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Am I eligible for a refund?
Have you ever faced a situation where you made a purchase with your card, something went wrong with it, and the merchant promised you a refund or informed you the money would return automatically? These situations can be pretty common, considering most of the purchases are made with the card.
We have two possible scenarios, considering the state of your transaction.
The first one is when the transaction is pending and Wise has first authorised the transaction. In this case, we set aside the funds for the merchant to deduct later. It normally takes 8 to 30 days for the merchant to get the money. If they don’t do it within this time frame, we’ll release your money, and the transaction will be cancelled.
In this case, there will be no refund, just a reversal, since the money is not with the merchant. This reversed amount will be available in your account as soon as we release the money, and you’ll be able to check it in your balance statement. You can learn more about pending transactions here and how to download your balance statement here.
The second scenario is where the merchant has completed the transaction and a refund is due. They should be able to proceed with it on their end.
Am I eligible for a refund?
There are some typical situations where a refund is due. For example, when there were some errors with the purchase or the merchant ran out of the item they were selling, or when you cancel a purchase according to the merchant’s cancellation policy. In this last case, we suggest you always take a look at their refund/cancellation policy to check if you are eligible for a refund in case of cancellation.
In all of these cases, if the merchant confirmed a refund, you are eligible for it, and it typically takes 5–15 days for the money to arrive in your account.
15 days have passed, and I still haven’t received the refund
It can become a stressful situation when the merchant promises a refund, the time frame to receive it has passed, and you still haven’t received it.
In this situation, we recommend getting in touch with the merchant and trying to solve the issue directly with them. It can be faster and easier than the chargeback process, which can take up to 2 months to be completed, and we’re not guaranteed a successful result.
If they can’t help, Wise, as the issuer of your card, can attempt full recovery of the money through the chargeback process. There are some documents we need to provide to Visa or MasterCard to start it.
If the merchant's informed they have already issued the refund, we need you to submit a receipt via our dispute form showing the following:
- The date the refund was issued
- The last 4 digits of the card it was refunded to
- The refunded amount
However, if they can’t provide you with this information, you should send us all relevant documentation with a sufficient explanation of the problem also through our dispute form. Make sure to select the relevant reason on the form if you don't have a proper refund receipt.
After we start the chargeback process, we need to wait between 35 and 50 days for the merchant’s reply. Depending on their response, we can win the process, or we might need to escalate the case further. In any of the cases, we’ll be in touch with updates on the merchant's response.
To conclude, the best way is to contact the merchant. If they can’t help, we'll do our best to try to recover your money within the guidelines set by the VISA/Mastercard schemes.
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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