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Processing Transactions

  • Updated
  1. View Charges
  2. Capture an Authorized Charge
  3. Void an Authorized Charge
  4. Fully Refund a Charge
  5. Partially Refund a Charge

When a customer completes a checkout with Affirm as the payment method, Affirm authorizes a charge for the amount of the order. The order should automatically show up in your Order Management System (OMS) for many of our e-commerce platform partners, then automatically update the Affirm order status within the Merchant Dashboard.

You should be able to capture, cancel, and refund an Affirm order directly through your OMS and this is the recommended approach. If you prefer, you can also perform the same actions directly from the Merchant Dashboard.

Click here for more information about all the charge states. Note that when Affirm authorizes the charge, it enters a pending state in the customer's Affirm account. Authorized charges expire if you do not capture them before the capture time frame. If you did not specify your authorization timing requirements because of inventory, pre-orders, or shipping time in your onboarding form, please contact us.

 

Best Practices

  • Do clearly state your return policy on your website.
  • Do capture orders immediately after fulfillment and before authorization expiration.
  • Do not place an order or enter a customer's personal information on behalf of the customer.
  • Do not fulfill an order unless the charge is authorized.

 

Note: Voiding or Refunding a Charge

When you void or refund a charge or allow an authorized charge to expire, it's irreversible. The funds from that charge are released and cannot be reinstated. To obtain those funds again, the customer will have to complete payment via another payment method, or a new Affirm checkout; keeping in mind that there is no guarantee that they will qualify for the new amount when applying again.

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View Charges

When you sign in to the Merchant Dashboard, you  can view the most recent charges by selecting Charges from the sidebar to the left of the screen. You can search for charges by entering the Order ID, Loan ID, status, amount, customer email, customer name, or customer phone number in the search bar. When you click on a charge row, you can view the following:

  • Customer Name
  • Total charge amount
  • Charge status
  • Date of charge  Affirm Loan ID and Order ID Shopping cart description
  • Charge events 
  • Customer billing and shipping details

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Capture an Authorized Charge

Capturing a charge processes the authorized amount to the user's Affirm account and begins the customer's billing cycle. You must capture the charge prior to its authorization expiration date, after which, the funds will expire, and you will not be able to recapture it. You can find a charge's authorization expiration date by viewing the summary details. The default expiration period is 30 days.

  1. On the sidebar to the left of the main page, click Charges.
  2. Click on the charge row (the charge must be currently authorized).
  3. Click CAPTURE CHARGE.
  4. Click CAPTURE CHARGE again to confirm.

    01_Capture.png

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Void an Authorized Charge

If a charge has not been captured, you can cancel the authorization by voiding it. Voiding a charge is irreversible and Affirm is unable to reinstate those funds.

  1. On the sidebar to the left of the main page, click Charges.
  2. Click on the charge row (the charge must be currently authorized).
  3. Click VOID CHARGE.
  4. Click VOID CHARGE again to confirm.

    02_Void.jpeg

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Fully Refund a Charge

If you have already captured a charge, you can reverse the capture by refunding the full amount to the customer's Affirm account. Refunding a charge from the Merchant Dashboard can only be completed within 400 days from the date of the charge.  You will not be able to refund a charge after 400 days from the date of the charge. If you need to process a refund beyond this window, please reach out to Merchant Care for assistance.

All refunds will be processed to the original form of payment within 3 to 10 business days of the refund. A full refund issued after a customer has submitted payments will result in Affirm only refunding the paid principal. Affirm does not refund interest that has already been paid. The customer still owes the interest that accrued during the time the loan was confirmed.

Refunds may not happen immediately, so make sure you only process the refund once. Refunding a charge is irreversible.  

  1. On the sidebar to the left of the main page, click Charges.
  2. Click on the charge row (the charge must be currently captured).
  3. Enter the amount to be refunded or leave the Refund Amount blank.
  4. Click REFUND.
  5. Click REFUND again to confirm.

    03_Refund_1.png

    04_Refund_2.png

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Partially Refund a Charge

If you have already captured a charge, you can reverse part of the charge by  refunding  the specified amount to the customer's Affirm account. Refunding a charge from the Merchant Dashboard can only be completed within 400 days from the date of the charge. If you need to process a refund beyond this window, please reach out to Merchant Care for assistance. 

The partial refund will be applied to the final monthly bill of a customer's loan. If the refund amount is higher than the final monthly bill, Affirm will apply any overage to the preceding month, and so on. Payment amounts will not be updated from the original terms.  

All refunds will be processed to the original form of payment within 3 to 10 business days of the refund. Refunds may not happen immediately, so make sure you only process the refund once. Refunding a charge is irreversible.

  1. On the sidebar to the left of the main page, click Charges.
  2. Click on the charge row (the charge must be currently captured).
  3. Enter the specified amount of the refund into Refund Amount.
  4. Click REFUND CHARGE.
  5. Click REFUND CHARGE again to confirm.

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