their balance.
- **Sub-Account B** remains unaffected.
- The **Main Account** receives no deduction and retains the £0.60 platform fee associated with this split (minus any Ryft fees associated with the original transaction).


## Refunding via the Ryft Portal

To refund a payment using the **Ryft Portal**, you can select the payment you wish to refund from the list of payments under the **Payments** page.

If the payment is in a **Captured** state and therefore eligible for refunding, you will see a **Refund Payment** button available. Clicking this button will bring you to a screen where you can specify the amount you wish to refund.

You can enter the desired amount to refund in the provided field, optionally add a note for the refund, and then click the *Refund Payment* button.

## Considerations

Please note that when refunding a payment, the following considerations apply:

- Only Main Account holders have the capability to refund payments. Sub-Accounts do not have the ability to issue refunds.
- Once a payment has been successfully refunded, its status will be updated to **Refunded** if the full amount has been refunded, or **Partially Refunded** if only a partial refund has been issued. The refunded amount will be returned to the customer's account.
- The timeframe for the refunded amount to appear in the customer's account may vary depending on the payment method and the policies of the acquiring bank. Typically, refunds can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to be processed and reflected in the customer's account.