The Special Refund Mechanism (MED) is a set of rules and procedures established by the Central Bank of Brazil to standardize and streamline the refund of Pix transaction amounts in specific situations, mainly:
Founded suspicion of fraud.
Operational failure in the information technology systems of the participants involved.
The purpose of the SRM is to increase the chances of recovery of funds by the paying user, while preserving the security and integrity of the Pix ecosystem.
2. In what situations can the SRM be triggered?
The SRM can be initiated when there is:
Well-founded suspicion of fraud.
Allegation of scam or fraud.
Unrecognized transaction.
Compromise of the payer's account.
Operational failure
Systemic errors, such as duplicate sending or incorrect amounts resulting from technological failures of any participant.
3. Who can initiate a Pix refund?
The refund can be initiated by different agents:
Receiving user (Merchant): Can refund all or part of a Pix on their own initiative, within 90 days of the transaction.
Payer's PSP: Can initiate the MED upon complaint from the paying user.
WEpayments (receiving PSP): Can act on fraud or operational failure flows in accordance with Central Bank rules.
4. What is WEpayments' role as a receiving PSP?
Upon receiving a notification of a MED-related violation, WEpayments:
Analyzes the case within 7 calendar days.
Evaluates evidence of fraud related to the Merchant's operation.
If no irregularities are identified, the notification is rejected and communicated to the payer PSP.
The analysis is based on operational evidence, transactional data, and internal fraud prevention and PLD/FT criteria.
5. What are the deadlines for the MED process?
Deadline for opening the notification
The payer's PSP can register the infringement notification within 80 days after the original transaction.
Deadline for analysis
WEpayments has up to 7 calendar days to analyze the notification.
Deadline for refund after request
Operational failure: up to 24 hours after the request.
Suspected fraud: after accepting the notification, the refund occurs within the Value Recovery Mechanism flow, which can take a few hours, with an operational limit of up to 6 hours, subject to the existence of a balance.
6. How does the refund work?
If the refund is approved:
WEpayments checks the available balance in the Merchant's account.
If there is sufficient balance, the amount is debited and refunded to the payer's PSP within the regulatory deadlines.
If there is no balance, the refund may not be made in full.
In cases of operational failure, WEpayments does not perform a merit analysis and executes the refund as requested by the payer's PSP.
7. Is it possible to dispute a refund?
Yes. The Merchant may request the cancellation of a refund related to fraud:
Deadline: up to 30 days after the refund.
WEpayments will perform a merit analysis before forwarding any request to the paying PSP.
8. How is the Merchant informed about disputes and refunds?
Communication occurs through:
Monthly MED notification report, with a consolidated view of the disputes received.
Formal notification by email whenever a refund is made with a debit to the account.
9. Why are some fraud disputes rejected?
WEpayments' analysis focuses on identifying signs of fraud in the Merchant's operation.
When no elements indicating irregularities in the provision of the service are found, the notification is rejected, and the transaction remains valid.
10. Final considerations
MED is a regulatory mechanism designed to balance the protection of the paying user with the operational security of Pix participants. WEpayments operates in strict compliance with the rules of the Central Bank of Brazil, applying technical, operational, and compliance criteria at all stages of the process.