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Customers say a card refund has not arrived, and the business has only an internal refund ID that the customer's bank cannot use to search.
Once the acquiring bank sends a card refund into the network it attaches an ARN; sharing the ARN lets the card issuer find and confirm the refund.
Refund register holding refund ID, payment ID, payment mode, date processed and ARN, refreshed a few days after processing when the ARN appears.
Card refund queries answered with an ARN the customer's bank can trace, and refunds matched to settlement deductions and credit notes.
The ARN, or Acquirer Reference Number, is a tracking number that the merchant’s acquiring bank attaches to a card refund as it sends it back through the card network. With the ARN, the customer’s bank (the issuing bank) can find that exact refund and say when it was credited. It is the most useful number to give a customer chasing a card refund.
The acquiring bank is the bank that processes card payments for the merchant, usually through the payment gateway. The issuing bank is the bank that issued the customer’s card.
Where do I find the ARN, and why is it blank for the first few days?
Look in the refund details in your gateway dashboard, next to the refund ID. Many gateways also include the ARN in refund reports and in the refund notification to the customer.
It is often blank at first because the ARN does not exist until the acquiring bank actually sends the refund into the card network. That can be a day or more after you click “refund”. Until then, the only reference is the gateway’s own refund ID. Check again after a few working days.
Which reference should be used for which refund?
| Reference | Payment mode | Who issues it | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refund ID | All modes | Payment gateway | You and the gateway’s support team |
| ARN | Card refunds | Acquiring bank | The customer’s card issuer, the gateway, you |
| UPI reference | UPI refunds | UPI network and banks | The customer’s bank and UPI app |
| Bank reference | Net banking refunds | The bank sending the refund | The customer’s bank |
Worked example: a ₹2,350 card refund
- Thursday 1 October: you refund ₹2,350 on order ORD-20981. The gateway creates refund ID rfnd_7Qp… Status: initiated.
- Friday 2 October: status is processed. ARN field is blank.
- Monday 5 October: the ARN appears in the refund details. ARNs for card refunds are long numeric strings; the exact length depends on the card network.
- Thursday 8 October: the customer says the refund is not on their card. You send them the ARN, the refund amount and the date processed.
The customer calls their card issuer and says: “I am expecting a refund of ₹2,350 from this merchant, processed on 2 October. The ARN is the number below.” The issuer finds it and confirms it will appear on the next statement, or that it was already credited.
In your books, the ₹2,350 should appear as a deduction in a settlement after 1 October, matched to your credit note. If that settlement had ₹58,000 gross and this was its only refund, the gross after refunds is ₹55,650 before fees. Check: ₹58,000 minus ₹2,350 is ₹55,650. If the gateway charges an illustrative 2% fee on the ₹58,000 of payments (₹1,160) plus 18% GST on that fee (₹208.80), the bank credit is ₹54,281.20. Check: ₹55,650 minus ₹1,160 minus ₹208.80 is ₹54,281.20.
The reference values above are illustrative.
Is an ARN the same as a UTR or an RRN?
No. All three are bank-side references, but each tracks something different.
- RRN (retrieval reference number): identifies one customer payment on a card or UPI network.
- UTR (unique transaction reference): identifies a bank transfer such as NEFT, RTGS or IMPS, including the gateway’s settlement to you.
- ARN (acquirer reference number): identifies a card refund travelling back to the customer.
If a customer gives you an ARN, look it up in your gateway’s refunds. If they give you an RRN or UPI reference, look it up in payments.
Using the ARN to match refunds
At month end, every refund should tie three ways: credit note in your books, refund line in a settlement, and ARN (or UPI reference) in the refund record. Disputes need the same discipline, which the chargeback guide covers.
What to read next
- Next in this series: A customer raised a chargeback and the gateway debited my settlement
- Refund reconciliation for payment gateways
- Chargeback reconciliation
- Order ID, payment ID, RRN, UTR and ARN: which is which?
- Payment gateway reconciliation
Payment-gateway settlement reconciliation is on the TransactIG roadmap.
Content authored by practitioners with experience at Amazon India, Intuit QuickBooks, and the Tata Group. Meet the team →