Your card expired, was replaced, or the account behind it closed — and now a refund is on its way to a payment method that no longer exists. The good news is that this problem has a small set of known outcomes, not an infinite one. The rule underneath them all is simple: a refund can only travel back to the original payment method, never to a different card or bank account. From there, what happens depends on one question — is there still somewhere at the original bank for the money to land?
Checked October 26, 2026 — every claim below is tied to its primary source: Back Market's help page, Stripe's refunds documentation, or PayPal's ARN documentation. Where a source says "most likely", this guide keeps those words, because no article can see where your refund actually is.
Check your own refund's route first
Three answers — what changed, whether the refund has been issued, and whether you still hold an account at the original bank — place your refund on its route and give you the tracing steps for your case. Try it here: Refund Routing Checker.
Stripe's refunds documentation states the rule without exception: refunds can only be sent back to the original payment method used for a charge, and cannot be sent to a different destination, such as another card or bank account. That single sentence explains every case in this guide. A merchant who wants to help cannot simply send your refund to your shiny new card or your new bank — the card networks route refunds along the original transaction path, precisely so money cannot be misdirected. Any "redirect" that happens is done by your bank, inside its own systems, after the refund arrives there — never by the merchant choosing a new destination.
Card expired: automatic to the linked account
Back Market's help page answers this case directly: when the credit or debit card you paid with is expired or deactivated, your refund will be automatically directed back to the bank account linked to that card, with nothing you need to do, provided the account is still open — allowing up to 7 business days for the transaction to process. Stripe's documentation describes the same outcome from the issuer's side: refunds to expired or canceled cards are handled by the customer's card issuer and, in most cases, credited to the customer's replacement card. An expired card is therefore the least worrying case on this page: the money's destination (the account) has not changed, only the plastic has.
Card replaced or lost: most likely the replacement card
The same Stripe sentence covers a lost, stolen or reissued card: the issuer handles the refund and, in most cases, credits it to the replacement card. Note the hedge — "in most cases", not always. Where no replacement card exists, Stripe adds that the issuer usually delivers the refund using an alternate method, for example a check or bank account deposit. Kickstarter's help centre, describing the same Stripe-based mechanics, lists the same three outcomes for an expired card: the bank transfers it to the new card or account automatically, Stripe's card updater recognises the new card number and applies it automatically, or the bank rejects the refund and the funds return to the payment processor. All three end with the money either in your account or back with the merchant — never simply vanished.
Account closed, another account at the same bank: redirected
Back Market's Case 1 covers this: where the original account was closed but you have another account at the same bank, most likely the bank will be able to redirect the refund to your active account, as long as both accounts are under the same name — again allowing up to 7 business days. The "same name" condition is the one to check: a redirect is an internal bank operation on accounts it can see belong to the same person. If the active account is in a different name, say so to the bank early, because the automatic redirect is the case that cannot be assumed.
All accounts closed, or switched banks with nothing left: blocked — then traced
Back Market's Case 2 is the hard case: where all accounts at the original bank are closed, the refund will most likely be blocked at the original bank linked to the payment. The guide's advice is to contact the former bank to get the refund, and if the bank has trouble tracking it, to ask the merchant for the ARN of the transaction, which will allow the former bank to locate the refund. Switching banks lands in exactly the same case whenever nothing remains at the old bank — because of the original-payment-method rule, the refund cannot skip the old bank and go to the new one. It travels to the old bank, stops there, and waits to be found.
The ARN trace, step by step
ARN stands for Acquirer Reference Number. PayPal's developer documentation (updated October 14, 2026) describes it as a unique value assigned to a credit or debit card transaction after the card has been processed, which tracks the transaction's movement and lets card brands, issuing banks and processors locate the transaction and confirm its handling. Airwallex's help centre gives merchants the matching instruction: provide the ARN to the shopper and advise them to forward it to their issuing bank to trace the status of the funds. The steps:
Ask the merchant for the ARN. Give them the order number, refund date and amount. Note that the reference is created as the refund moves through the payment network, so it can lag the refund itself — if the merchant says it is not available yet, ask when it will be.
Give the ARN to your former bank. Use the number on that bank's own site or app, and ask them to trace the refund using the ARN. Ask for a written answer: held, rejected, or already returned to the merchant.
If it bounced back, ask for a reissue by an alternative method. Stripe's documentation states that when a bank cannot process a refund, the bank returns the amount to Stripe, which adds it back to the merchant's account balance — a process that can take up to 30 days from the post date. Only after that return can the merchant reissue the money, as a separate payment (a cheque or a bank transfer to an account you nominate), because the original card refund itself can never be redirected.
PayPal's documentation also names the three outcomes when a closed card leaves a bank unable to route a refund: the bank reroutes the money to the appropriate account, mails the customer a check, or returns the money to the merchant account. Those are the only three doors — and the ARN is what tells you which one your refund went through.
Timing: the two sourced windows
Only two day counts are used on this page, because only two were verified. Back Market quotes up to 7 business days for card refunds to process (its returns and refunds policy gives the same 7 business days for credit and debit cards). Stripe states that a failed refund's return to the merchant can take up to 30 days from the post date. Everything else about timing is bank-specific and therefore not stated here: your bank's posting time can differ from Back Market's window, and a refund that is merely slow looks exactly like a refund that is lost until the window has passed.
If the refund never arrives
Wait out the 7-business-day window first. Tracing a refund that is still processing wastes the trace.
Ask the merchant for written proof the refund was issued — date and amount. If it was never issued, routing is not the problem.
Run the ARN trace above — merchant's ARN to the former bank, written answers at each step.
Do not file a chargeback for a refund that is merely slow. A chargeback and a refund are different routes to the same money; filing one while the other is still travelling can freeze both. Wait until the trace answers where the refund actually is.
Never give card details to trace a refund. No card number, expiry date, PIN or account number is ever needed for an ARN trace. Anyone asking for them is running a scam, not a trace.
Checker questions
To the bank account linked to that card, automatically. Back Market's help page states that when the card you paid with is expired or deactivated, the refund is automatically directed back to the bank account linked to that card, with nothing you need to do, provided the account is still open, allowing up to 7 business days. Stripe's refund documentation agrees: refunds to expired or canceled cards are handled by the card issuer and, in most cases, credited to the replacement card.
No. Stripe's refund documentation states that refunds can only be sent back to the original payment method and cannot be sent to a different destination such as another card or bank account. The refund still travels to the original bank first. If you still hold an account there, the bank will most likely redirect it to that account (Back Market's Case 1); if all your accounts there are closed, it will most likely be blocked at that bank (Back Market's Case 2) and must be traced with the ARN.
ARN stands for Acquirer Reference Number: the network tracing reference for a card refund. Ask the merchant for the ARN for your refund, then give that number to your former bank and ask them to trace the refund with it. Back Market's help page gives exactly this route for refunds blocked at a closed-account bank, and PayPal's developer documentation confirms that a customer given the ARN can have their bank trace the transaction.
First wait out the processing window — Back Market quotes up to 7 business days for card refunds. Then ask the merchant for written proof the refund was issued and for its ARN, give the ARN to your former bank, and ask the bank to confirm in writing whether the refund is held, rejected, or already returned to the merchant. If it has bounced back to the merchant, ask the merchant to reissue it by an alternative method such as a cheque or bank transfer — Stripe's documentation says a failed refund's return to the merchant can take up to 30 days, so the merchant may genuinely not have it back yet.
Sources (checked October 26, 2026): Back Market help page "What happens to my refund if my card expires or my bank account is closed?" (help.backmarket.com, updated September 25, 2026); Back Market returns and refunds policy (7 business days for credit and debit cards); Stripe refunds documentation (docs.stripe.com/refunds) — original-payment-method-only rule, expired/canceled card handling, failed-refund return within up to 30 days, alternate delivery by check or bank account deposit; PayPal developer documentation "Track transactions using an acquirer reference number" (updated October 14, 2026); Airwallex help centre — ARN forwarding to the issuing bank; Kickstarter help centre — Stripe expired-card outcomes as corroboration.
General information only — not legal or financial advice. Banks apply these rules differently in edge cases, and where a source says "most likely", this guide keeps that wording. Never enter a card number, expiry date, PIN or account number into any refund checker — no genuine trace needs them.
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