Refund timing and what the customer sees

Quick answer #

After you issue a refund through Pay@ Gateway, the customer typically sees the money back in their account within 3–5 business days for card refunds, and within 1–2 business days for EFT or PayShap refunds. The timing depends on the customer’s bank, not on Pay@. The refund shows up in your dashboard as “Pending” until the receiving bank confirms, then changes to “Refunded”.

What happens when you issue a refund #

The moment you click refund in your Pay@ Gateway dashboard, three things happen in sequence:

1. Pay@ receives the refund instruction immediately. It’s queued and processed within minutes.
2. The funds are sent to the customer’s bank. This is where the variable timing comes in — each bank processes incoming refunds at its own pace.
3. The customer’s bank credits their account. The customer can now see the refund.

You don’t pay a fee for refunds on the Online plan and above. Wholesale and Enterprise plans include refunds at no charge. The original transaction fee is not refunded to you — this is standard practice across SA payment gateways.

Why card refunds take longer than the original payment #

Card payments authorise in seconds. Card refunds take days. This isn’t Pay@ being slow — it’s how the card networks work globally.

When a customer pays with a card, the merchant’s bank “borrows” the money from the issuing bank instantly, with the actual settlement happening days later. When you refund, the system runs in reverse: Pay@ instructs the issuing bank to credit the customer’s account, but the issuing bank queues this within its own settlement cycle. Visa and Mastercard set the standard timeframes, and SA banks generally complete refunds within their standard 3–5 business day window.

What to tell your customer #

Customers often expect refunds to be as fast as the original payment. Setting expectations upfront prevents follow-up tickets to you:

• Card refunds: “It should reflect in your account within 3–5 business days.”
• EFT or PayShap refunds: “You should see it within 1–2 business days.”
• Weekends and public holidays: “Banks don’t process refunds on weekends, so allow extra days if I’ve just refunded you on a Friday afternoon.”

If the customer asks for proof you’ve actually refunded them, send them a screenshot of the refunded transaction from your Pay@ dashboard, or forward the automated refund confirmation email Pay@ sends after every refund.

What if the customer says the refund hasn’t arrived #

After 7 business days, if the customer still hasn’t received the refund, the issue is almost always at their bank. Two things to do:

• Ask the customer to check the original card. Refunds go back to the same card used for the payment — if that card has expired or been cancelled, the customer’s bank should automatically redirect the refund to a replacement card, but this can add days.
• If the original card is closed entirely and there’s no replacement, contact us and we’ll work with the customer’s bank to issue the refund via EFT instead. This is rare but does happen.

Related articles #

• How to issue a refund — Article 25
• What is a chargeback — Article 27
• Preventing chargebacks — best practices — Article 29
• How do I get a refund (for customers) — Article 41

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