Refund timing guidelines
Debit card payments can only be refunded on the same day as the original payment.
If you process a refund before 7pm on the day the payment was made, the refund will be instant.
If you process a refund after 7pm, or the following day, your customer will receive their money within 5–7 working days.
✨ Please note: If you request a refund for a payment on the same day that the payment is made, your customer's bank account will simply show their original balance, as if no payment was made. That's because when a customer makes a payment, a temporary hold is placed on the payment amount in their bank account. But, as soon as a same-day refund is requested, the hold on this amount is cancelled before the bank has had time to process the payment. The payment and the refund will still reflect in your Sales history in the Yoco App.
Full refunds
It’s quick and easy to give full refunds from the Yoco App (mobile or web), and POS App, as well as directly from the Yoco Khumo, Khumo Print, and Neo Touch card machines.
💸 Refunds can only be successfully processed if you have sufficient funds in your Yoco balance (i.e. your pending payout amount) to cover them. Not sure what your current balance is? Check it here.
Processing refunds from the Yoco App
Log in to the Yoco App (mobile or web), or POS App.
Select the Sales tab.
Select Sales history.
Find the sale you want to refund and click on it to view the Sale details.
Click the Refund quick action button.
Click Continue to confirm that you want to proceed with the refund.
7. Choose a reason for the refund (this is for your reference only), then select Request refund – make sure you’re ready because refunds can’t be undone!
8. The refund will appear as a new transaction in your Sales history. The original transaction will now show the refunded amount and its status will change from 'Approved' to 'Refunded'.
Processing refunds from your Yoco card machine
Go to the Sales history on your Yoco Khumo, Khumo Print, or Neo Touch.
Find the sale you want to refund and select it to view the Sale details.
Select Refund, and enter the refund PIN that has been sent to your phone.
Choose a reason for the refund (this is for your reference only).
Select Refund – make sure you’re ready because refunds can’t be undone!
The refund will appear as a new transaction in your Sales history. The original transaction will now show the refunded amount and its status will change from 'Approved' to 'Refunded'.
💡Good to know: Your refund will take a few seconds to process. Once it’s done, the on-screen message will change to ‘Refund Failed’ or ‘Refund Approved’. If the ‘Refund Processing’ message doesn’t change, refresh your screen and you should see the refund status.
💵 What about cash refunds? If you’re refunding a cash payment from the Yoco App (mobile or web), POS App or your Yoco card machine, process a refund as normal, then hand the cash over to your customer.
Partial refunds
From time to time, you may need to issue a partial refund. For example, you may have decided not to charge shipping or delivery fees, or your customer might have returned some of the items they ordered.
Partial refunds can be issued from the Yoco App (mobile or web), the Yoco Checkout API, and the WooCommerce and Shopify Admin portals. They are not currently supported on the Yoco POS App or Wix, however Wix transactions can be partially refunded from the Yoco App.
✨ Partial refunds can be processed for any order that has been paid for with a Visa, MasterCard or Amex card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. They are not currently supported for instant EFT.
Processing partial refunds from the Yoco App
Log in to the Yoco App (mobile or web).
Select the Sales tab.
Select Sales history.
Find the sale you want to refund and select it.
Click the Refund quick action button.
Select Continue to confirm that you want to proceed with the refund.
Click Change amount and enter the amount you wish to refund.
Choose a reason for the refund (this is for your reference only).
Click Request refund.
The refund will appear as a new transaction in your Sales history. The original transaction will now show the refunded amount and its status will change from 'Approved' to 'Refunded'.
Processing partial refunds from your Yoco card machine
Go to the Sales history on your Yoco Neo Touch, Khumo or Khumo Print.
Find the sale you want to refund and select it to view the Transaction detail.
Select the Refund tile.
Enter the refund PIN that has been sent to the mobile number linked to your Yoco profile and select the blue button with the tick.
5. Tap the Partial refund button.
6. Enter the amount you'd like to refund.
7. Choose a reason for the refund (this is for your reference only).
8. Press Refund – make sure that you’re ready because refunds can’t be undone!
9. The refund will appear as a new transaction in your Sales history. The original transaction will now show the refunded amount and its status will change from 'Approved' to 'Refunded'.
✨ Please note: Partial refunds apply to amounts, not specific products. If you're using stock tracking, you'll need adjust your stock levels manually.
Processing partial refunds from Yoco Checkout API integration
Follow these steps to modify your Checkout API integration:
Update your Checkout refund request to support a nullable ’amount’ field, as explained here. If the amount is null, the full remaining refundable balance will be refunded.
Once the integration is done, do a test payment of R5.00, then try to refund R2.00 or more.
Processing partial refunds from WooCommerce Admin
Log in to your WooCommerce website admin.
Go to WooCommerce > Orders to find the order you want to refund.
View the Order Details page and click Refund.
Select which item(s) you want to refund (these are editable).
Click Refund Rx.xx via Yoco Payments.
Click Ok to confirm that you’d like to proceed.
The order status will reflect as refunded.
Processing partial refunds from Shopify Admin
Log in to your Shopify Admin portal.
Go to Orders and find the one you want to issue a partial refund for.
Click Refund and enter the refund amount or, if the order has more than one item, select which items(s) you want to refund.
Enter a reason for the refund and click Refund.
Partial refunds with Products
Partial refunds are currently done at an order level, meaning that your stock inventory won’t automatically update when you issue a partial refund.
For example, if a customer purchases two units of Product A and returns one, you can process a refund for one unit of Product A, but you’ll need to manually adjust the available stock of Product A in the Yoco App.
Click here to read our stock management guide.
Refund troubleshooting
Having trouble with your refunds? Don't worry, we've got your back!
Refund request failed
There are three reasons you might see this error message while trying to process a refund.
1. Insufficient funds
Refunds often don’t succeed because your pending Yoco payout balance is too low to cover the refund amount (remember that we pay you out at the end of every day).
When this happens, you can do one of the following:
Wait for new sales to come in and once your balance is enough to cover the refund amount, the system will automatically issue the refund.
EFT the refund amount directly to your client – just make sure to let us know so that we can cancel the pending refund on our side.
Start a conversation with our Support Team via our in-app chat.
✨ Avoid your refund request failing due to insufficient funds – check your Yoco balance here.
2. Connectivity issues
Another reason your refund request may not be succeeding is network or internet connection issues. If you think this may be the problem, try:
Switching to your WiFi or SIM network.
Processing the refund from the Yoco Web/Mobile App.
3. Bank-related matters
Just like normal transactions, refunds depend on the cardholder’s bank accepting and processing them. Here are some of the most common reasons a refund request might fail:
The bank card used to pay for the original transaction doesn't allow for refunds (this is more common with debit and international cards).
The bank account linked to the bank card used doesn't allow for refunds.
The bank account/card used has been stopped/frozen.
The original transaction has already been refunded.
The original transaction was never approved.
The original transaction is older than 90 days.
Refund PIN error
When refunds are done on Yoco card machines, a refund PIN is sent via SMS to the mobile number linked to your profile as a special security measure.
If you’re not receiving the PIN, make sure that the correct mobile number is linked to your profile and update it, if necessary.
Alternatively, you can try doing the refund from the Yoco Mobile/Web App using your admin login details.
💸 Need a refund for your Yoco card machine? Open the Yoco App (mobile or web) and ask to speak to a consultant via chat – our specialists are ready to guide you through the device refund process and help with any questions you have. For fastest assistance, please have your purchase details ready. Read more about our Shipping Returns policy here.