Foreign-Currency Card Refunds: Why the AED Amount You Get Back Can Change

By Sinder Team — Sinder · Updated 2026-07-14

A foreign-currency refund may not equal the original AED charge. Learn how reversals, refunds, chargebacks, timing and exchange rates affect UAE cards — and what to check first.

You pay for a hotel, flight or online order in a foreign currency. The merchant later refunds it. When the refund reaches your UAE card, the AED amount is not exactly the same as the original debit.

That does not always mean the merchant kept part of your money.

A foreign-currency purchase and its refund may be processed at different times. Exchange rates may move between those dates, and the merchant may send a refund rather than cancelling the original authorisation. The result can be an AED difference even when the merchant returns the full original amount in the foreign currency.

The short answer

There are three events travellers often call a “refund”:

• an authorisation reversal;
• a settled transaction followed by a merchant refund; and
• a disputed transaction resolved through a chargeback or card claim.

They are not the same. An authorisation reversal may simply release funds that were held. A merchant refund is usually a new transaction flowing in the opposite direction. A chargeback follows a separate dispute process.

Because exchange-rate timing can differ, a full refund in euros, pounds, yen or baht may convert into a slightly different AED amount from the original purchase.

Reversal versus refund

Authorisation reversal

A merchant authorises a card to check that the card is valid and sufficient funds are available. If the merchant cancels before settlement, it can reverse the authorisation. The pending transaction may disappear and the held balance becomes available again.

In this case, there may be no separate credit line because the original transaction never fully settled. Hotels, car-rental companies, fuel stations and some online merchants commonly use authorisations — see our guide to hotel and car-rental card holds.

Merchant refund

If the original card payment has already settled, the merchant usually sends a new credit transaction. The refund can arrive days after the original purchase. It may be a full refund, a partial refund, a refund excluding a non-refundable fee, a refund in the original transaction currency, or — in less common situations — a refund converted by the merchant.

A refund should be assessed first in the merchant currency, not only in AED.

Chargeback or card dispute

A chargeback is not the same as asking a merchant for a refund. It is a formal card-network process initiated through the card issuer when a cardholder disputes a transaction. The evidence, timeline and final amount depend on the dispute reason and network rules. Cardholders should first follow the issuer’s process and preserve receipts, correspondence and cancellation evidence.

Why the AED amount may be different

Imagine you pay EUR 500 for a booking. On the purchase date, EUR 500 converts into one AED amount. Two weeks later, the merchant returns EUR 500. If the euro-dirham market rate has moved, the refund can convert into a different AED amount. The foreign-currency amount can be identical while the AED values differ.

Other causes include:

• the original payment included a card-issuer markup;
• the issuer treats refunded fees according to its own terms;
• the merchant issued only a partial refund;
• a tip, tax or deposit was not included;
• the merchant refunded in a different currency;
• the original purchase used DCC;
• the transaction and refund were processed on different dates; or
• the card was replaced or the account details changed.

Mastercard’s converter notes that conversion rates can depend on the date and time of authorisation or processing. That timing principle is important whenever two separate cross-border card messages occur on different dates — the same reason the Mastercard rate can differ from the Google rate.

Why DCC can make refunds harder to understand

Suppose a European merchant offers to charge your UAE card in AED. You accept. The merchant’s DCC provider performs the original conversion. If the item is later refunded, the refund path may not mirror the original transaction in the simple way you expect.

You may see the refund sent in AED, the refund sent in the local currency, a difference caused by the merchant’s conversion terms, or a delay while the acquirer and issuer match the transaction.

This is another reason to pay in the merchant’s local currency when travelling or shopping internationally. It keeps the transaction currency clear and makes a later refund easier to reconcile.

A practical refund checklist

Before requesting the refund

Keep:

• the original receipt;
• the merchant’s cancellation policy;
• the email or chat approving the refund;
• the original currency and amount;
• the last four digits of the card used; and
• the date the merchant says it submitted the refund.

After the merchant submits it

Check:

• whether the original transaction was pending or settled;
• whether the merchant issued a reversal or refund;
• the refunded foreign-currency amount;
• whether the refund is full or partial;
• the card issuer’s stated processing window; and
• whether the card has since expired or been replaced.

Do not compare only the original AED debit with the new AED credit. First verify whether the merchant returned the correct amount in the original currency.

What a low-FX card can and cannot solve

A card with a lower issuer markup can reduce the cost of the original international purchase. It cannot guarantee that the market exchange rate will be identical when a separate refund is processed later.

Sinder’s Founder pricing states that Sinder adds 0% Sinder FX markup within the AED 40,000 / month worldwide allowance. This removes Sinder’s own markup within those terms, but normal card-network timing, currency movement and merchant behaviour still exist.

That is the honest meaning of transparent FX: the provider’s fee is clear, the underlying exchange rate can still move, and third-party actions remain outside the provider’s control.

When to contact the merchant and when to contact the card provider

Contact the merchant when the refund has not been submitted, the merchant refunded the wrong amount, a cancellation fee was incorrectly deducted, the merchant used the wrong currency, or you need a refund reference.

Contact the card provider when the merchant confirms submission but the refund is missing beyond the stated timeframe, the card used has been replaced or closed, the refund cannot be matched, the transaction was unauthorised, or the merchant refuses to resolve a valid dispute. You can always reach the Sinder team via our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Can a full foreign-currency refund be lower in AED?

Yes. The merchant can return the full original foreign-currency amount, but the AED conversion may differ because the refund is processed at a later time.

Can the AED refund be higher?

Yes. Currency movement can work in either direction.

How long do international card refunds take?

The timing depends on the merchant, acquirer, card network and issuer. Use the timeframe given by the card provider rather than assuming every refund is instant.

Will a refund go to a replaced card?

Often the issuer can route it to the underlying account, but handling depends on the issuer. Contact the provider if the card has changed.

Is a pending transaction the same as money already paid to the merchant?

Not always. A pending transaction can be an authorisation hold awaiting settlement.

Keep reading

Sources & References

• Mastercard — Currency Exchange Rate Converter (timing note)
• Investopedia — Authorized Amount (card authorisation holds)
• Sinder pricing
• Sinder Terms of Use