As part of our partner onboarding and ongoing partner review processes, we ask all businesses who offer PayItMonthly to provide a clear and accessible refund policy. Following PayItMonthly becoming regulated by the FCA under the Temporary Permissions Regime on 15 July 2026, we introduced the requirement across all partners to support our regulatory oversight and understanding of customer-facing refund processes.  

‍

If you are a new partner, you will be asked for your refund policy during the onboarding process. Any existing partners have been or will be contacted via email to request a copy of their policy.  

‍

Providing PayItMonthly with your refund policy helps us to support customers when they raise an issue and enables us to answer customer queries more efficiently. We are not requesting your policy to provide guidance on its legal adequacy or content, as we do not offer legal advice. We review policies as part of our assessment of customer treatment and the processes businesses have in place for handling refund-related matters.  

‍

Our shared responsibilities and regulatory responsibilities

As a deferred payment (Buy Now Pay Later) credit provider, we have an interest in understanding how our partners handle refunds, returns, cancellations and customer complaints. In some circumstances, customer protections may apply that involve both the partner merchant and PayItMonthly as the credit provider. For this reason, it is important that we understand the customer-facing policies and processes of the businesses we work with. Reviewing refund policies also forms part of our broader assessment of customer outcomes, partner practices, and operational risk.

‍

Customer withdrawals (Section 66A) and Section 75 claims  

A clear refund policy is also important when customers seek to withdraw from a credit agreement within 14 days of signing the agreement under section 66A of the Consumer Credit Act. Many customers are under the assumption that cancelling a finance agreement also cancels the underlying purchase;, this is not always the case and the customer may be bound by the terms set out in your refund policy, so understanding your approach to refunds allows us to provide accurate information to customers, manage expectations, and support the efficient resolution of customer enquiries.

‍

In addition, refund policies can be relevant when we are considering claims under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. A clear understanding of the remedies available to customers, and the circumstances in which refunds, returns, replacements or repairs may be offered, helps us assess claims efficiently and ensure customers receive accurate and consistent information.

‍

Support customers efficiently

When customers contact us with questions about returns, cancellations, faulty goods, refunds, or non-delivery, we can direct them to the relevant information based on your published policy. This can help to reduce unnecessary delays and limits the need to contact you for routine enquiries.

‍

Understand the customer journey

A refund policy helps us understand what a customer should expect if something goes wrong with their purchase and how you intend to manage refund-related requests.

‍

Promote clear, consistent customer communications

We believe customers should be able to easily find information about refunds, returns, cancellations, and complaint handling before deciding to make a purchase. A clearly written policy helps set appropriate expectations and can reduce misunderstandings and disputes. It also ensures that customers, partners, and support teams are working from the same information when addressing refund-related enquiries.

‍

Reduce repeat enquiries

Where information is clearly available within a refund policy, customers can often find answers themselves without needing to contact either you or us. This benefits you, customers, and our support teams alike.

‍

What we look for when reviewing partner refund policies

When reviewing a refund policy, we would generally expect to see information covering the following areas:

‍‍

1: How Customers Can Request a Refund

• How customers can get in touch
• Any information required to support a request

‍

2: Cancellations

• Whether cancellations are permitted
• Any relevant limitations or exceptions, including time limits

‍‍

3: Returns

Where products are sold, the policy should explain:

• How returns can be initiated
• Any applicable time limits, costs or conditions

‍

4: Services and Digital Products

If services or digital products are sold, we would expect the policy to explain:

• How cancellation requests are managed
• Any limitations on refunds once services have started or digital content has been accessed
• Any specific processes that apply

‍

5: Faulty, Damaged or Incorrect Goods

• How customers can report issues
• The types of resolutions that may be available

‍

6: Non-Delivery

• How customers can report non-delivery
• The process for resolving claims  

‍‍

7: Refund Processing

• How approved refunds are issued
• Indicative timescales, where available
• How customers will be notified

‍

Our Approach

We do not prescribe a specific refund policy or commercial returns model.

Partners are free to determine their own operational processes and commercial offerings.

‍

However, we may request further information where a policy is unclear, incomplete, difficult to locate, or does not provide sufficient information for customers to understand how refund-related enquiries will be handled.

‍

Our aim is to ensure that customers receive clear information and that both merchants and PayItMonthly can support customer enquiries efficiently and consistently.

‍

What If You Do Not Have a Refund Policy?

If you do not currently have a refund policy in place, we have created a questionnaire to understand how refund, cancellation and customer queries are managed within your business.

‍

The short questionnaire gathers key information about your approach to refunds, returns, cancellations and faulty goods. This allows us to understand the customer journey, support customer enquiries effectively, and meet our ongoing risk and oversight requirements.

If we require any further clarification, a member of the team will be in touch.

‍

Our aim is not to dictate your commercial policies, but to ensure that we have a clear understanding of how customer enquiries are handled so that we can provide accurate information, support good customer outcomes and work effectively with our Partners.

‍

You can access and complete the questionnaire here

‍