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Q: Can a transaction be refunded if the original card used has expired or been replaced?
A: If a card expires and is re-issued with a new expiration date, typically this will not prevent refund processing; the account number is the same and the payment gateway considers it the same card; expiration dates can be validated for payments but they are not validated for refunds. If a card has been canceled or re-issued due to fraud such that the card number has changed, then the original account is no longer activeStripe handles refunds a little differently than other processors. Previously, there was a good chance that a card that had been re-issued, either because of a expiration or fraud, would not accept a refund. Stripe has a mechanism called Automatic Card Updater that works with payment networks to automatically update cards on file in these cases so that recurring transactions and refunds will work even if the card number has changed, but whether this mechanism catches any particular card depends upon the issuer. In practical terms, this means that refunds are less likely to be declined; however, when declines do happen, they may not happen right away, because Stripe makes an attempt to reconcile any updates to the card that inLeague may not be aware of. If it is unsuccessful, a refund that had been flagged as processed will be voided, and inLeague will attempt to notify the party that issued the refund and the party responsible for the charge.
It is not possible to issue a refund to an entirely separate card (called an 'un-linked credit'). Neither Stripe nor inLeague support un-linked credits.
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