💡 Important to know:
To access Payments and features, log in > Payments page.
How long do I have to process a refund?
You must process refunds within 7 days after check-out.Guest credit card details are deleted from the platform 7 days after check-out, and cannot be recovered. This is in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for your guests’ data security.
How long do I have to process a refund for a virtual credit card?
When a guest pays using a virtual credit card, many booking channels allow refunds up to 60 or 90 days after the payment.
What are the fees for processing a refund?
Processing a refund through the SiteMinder Payments gateway incurs a small fee (also charged for processing a payment). Third-party payment gateways charge their own fees. about .
How long does it take for a refund to arrive in a guest’s bank account?
Refund transactions are sent immediately but the transaction can take a few days to arrive in the guest’s bank account, depending on their country and bank account. For example, in Australia these transactions can take up to 10 days.
The guest may not see the refund on their bank statement in some scenarios:
If the refund appears as a reversal - the original payment will be removed from their bank statement.
If it is refunded within the authorisation period of the payment - the original payment will be adjusted to a lower amount (for a partial refund), or to zero (for a full refund). The transaction may be marked as “Pending” on their bank statement.
You may want to provide proof to a guest that a refund has been made. See the next section.
How can a guest verify that a refund has been made?
If the payment was made using MasterCard or Visa, you can find an Acquirer reference number in the transaction details to provide to your guest. This allows them to contact their bank to ask for the status of the refund.
Can I cancel a refund?
Refunds cannot be cancelled.
What happens if I refund an expired or cancelled credit card?
If the guest’s credit card is expired or cancelled, the refund will be automatically sent to their new credit card if one exists. In the rare case that they do not have a new credit card, their bank will usually send the refund to their bank account.
Why was money deducted from my bank account?
If you make a refund but the Account balance in your Payments account doesn’t have enough funds for this, the amount may be automatically drawn from your bank account. This feature is called .
What happens if my account balance becomes negative?
If you make a refund but the Account balance in your Payments account does not have enough funds for this, the refund will usually still be made, but your account balance will become negative. If your account balance becomes too negative, you won’t be able to make any more refunds until you transfer money into your account.
There are several ways to do this:
If “Auto top up” is enabled, then funds from your bank account will be automatically transferred to your account.
When you receive future payments, these will cover the negative balance.
Or, you can manually transfer funds to your account by contacting our Support team. They may ask for the Reservation IDs of the reservations you have refunded.
Why am I unable to refund even though my account balance is not negative?
This could occur if the funds are currently being paid out to your bank account. Wait a few hours and then attempt to make the refund again. If that doesn’t work, you can contact our Support team. They may be able to increase the negative limit on your account balance.