Expected refunds -- show me the Money

(Conor Hackett) #1

Hello,

So I get refund anxiety from time to time and it goes a little something like… Oh yay, I just returned this item etc and am getting refunded for my purchase. I’ve just stood at the counter and provided my card. I just hope the money comes back and is actually processed and not “lost”.

As a side note: I don’t seem to ever get notified via push when a reversal/refund is made. I understand that it might not be possible to get instantly given the way the settlement works, but once the item eventually get’s refunded then it would be nice to be notified as opposed to having to manually check in the app.

Now for my proposed feature:: What if for example, I make the refund at point of sale and get my receipt. I can then go into the original transaction and tap a button that says “I expect to get refunded” and potentially provide scan of receipt. This way Monzo is aware of a refund has been processed and that I have a receipt (proof), now if that refund never arrives Monzo can warn me and I can follow it up.

I would find that useful…I shamefully got caught out before by sneaky landlord who issued me a bad cheque for deposit return. I wasn’t made aware that it bounced until my former flatmate told me it (very close call). The same could happen with card based transactions.

What do you think?

P.S. For card the card payments people among us, do you know if a refund hits the issuer in the same way that an AUTH does? I know the AUTH is what enables Monzo to give instant notification and it is needed to insure that funds are available but I don’t think VOID/REFUND require that same interaction, it just goes into the batch and settled later. Thanks.

Perhaps that is a feature that PSPs can implement by way of a webhook to instantly notify the issuer that a refund is being processed.

(Leon) #2

No as a credit back to your account can’t be lost just like a debit from your account can’t be lost either.

#3

Hi there as a Shop Manager all are Refunds are done offline,which mean the transaction is may still authorised but doesn’t hit your account until 3 days depending on your account or bank.
Hope that makes sense.
All transactions you make for buying goods are all Authorised Real time.

(If there's the wrong end of a stick, you'll find me holding it.) #4

As a side note to this, all Apple Pay purchases I have made give an instant notification in the phone, but the one refund I received didn’t result in a phone notification.

(Conor Hackett) #5

Actually that is incorrect - both can be lost.

When Monzo notifies you of the transaction it is not final, but still in a processing state. It isn’t until a day or two later that the funds actually come out of your account through settlement, albeit ringfenced in the meantime.

In that 2 day time, the transactions are placed in what is called a “batch” at some merchants. And it is not unheard of for system errors to cause this batch data to become corrupt. And as a result both debits/credits can actually got lost, meaning the money may never actually leave your account. Mind you, it doesn’t happen often.

#6

Usually they aren’t lost but delayed though: At some stage someone realises and the payments are processed.

Recent example:

But, yes, that’s why I always keep a receipt for any refunds until I actually see the money - both as a reminder, and to be able to claim it, should it never arrive…

(Mega Charizard) #7

Excellent idea! Would seem to be very simple to implement.

(Alexey) #8

This would be very useful. However it should be possible to set up an “expected refund” without having the original transaction. For example, some merchants agree to refund to a different payment method. All I want, ideally, is: “[Hey Siri | OK Google], I expect a refund of £XX.XX from [merchant name] by [date]” to set up a reminder from Monzo app that either goes off if the refund does not arrive, or does not go off if it does. Obviously, some fuzziness should be applied to merchant name. If the refund comes but for a different amount, I expect still to get notified.