Troubleshooting and Escalation: Solving Common Payment Operations Issues – Zendesk

1. How to Resolve Stalled or Failed Settlements

Settlements not appearing as expected can disrupt business operations. Here’s a step-by-step approach:

Step 1: Check Settlement Schedules

Review your merchant contract or BVNK documentation for standard settlement times.
Holidays and weekends may cause delays.

Step 2: Validate Recent Transactions

Confirm that affected transactions are marked as ‘settled’ in the dashboard, not just ‘processing’ or ‘pending.’

Step 3: Review Notifications

Look for alert emails or dashboard banners about scheduled system maintenance, payout holds, or account verification needs.

Step 4: Verify Bank Details

Double check your registered payout bank account for accuracy (wrong details can cause returned payouts).

Step 5: Contact Support/Escalate

If issues persist beyond the stated window (usually 1-2 settlement cycles), gather:
- Merchant ID
- List of missing settlements
- Screenshots or export of relevant dashboard views
Escalate to the Payments Operation Team with all supporting data.

Pro Tip: Always keep customer communications transparent. Let them know you’re investigating with the payments provider.

2. What to Do About Incorrect Payout Amounts

If your payout doesn’t match expectations, here’s what to check:

Step 1: Check the Payout Report

Download detailed payout/export reports from the BVNK dashboard.
Tally gross, net, refunds, fees, and chargebacks.

Step 2: Look for Adjustments

Identify any fee adjustments, reversals, or rolling reserves that may have been applied.

Step 3: Reconcile Your Internal Records

Compare your in-house sales records with BVNK’s reports.

Step 4: Investigate Chargebacks/Refunds

Refunds or recent chargebacks deducted from payouts can cause discrepancies.

Step 5: Escalate with Documentation

If you identify an unexplained gap, attach:
- Both internal and payout reports with highlights
- Dates and amounts in question
Forward to the Payments Operation Team for reconciliation or correction.

3. Solving Missing Transaction Records

Sometimes transactions processed by customers do not appear in your dashboard:

Step 1: Check Payment Gateways

Confirm all gateways and integrations are operational.
If using BVNK API, check logs for failed or dropped API calls.

Step 2: Check Emails/Notifications

Sometimes, system notifications will alert you to data sync or maintenance incidents.

Step 3: Ask for Transaction References

Gather charge references from affected customers (e.g., last 4 digits, timestamp).

Step 4: Synchronize Data

Attempt to refresh or export data from the dashboard.
If integrations are involved, re-sync your systems with BVNK.

Step 5: Escalate Swiftly

Missing transactions may indicate an underlying system issue.
Provide references, customer details (anonymized if possible), and timeline to Payments Operations.

4. Handling High Chargeback or Fraud Rates

A sudden surge may indicate fraud attempts or unhappy customers.

Step 1: Analyze Disputes

Use BVNK’s fraud and chargeback dashboard to spot trends (countries, card types, transaction method).

Step 2: Confirm Transaction Details

Audit if the flagged transactions are authentic in your order system.

Step 3: Review Risk Settings

Are fraud detection or 3DSecure rules enabled? Update if needed.

Step 4: Pause Suspicious Activity

Temporarily halt high-risk payment methods if necessary (consult Operations before pausing).

Step 5: Consult the Payments Ops Team

Send a list of disputed transactions and any relevant evidence. The Ops Team may advise on further limits or initiate a review with acquiring partners.

5. What to Do When an Account is Frozen or Blocked

Step 1: Check for Communications

Look for emails or dashboard messages from BVNK explaining the block (compliance, suspicious activity, documentation missing).

Step 2: Review Recent Activity

Review recent trades, transactions, or settings changes that could have triggered alerts.

Step 3: Prepare KYC/Compliance Documents

Have up-to-date business registration, ID, and proof-of-address ready.

Step 4: Contact Support

If no explanation is given or blocking is erroneous, escalate with all business details, affected users, and timelines.

6. Escalation-Ready Refund Processing

Step 1: Check Refund Status

Review the refund status in your merchant dashboard.
Verify the original transaction’s method and completion status.

Step 2: Communicate with Customer

Let the customer know you’re investigating and the typical refund timeframes.

Step 3: Contact Payments Ops

If a refund is delayed beyond policy, escalate with:
- Customer and transaction reference
- Proof of attempted refund in the dashboard
- Copy of customer communication if possible

7. Addressing API or Integration Downtime

Step 1: Confirm the Issue

Check BVNK’s status page for outages.
Test API with simple GET/POST calls.

Step 2: Review Error Logs

Examine your integration logs for error codes, failed endpoints, or data mismatches.

Step 3: Report Critical Issues

If all live payments are being affected, escalate immediately with:
- Error logs (redact sensitive info)
- Sample API requests and responses
- Business impact (number of transactions/customers affected)

Summary Table

Issue Category	Immediate Actions	Info to Escalate
Stalled Settlements	Check schedule, review dashboard, verify bank info	Merchant ID, list of transactions
Incorrect Payouts	Download/export reports, reconcile	Payout reports, amount in question
Missing Transactions	Check gateway/API, gather references	Customer/transaction data
Chargeback/Fraud Spike	Review dispute dashboard, audit orders, risk settings	List of disputed txns, evidence
Account Blocked/Frozen	Check comms, recent changes, prep KYC docs	Business details, timeline
Slow/Failed Refunds	Check dashboard, notify customer	Txn ref, refund attempt proof
API/Integration Down	Status page, logs	API logs, error details