Refunds & Cancellations Policy

This document sets out FLOWA PAY INC.'s policy position and control objectives, published for transparency and to support institutional due diligence. It is reviewed periodically and does not constitute legal advice. FLOWA PAY INC. makes no representation that it holds any licence, authorisation or certification except the FINTRAC Money Services Business registration expressly stated in the Regulatory Disclosures.

This policy sets out how refunds and cancellations are handled on payments processed through the Flowa Pay platform. It applies to FLOWA PAY INC., to merchants using the platform, and to the end customers of those merchants.

Who refunds whom. Flowa Pay provides the payment technology and orchestration layer. The commercial relationship for a purchase is between the end customer and the merchant, and the merchant's own refund terms govern whether a particular purchase is refundable. Flowa Pay executes refunds instructed by the merchant and does not adjudicate the underlying commercial dispute.

Every merchant accepting payments through the platform must:

• publish clear refund, cancellation and return terms that are available to the customer before payment is completed;
• state the currency of the transaction and whether any charge is recurring, including the amount and frequency of future charges;
• honour those published terms, and applicable consumer-protection law in the markets served;
• process a refund without undue delay once it has been agreed or is required by law or card-scheme rules;
• provide a working support contact so customers can request a refund before escalating to a dispute.

Failure to meet these obligations is a breach of the merchant's agreement and may result in suspension under our Acceptable Use Policy.

A refund is initiated by the merchant against the original payment, through the dashboard or the API, in full or in part. Refunds are returned to the original payment instrument wherever the method supports it.

• Cards. The refund is submitted against the original authorisation and returned to the card used. The customer's bank controls when the credit appears on the statement, which is commonly several business days after we submit it.
• Bank and account-to-account payments. A refund is a new outbound payment to the originating account rather than a reversal. It carries its own lifecycle, timing and failure modes, and it follows the clearing cycle and cut-offs of the rail used.
• Wallets. Refunds follow the underlying funding instrument, which is usually the tokenized card behind the wallet.
• Local and alternative methods. Some methods do not support refunds at all, or support them only within a limited window. Where that is the case it is identified before the method is enabled for the merchant.

Partial refunds, multiple partial refunds against one payment, and refunds of a cancelled authorisation prior to capture are all supported where the method permits.

Flowa Pay submits an instructed refund promptly. The time for funds to reach the customer is determined by the payment method, the receiving institution and the relevant clearing cycle, not by Flowa Pay. We do not publish a guaranteed arrival time, because it is not within our control and a figure we cannot stand behind is worse than none.

Where a refund cannot be completed on the original instrument, for example because the card account is closed, the merchant is notified and an alternative route must be arranged by the merchant with its customer.

Refunds are deducted from merchant settlement. Each refund appears as its own itemised line on the settlement statement and is linked to the original transaction, so gross, deductions and net remain explainable to the cent. Where refund volume exceeds amounts due to be settled, the shortfall becomes payable by the merchant under its agreement.

Processing fees already incurred on the original transaction may not be returned, depending on the method, the acquiring route and the commercial terms in the merchant's order. This is stated in the merchant's agreement rather than assumed.

Where a payment has been authorised but not yet captured, it can be cancelled, releasing the reservation on the customer's funds. The time for the reservation to disappear from the customer's statement is set by the issuer.

For recurring arrangements, the merchant must make cancellation straightforward and must stop charging once a customer cancels. A customer may also be able to withdraw a mandate or standing authority with their own bank or card issuer; where that happens, subsequent charges will fail and must not be re-attempted.

Nothing in this policy limits rights a customer has under applicable consumer-protection law, under card-scheme rules, or under the merchant's own published terms, whichever gives the greater protection.

If you are an end customer, contact the merchant you purchased from first: they hold the commercial relationship and can issue the refund directly. If you cannot resolve it with the merchant, see our Chargebacks & Dispute Management Policy and our Complaints Handling Procedure.

Fees charged by FLOWA PAY INC. to a merchant are governed by that merchant's order and commercial agreement. Platform fees are not consumer purchases and are not subject to a consumer cooling-off period, because the services are supplied to businesses for business purposes.

Merchants should raise refund questions through their usual support route. End customers should contact the merchant first. Questions about this policy can be sent to hello@flowapay.co.