Refund a payment
Send all or part of a payment back to the member's card or bank account, choose whether to refund the processing fee, and know what happens to the balance and your payout.
A refund sends money a member paid through MyGreek back to the card or bank account they paid with. Only chapter admins can issue refunds, and only on the web. To lower what a member owes without sending money back, use a credit or adjustment instead. See Fix a member's balance.
Before you start
- You can only refund a payment that shows Succeeded. A bank payment still Pending can't be refunded until it succeeds.
- Cash, check, Venmo and Zelle payments recorded as credits can't be refunded through MyGreek, because no money went through MyGreek.
- If the charge type pays out to a separate merchant account, you need manager access to that account. Otherwise you'll see "You don't have access to manage [name] bills".
Steps
- Open Payments (or the member's Payments tab) and select the payment.
- In Payment Details, under Refunds, select Issue Refund.
- For each charge the payment covered, enter how much to refund. Each charge shows the amount remaining that you can still refund.
- If the member paid a convenience fee, choose whether to check Also refund processing fees (paid from your chapter account). See Refunding the processing fee.
- Check the summary: Total Refund, Includes processing fees and Remaining after refund.
- Optionally add a Reason (optional), up to 500 characters. The member sees it in their refund email.
- Select Issue Refund.
A message tells you whether the refund succeeded, is pending, or failed. The refund then shows under Refunds in the payment's details.
Full and partial refunds
- Full refund: enter the full remaining amount on every charge.
- Partial refund: enter less, or refund only some of the charges. You can refund the same payment again later, up to what's left on each charge.
Refunding the processing fee
The checkbox Also refund processing fees (paid from your chapter account) only appears when the member paid a convenience fee on top of the charge. It's checked by default.
| Choice | What the member gets back |
|---|---|
| Checked, full refund | Everything they paid, including the whole convenience fee. |
| Checked, partial refund | The refund amount plus the same share of the fee. Refunding half the charge returns half the fee. |
| Unchecked | Only the amount you entered. The refund shows Processing fees not refunded. |
For example, a member paid $104.48 by card for a $100.00 charge. A full refund with the box checked returns $104.48. A $50.00 refund with the box checked returns $52.24. With the box unchecked it returns $50.00.
As the checkbox says, your chapter pays for any fee you refund.
When you uncheck the box, the dialog warns "Fees withheld on this refund can't be refunded later." Each later refund only returns its own share of the fee, so you can't send the withheld part back through MyGreek afterwards.
See Choose who pays processing fees.
What happens next
- The charge is owed again. A refund adds the refunded amount back to what the member owes on that charge. If the member shouldn't owe it anymore, also adjust or archive the charge. See Fix a member's balance.
- Your payout is lower. The refund comes out of your next payout and shows in the payout's Refunds section. Refunded convenience fees show as Convenience fees refunded. If refunds are bigger than what members paid in that payout, the difference is withdrawn from your bank account. See See what's in a payout.
- The member is emailed. They get Refund Processed (or Refund Pending while it's still processing), with the amounts and your reason. If a parent or other payer made the payment, both the payer and the member are emailed. Refunds typically arrive within 5-10 business days, depending on the bank.
Refunding a bank payment
A refund to a bank account starts as Pending. When it finishes, the member gets Refund Processed and the refund shows Succeeded. The amount is owed again on the charge only once the refund succeeds. Card refunds usually succeed right away.
When a refund is declined
Sometimes the payment processor or the member's bank declines a refund. The refund shows Failed with the reason, nothing is sent back, and the member's balance stays as it was. The member is emailed: Refund Failed if it's declined right away, or Refund Declined if a pending refund is declined later. If a pending refund is declined later, chapter admins also get a Refund Declined email and a push notification (turned on with ACH Returns under Settings → Admin Notifications). Email support@mygreek.us if you need to get the money to the member another way.
Common questions
I reversed a late fee. Does the member get their money back?
No. Reversing a late fee lowers the charge but doesn't send money back. To return a late fee the member already paid, refund that amount on the payment, or add it as account credit. See Late fee removed: credit or refund?.
Can I refund in the mobile app?
No. Refunds are only on the web.
Can I refund more than the member paid?
No. You can refund up to what's left of the payment on each charge. To give a member extra money back, contact support@mygreek.us.
Related
Overview
See who paid, what's pending and what's still owed on the Payments page, and how card and bank payments, receipts, refunds and returns show up.
Returns & disputes
What happens when a member's bank sends back a bank payment (an ACH return) or a member disputes a card payment, what it costs your chapter, and what to do.