Why this matters
Refunds are easy when you pick the right path. The quickest way to decide is to identify how the original payment was taken—then follow the matching refund method.
What’s the challenge
If the original payment was via Mews Payments (online), you can refund in-app on the payment item, see How to refund a credit card Terminal payment help article.
If it was via Terminal, refund on the terminal and record it in Mews. If it was an External payment (e.g., wire), record a negative external payment in Mews—funds move outside the system.
Quick decision guide
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If the payment shows an Identifier/Status and “three dots” action in Mews, it’s a Mews Payments transaction—use refund from the payment action menu; partial refunds are supported where applicable. Refer to the Take a payment (how to identify methods and handle failures) help article.
*Note: any refunds or transactions without an identifier will have been processed externally, not through Mews Payments - more on this here -
If it was a Terminal payment, run the refund on your terminal, then post the terminal refund in Mews as a negative amount on the Terminal tab to mirror the real-world refund. Refer to the How to refund in Mews guide.
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If it was an External payment, reflect the refund by posting an External payment with a negative amount (funds leave your bank via your normal process, and Mews mirrors it for accounting completeness). This guide gives step by step on this: How to refund an external payment.
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Chargebacks are handled by the Mews risk team. Here’s information on how to get their help with processing a chargeback: Chargeback FAQs
Helpful links
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(Background) External/terminal handling in API and docs: https://mews-systems.gitbook.io/connector-api/operations/payments
👉 Check out the Mews University course on payments here for a closer look at this topic: Payments: Cash or credit? How to process payments in Mews : Mews💡