Refunds in crypto: what to do when a customer asks for their money back

With cards, a bank can reverse a payment. On a blockchain a confirmed transfer cannot be reversed by anyone, including the gateway. So a crypto refund is a new transfer that you decide to make.

Write the policy first

• State when a refund is possible and how long the customer has to ask.
• Say in which asset you refund: usually USDT, the same dollar amount you received.
• Say who bears the network fee of the refund.

How to refund

Ask the customer for the address to send the refund to. Do not assume the sending address is theirs: a payment sent from an exchange comes from an exchange address that you cannot send to. Then pay out from your balance to that address. On CryBit, payouts go to a USDT TRC-20 address, so ask for a TRC-20 address. Keep the order_id, the invoice uuid and the refund transaction id together.

AML returns are different

If an incoming transfer is flagged as high risk, CryBit does not credit it to the merchant. The funds are returned to the sender minus the network fee, and the sender of the risky funds bears that fee. This is not a merchant refund and you do not have to do anything.

Prevent the need for refunds

• Show the exact amount and the network on your checkout.
• Use the invoice lifetime: an expired invoice is easier to handle than a late transfer.
• Confirm the order only when the invoice is paid.