Once a transaction has been authorized, the merchant is granted permission to collect the funds to cover the cost. This permission cannot be revoked, but the merchant can choose not to complete the transaction or to refund it.
If a merchant chooses not to complete a transaction, they will do so either by initiating a reversal or simply allowing it to expire.
Reversals
A reversal, as the name suggests, will reverse the transaction as if it never happened. The purchase will no longer be visible on your Privacy Account and your funding source will not be debited for the purchase. If there is a hold for these funds still visible on your bank statement, it will be reversed at that time.
Expirations
A transaction will expire 7 days after the initial purchase is made. Similar to a reversal, the purchase will no longer be visible on your Privacy Account, and your funding source will not be debited for the purchase. If there is a hold for these funds visible on your bank statement, it will be reversed at that time.
In either of these cases, you won’t see a refund for the purchase because the purchase was not fully debited from your connected funding source.
If a merchant refunds your transaction, you’ll see it reflected in your connected funding source once the refund is received by Privacy.