Why take so long to refund to card?

kristian12

I was just curious as the banks are blaming each other i had some money refunded to my Perm TSB visa debit card and 5 days later its still not showing and i was just wondering why it takes so long to refund when a debit is immediate

BuffyBot

It really depends on when the merchant processes the refund. Typically they may be done in batches. Debits aren't instant either: the authorisation may appear immediately but the transaction normally doesn't come through for a few days.

wmpdd3

I have aib and BOI visa debit cards. If I do a refund its usually at 8pm mon, tues or wednesday. The batch is done at 11pm.

With AIB it takes 4 working days for the money to show on internet banking and be available to spend.

With BOI, it takes 5 days.

I've given up using cards to go clothes shopping, if there's a slight chance of me needing a refund I bring cash.

kristian12

Thanks, it's just frustrating that if i use the card then the money is no longer available to me immediately and thats fine but if i have to get a refund onto it then it takes days to become available again so if the system is in place to debit surely it can be engineered to credit as well.

wmpdd3

You'd think wouldnt you?

Esp now as online banking can update instantly when you make a POS transaction.

sept09baby

kristian12 wrote: »

Thanks, it's just frustrating that if i use the card then the money is no longer available to me immediately and thats fine but if i have to get a refund onto it then it takes days to become available again so if the system is in place to debit surely it can be engineered to credit as well.

Although it's debited from you straight away the money doesn't actually reach the merchant for a few days and the same happens in reverse.

For every transaction back and forth there is processing time for both the sending and receiving banks and depending on which banks are involved it's usually 3-5 days from start to finish