# Refunds and Chargebacks

How refunds are triggered, who is in the flow of funds, and where liability sits.

## Refunds

A refund happens when the customer cancels the transaction, when Banxa cancels due to unacceptable risk (fraud, AML, sanctions), or when enhanced verification is not completed by the customer. High-risk cancellations are immediate; incomplete-verification cases can have a delay between payment and refund.

- Refunds are always for the full amount, returned to the original payment method. Partial refunds are not supported.
- You are never in the flow of funds: the customer paid Banxa, Banxa refunds the customer, and no crypto is delivered.
- You are notified via a `cancelled` webhook when Banxa initiates a refund. How quickly the customer sees funds returned depends on their card issuer.


Crypto is irrevocable
Once crypto has been delivered on-chain, the transaction cannot be reversed. Refunds only apply to orders cancelled before delivery.

For fraud-flagged cancellations, no funds are captured; the customer may see a temporary authorisation hold that reverts per their bank's normal timeframe.

## Chargebacks

- Banxa, as merchant of record, handles and contests chargebacks. Partners are not in the flow of funds and do not absorb chargeback costs.
- A customer can raise a chargeback on an accepted payment within 120 days.
- Customers cannot contest a payment that Banxa declined or refunded.
- There is no chargeback webhook or API endpoint. When a chargeback is processed you receive a `cancelled` webhook and a note appears in the merchant dashboard. Periodic chargeback CSV reports are available on request.


The disclaimer requirement exists to reduce chargebacks: see [Third-Party Disclaimer](/products/hosted-checkout/docs/getting-started/required-disclaimer).

## Common reasons orders fail

- Bank or issuer decline, including insufficient funds
- Failed 3DS card authentication
- Name or date-of-birth mismatch against the ID document, routing the order to manual review
- Fraud, PEP, or sanctions screening
- Order expiry: payment not received within the payment window


When escalating a failed order to support, provide the order key and, if possible, the customer email.