Refunds

A refund returns all or part of a completed payment to the customer.

Depending on your setup, you can issue a refund from the ICEPAY Portal, from a supported ready-made integration, or through the Checkout API.

The way the money is returned depends on the original payment method.

Using a ready-made integration?

Some ICEPAY integrations allow you to create refunds directly from your store’s administration panel.

When this is supported, the integration normally handles the technical refund request and synchronises the result with ICEPAY for you.

The exact workflow depends on the e-commerce platform and integration.

How a refund works

A typical refund follows these steps:

1. Find the original payment

   A refund is always associated with an existing payment.

2. Choose the amount

   You can refund the entire payment or only part of it.

3. Create the refund

   The refund is submitted through the ICEPAY Portal, your e-commerce integration, or the Checkout API.

4. ICEPAY processes the refund

   Some refunds complete immediately, while others remain pending while they are being processed.

5. The funds are returned

   The refund is sent using the refund method associated with the original payment method.

Completed does not mean the customer has the money yet

A refund is considered completed when ICEPAY has performed the final step required to send the funds back.

The customer’s bank, card issuer, or payment provider may still need additional time before the refund appears in the customer’s account.

Full and partial refunds

ICEPAY supports both full and partial refunds.

Full refund

Returns the full refundable amount of the original payment to the customer.

Partial refund

Returns only part of the original payment amount.

More than one partial refund can be created as long as the combined refunded amount does not exceed the refundable amount of the payment.

For example, if a customer paid €100.00:

Original payment       €100.00
First refund           -€25.00
Second refund          -€30.00
─────────────────────────────
Remaining refundable    €45.00

The total of all refunds cannot exceed the amount available on the original payment.

Issue a refund from the ICEPAY Portal

You can create a refund directly from the ICEPAY Portal.

1. Sign in to the ICEPAY Portal.
2. Go to Payments.
3. Find and open the payment you want to refund.
4. Check whether the payment is refundable.
5. Select the refund option.
6. Enter the amount you want to refund.
7. Confirm the refund.

The payment page also shows previously created refunds and their current statuses.

A refund option is not always available

Whether a payment can be refunded depends on the payment, payment method, account configuration, and the information available for returning the funds.

If the payment is not refundable, the refund option may not be available.

Refund statuses

A refund has its own lifecycle, separate from the original payment.

For refunds created through the current Checkout API, the relevant statuses are:

pending

The refund has been created and ICEPAY is still processing it.

In most cases, API refunds move from pending to completed within 24 hours.

completed

ICEPAY has completed the processing required to return the funds.

The customer may still need to wait for their bank, card issuer, or payment provider to make the refund visible.

Refused refunds

In the ICEPAY Portal, a refund that cannot be processed may also be shown as Refused.

refused

The refund could not be processed successfully.

Check the refund and payment details for more information or contact ICEPAY if the reason is unclear.

Payment and refund statuses are separate

Creating a refund does not change the original payment from completed to a different payment status.

The original payment and each refund have their own status and should be considered separately.

How long does a refund take?

Refund processing time depends on the original payment method and the customer’s bank or payment provider.

Refunds are generally returned within 5 business days, but this can vary.

A refund reaching completed in ICEPAY means the refund has been sent from ICEPAY’s side. It does not guarantee that it is already visible to the customer.

Card refunds

Card refunds can take longer to appear.

After ICEPAY processes the refund:

• the refund is normally sent to the relevant card issuer within 1 business day;
• the issuer may take up to 14 business days to make the refund visible to the cardholder.

If the refund is shown as completed but the customer still cannot see it, the customer should first contact their card issuer.

After 14 days, ICEPAY can provide an Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) where available.

The ARN can help the card issuer trace the refund through the card payment network.

Processing time and receipt time are different

A refund can already be completed in ICEPAY while the customer’s bank or card issuer is still processing it.

When answering customer questions about a missing refund, always consider both the refund status and the expected processing time for the payment method.

How the customer receives the refund

The refund route depends on the original payment method.

Original payment method	Refund method
Visa & Mastercard	Returned to the original card
iDEAL | Wero	Returned through IBAN
Bancontact	Returned to the original card
EPS	Returned through IBAN
Online Überweisen	Returned through IBAN
Pay by Bank	Returned through IBAN
Direct debit	Returned through IBAN
PayPal	Returned through PayPal

The exact refund behaviour of a payment method is documented on the Payment methods page.

The refund route is determined by the payment method

You normally do not choose a separate destination account when creating a refund.

ICEPAY uses the appropriate refund mechanism for the original payment method.

Cancel a refund

A refund can be cancelled while it is still pending.

To cancel a pending refund in the ICEPAY Portal:

1. Open the original payment.
2. Find the refund in the payment’s refund overview.
3. Select the option to cancel the refund.

Once the refund has already been processed, it can no longer be cancelled.

Checkout API

The Checkout API refund operation creates refunds, but the current Checkout API documentation does not define a separate API endpoint for cancelling a refund.

Use the ICEPAY Portal when you need to cancel an eligible pending refund.

Why can’t I create a refund?

A payment may not be refundable for several reasons.

Refunds are not enabled

Refunding may not be enabled for your ICEPAY Account or merchant.

If you expect refunds to be available but the option is missing, contact ICEPAY.

The payment is not refundable

Refunds can only be created when the original payment is in a state that allows a refund.

For example, a payment that was never successfully completed cannot simply be refunded because no successful payment exists to return.

Required bank information is not available yet

Some payment methods require information such as an IBAN or BIC to return the funds.

That information may not always be available immediately after the payment.

If the refund option is temporarily unavailable, check the payment again later.

The refundable amount has already been used

Previous full or partial refunds reduce the remaining amount that can be refunded.

A new refund cannot cause the combined refunded amount to exceed the available amount of the original payment.

Refunds in a custom integration

If you integrate directly with the ICEPAY Checkout API, create a refund for an existing payment using:

POST /api/payments/{key}/refund

A refund request contains:

Field	Required	Description
reference	Yes	Your reference for the refund.
description	No	A description or reason for the refund.
amount.value	Yes	Amount to refund in minor currency units.

The currency does not need to be supplied. ICEPAY uses the currency of the original payment.

For example:

{
  "reference": "RFD-00069",
  "description": "Received chocolate dip instead of sprinkles",
  "amount": {
    "value": 299
  }
}

As with payment amounts, refund values use minor currency units.

For example:

Refund amount	API value
€0.01	1
€2.99	299
€10.00	1000

Implementation examples

The Checkout API integration guide contains complete examples for creating a refund with the Checkout API.

Use that guide for authentication and implementation details.

Refund a payment with the Checkout API

See the API endpoint, request format, and implementation examples for creating refunds.

Identifying refunds

Every refund created through the Checkout API has its own unique refund key.

For example:

pr-01j1sr38kspvq2z5xek20y565w

This is separate from the original payment key:

pi-01j1sr24qph973tf3hgsvqe7h7

For custom integrations, store the refund key with your own refund record.

You can also supply your own refund reference to associate the refund with your internal system.

Refund references are not unique

ICEPAY does not treat the refund reference as a unique identifier.

Use the ICEPAY refund key when you need to identify a specific refund unambiguously.

Tracking refund updates

When a payment has refunds, its payment representation contains a refunds array.

For example:

{
  "refunds": [
    {
      "key": "pr-01j1sr38kspvq2z5xek20y565w",
      "status": "completed",
      "amount": {
        "value": 299,
        "currency": "eur"
      },
      "description": "Received chocolate dip instead of sprinkles",
      "reference": "RFD-00069"
    }
  ]
}

If several refunds have been created for the same payment, the array contains multiple refund entries.

Refund webhooks

When an API refund changes to completed, ICEPAY sends an update to the webhookUrl configured on the original payment.

The webhook contains the payment together with its current refunds array.

Building a custom integration?

Treat each refund as a separate record and track its ICEPAY refund key and status.

Because the webhook can contain multiple refunds, do not assume that every entry represents a newly completed refund.

Compare the incoming refunds with the refund states already stored in your application and make any follow-up action idempotent.

Using refunds with a ready-made integration

If your e-commerce integration supports refunds directly, it may allow you to start the refund from the order in your store.

In that case, the integration normally handles:

• identifying the original ICEPAY payment;
• creating the refund;
• sending the correct amount;
• keeping the refund or order state synchronised.

You should generally use the refund functionality provided by your integration instead of manually creating a second refund for the same order in the ICEPAY Portal.

Avoid refunding the same amount twice

If a refund was already initiated through your store, check its status before creating another refund manually in the ICEPAY Portal.

Multiple partial refunds are supported, so a second refund may be interpreted as an additional refund rather than a retry of the first one.

What this means for you

If you manage payments in the ICEPAY Portal

You can create full or partial refunds from the original payment and follow their status from the Portal.

Keep in mind that:

• a refund may first remain pending;
• a completed refund may take additional time to reach the customer;
• refund processing differs between payment methods;
• pending refunds can be cancelled;
• the total of multiple refunds cannot exceed the refundable payment amount.

If you use a ready-made integration

Use the refund functionality provided by your e-commerce integration when it is available.

The integration normally handles the technical communication with ICEPAY, while you can manage the refund from the order in your store.

If you build a custom integration

Your integration should:

• associate refunds with the original payment;
• store the unique ICEPAY refund key;
• use minor currency units for refund amounts;
• keep each refund’s status separately;
• process refund updates from the original payment’s webhook;
• handle multiple refunds on the same payment;
• make refund-related webhook processing idempotent;
• not treat your own refund reference as a unique ICEPAY identifier.

Continue reading

Payment methods

Learn how refund behaviour differs between payment methods.

Disputes & Chargebacks

Understand payment and financial statuses and how they change.