Crypto payments work differently than traditional payments. The sections below outline payment scenarios specific to crypto payments.
It is important to remember that crypto payments are final. Once a payment is sent, it cannot be reversed.
Completed
The customer sent the correct amount of funds, the transaction has received the minimum necessary blockchain confirmations and the amount sent has been converted to the requested fiat settlement currency (if applicable).
Underpayment
The customer sent a lesser amount of funds than the requested amount. This can occur for various reasons, such as inputting the payment amount incorrectly, incorrect calculation of fees (by the customer's wallet or exchange) or a software error.
An underpaid payment is considered incomplete: crypto is not converted and the merchant's account is not credited. The customer is prompted to provide their email address and will receive information on how to reclaim their underpaid amount.
Overpayment
The customer sent a greater amount of funds than the requested amount. This can occur for various reasons, such as inputting the payment amount incorrectly, incorrect calculation of fees (by the customer's wallet or exchange) or a software error.
An overpaid payment is considered complete; crypto required to credit the merchant's account is converted and the overpaid amount is left unconverted. The customer is prompted to provide their email address and will receive information on how to reclaim their overpaid amount.
Invalid Payment
The customer sent funds and there was an issue with the payment. In most cases, this is due to funds arriving after the payment quote has expired.
An invalid payment is considered incomplete. If/when the transaction receives necessary blockchain confirmations, the crypto is not converted and the merchant's account is not credited. At the time the quote expires, the customer is prompted to provide their email address and will receive information on how to reclaim their invalid payment.
Refund
When a customer requests a refund following a completed purchase, merchants may issue a partial refund or full refund. Merchants must have sufficient funds in their account in order to initiate a refund. (If merchants have insufficient funds, they can complete additional transactions or make a deposit from a connected bank account.) Funds from the merchant's account are converted to the original payment cryptocurrency at the current exchange rate and the crypto is refunded to the consumer.
When a refund is issued, the consumer will receive a communication via email and/or SMS. They must then provide a compatible crypto wallet address for the asset to be refunded.
Refunds may also be automatically issued at the time of purchase as a result of underpayments, overpayments and invalid payments.
Payments may be non-refundable if the cost to send the refund transaction is higher than the refund amount.
Custom Integration Refunds
In the event of an overpayment, underpayment or invalid payment, Bead makes every attempt to issue a refund to the customer on behalf of the merchant (remember, these are still customer funds and not merchant funds). If a customer email is not submitted with the Create Payment API request, the customer will be prompted to provide their email address within Bead Hosted Payment Page UI.
In some scenarios, customers may miss or skip their opportunity to request a refund from the Bead hosted payment page UI.
If you have any questions on refunds or how to best present this to your merchants and/or their consumers, please contact us at developers@beadpay.io.
