eRefunds Feature

The eRefunds feature allows you to streamline the credit balance refund process. The eRefunds feature is part of the Student Financial Software (SFS) and is enabled as part of the implementation process.

Process overview

The eRefunds process is a conversation between you, Flywire, and the refund payment recipient (student or Authorized User). You are responsible for creating a list of recipients who are eligible for a refund and the balance amounts. Flywire manages the payment processing and notifications for all recipients. The payment recipient is responsible for selecting the correct refund destination.

Flywire must be integrated directly with your bank to handle the refund processing, but Flywire does not hold any of the money during the transaction.

Students and Authorized Users are encouraged to enroll in eRefunds even if they are not sure they will receive a refund payment.

• If a refund payment is created before the student or Authorized User has enrolled in eRefunds, Flywire will send a communication that a refund is pending and invite them to enroll in eRefunds.

• If a student or Authorized User does not enroll in eRefunds, they will receive their refund as a paper check. The institution responsible for managing the paper checks depends on your configuration with Flywire. Either you or Flywire can be responsible for managing paper checks.

Process Steps

1. You create a file with the receiver's name, ID (such as the student ID or school ID), address, and the refund amount.

2. Each day you send the file to Flywire.

3. Flywire receives the file and acts depending on recipient's refund preference:

   • If the receiver is already enrolled in eRefunds, the refund is processed directly from your bank to the recipient's bank.

   • If the receiver has not enrolled in eRefunds, Flywire shelves the refund for 24 hours and sends a notification to the receiver to encourage them to sign up for eRefunds.

4. After the 24-hour shelving period, the remaining refunds are processed depending on the refund preference:

   • If the receiver enrolled in eRefunds, the refund is processed directly from your bank to the recipient's bank.

   • If the receiver has not enrolled in eRefunds, the refund will be sent via paper check (if Flywire manages the paper checks) or marked as discarded and you will be sent a status update (if Flywire does not manage paper checks).

   The shelving period is a non-configurable 24 hours. The shelving period is limited to ensure that all refunds are processed promptly.

Configuring eRefunds

When you decide to enable the eRefunds feature, you can configure a set of eRefunds specific options.

eRefunds Timeline

Flywire has scheduled jobs to process the eRefunds files and send the payments. These jobs are scheduled to run at a specific time each day to maintain a timely return for the refund payments.

Action	Time
You send the refund payments file to Flywire.	Before 6:00 PM Eastern Time
Flywire runs the refund payments file through our system. The SFS creates the ACH refund records, shelves the waiting payments, creates the paper check records, and processes the returns.	After the refund payments file is received
Flywire creates the ACH file and sends it to your bank.	By 7:00 PM Eastern Time
If you or your bank manage paper checks, Flywire creates a paper check file and sends it whoever manages paper checks.	7:00 PM Eastern Time
Student receives ACH refund payment	Typically 1-3 business days, determined by your financial institution

eRefund Notifications

Notifications are SMS text or email messages the SFS sends to the payer. Each type of notification has two templates - a template for email communications and a template for text message (SMS) communications. You can configure the communications using customizable templates.

Notification templates contain Flywire default content, but the branding and the FROM email address are configured in your setup. The default notification templates are used unless you configure a custom message.

There are seven types of notifications that are used for eRefunds:

• ERefund Enrollment Created

• ERefund Enrollment Updated

• ERefund Transaction Created

• ERefund Transaction Failed

• ERefund Transaction Returned

• ERefund Transaction Returned (No Checks)

• ERefund Transaction Voided

Details about each when each template is sent to a student or Authorized User are found on the Notification Templates page.

eRefund Reporting

There are two types of reports available for the eRefunds feature:

• The eRefund Enrollment Report displays a list of students and Authorized Users who have enrolled in eRefunds during a selected date range.

• The eRefund Status Report displays details about the eRefunds processed during a selected date range.

For more details about the reports, see eRefund Status Report and eRefund Enrollment Report.

FAQs