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Refund

The Acquiring Service Provider (ACQP) can refund a payment by using the refund API or the Alipay+ Partner Workspace. The refund service is only applicable to a transaction that has been successfully paid.

The following list introduces more information about the refund service that is provided by Alipay+:

  • Refund expiration period: You (the ACQP) can invoke a refund any time after the transaction is successfully paid and before the refund period expires. The refund expiration period is usually one calendar year, starting from when the initial payment is made. However, for transactions within the agreed cancellable period, it is recommended that you initiate a cancellation (regardless of the payment status) instead of a refund. Also, If the original payment was successfully cancelled, you cannot initiate a refund request.The refund request cannot be revoked once initiated.
  • Refundable amount: Alipay+ supports full refunds, partial refunds, and multiple partial refunds. For a single transaction, the total amount of multiple partial refunds cannot exceed the original amount paid by the user.
  • Currency conversion: Alipay+ uses a fixed Foreign Exchange Rate for refunds. A transaction is refunded using the same Foreign Exchange Rate as when the transaction is paid.
  • Fee items and settlement: After a refund succeeds, the interchange fee (also known as the Interpartner fee) is refundable, while the service fee is non-refundable. After Alipay+ processes your refund request, the refund is settled in real-time by transferring funds from your credits to the payer's digital wallet or bank card. Refund transactions are included in the clearing and settlement files. Note that the current policies on fee items are subject to adjustment according to Alipay+ Core Rules.
  • Refund methods: If you want to refund the payment through the refund API, see Call the refund API for instructions. If you want to refund the payment through Alipay+ Partner Workspace, see Refund payment on Alipay+ Partner Workspace for instructions.

How to refund a payment

Call the refund API

You can call the refund API to refund a payment. You can confirm whether the refund succeeds by the synchronous result returned by Alipay+.

Processing logic

When using the refund API, you need to take the following things into consideration:

  • The parameter refundRequestId is idempotent and must be unique.
  • The value of the refundAmount parameter, or the total value of the refundAmount parameters in multiple partial refund requests, cannot exceed the value of the paymentAmount parameter in the pay API request.
  • You might receive different results from Alipay+, follow the instructions below to handle the result:

result.resultStatus

result.resultCode

Refund status

Actions

S

SUCCESS

Successful

Update the status from the merchant side.

F

...

Failed

Take actions according to the error code in Result/Error codes in API reference for refund.

U

...

Unknown

Use the same parameters to retry the refund request. It is recommended to keep trying for at least 1 hour. If you keep receiving the same result indicating the unknown status, contact connect_support@service.alipay.com.

No result received after trying several times

Unknown

Contact connect_support@service.alipay.com.

Sample

The following sample shows the request and response when you call the refund API.

Request from the ACQP to Alipay+

The ACQP sends a request with the parameters refundRequestId and refundAmount:

copy
{
  "paymentRequestId": "pay_1089760038715669_102775745070000",
  "refundRequestId": "20200101234567890000",
  "refundAmount": {
    "value": "100",
    "currency": "JPY"
  },
  "refundReason": "refund reason"
}

Response from Alipay+ to the ACQP

The ACQP receives a response indicating a successful refund:

copy
{
  "acquirerId": "1111088000000000000",
  "pspId": "1022172000000000000",
  "result": {
    "resultCode": "SUCCESS",
    "resultStatus": "S",
    "resultMessage": "success"
  },
  "refundAmount": {
    "value": "100",
    "currency": "JPY"
  },
  "refundId": "20200101234567890130000",
  "refundTime": "2020-10-10T12:01:01+08:30",
  "settlementAmount": {
    "value": "9000",
    "currency": "USD"
  },
  "settlementQuote": {
    "quoteCurrencyPair": "JPY/USD",
    "quoteExpiryTime": "2021-06-02T13:15:48+08:00",
    "quoteId": "046793306919850000",
    "quotePrice": "0.9",
    "quoteStartTime": "2021-05-30T13:15:48+08:00"
  }
}

Refund payment on Alipay+ Partner Workspace

You can also refund a payment on Alipay+ Partner Workspace, which is a portal provided by Alipay+ for Partners to manage their use of Alipay+. For more information about the step-by-step instructions, see How to initiate a refund on Alipay+ Partner Workspace.

Related links

For more information about how to use the refund API (such as the field description), see refund.