Before You Begin:
- Confirm you have permission to process refunds in your GrowthZone software.
- Have the original purchase details ready, including how the dues were distributed among the local, state, and national associations.
- Review the appropriate refund procedure for your payment method: see Process Refunds - Credit Card Processing - Integrated or Process Refunds - ACH - Integrated.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- If needed, you can easily process refunds from your GrowthZone software. Choose the refund procedure that matches the original payment method: see Process Refunds - Credit Card Processing - Integrated or Process Refunds - ACH - Integrated.
- Before processing, review the important NAR Ecommerce constraint on debiting another association's bank account:
IMPORTANT: Contractually, the Ecommerce network will not allow one association to automatically debit the bank account of another association. For example, the ABC Local Association cannot initiate an ECommerce transaction that is going to debit the bank account of the XYZ State Association, or the National Association. So if the original transaction sent by the local association was used to distribute dues payments among the local, state and national, the local association using this request can only debit their own bank accounts. -
Follow the NAR E-Commerce recommended best practice when the original purchase was distributed across associations:
The original Purchase totaled $350. The distribution was $84 to National, $70 to state, and $196 to local. The local association (the original Association ID in the Purchase) could use this transaction to refund the member’s credit card the $350 total. The total will all come out of the local association’s bank. We recommend that the local contact their state and national association first to see if those two entities will agree to this refund. If they agree, then the state and national could then send an EFT transfer for the original net amount they received to the local’s bank account who could then use this transaction to refund the member’s credit card in total from the local association’s bank account. This is one way to credit the member’s credit card in whole rather than crediting the member’s credit card for just the local amount and then the local writes the member a check once the local receives the state and national dues back from those two entities.
Common Pitfalls
- Attempting to debit another association’s bank account: The Ecommerce network will not allow a local association to automatically debit the bank account of a state or national association. Coordinate an EFT transfer with the state and national associations first so the full refund can be issued from the local association’s bank account.