With Facebook payments, you can send and receive money through Messenger, buy items in Marketplace, donate to causes, and more. While making payments on Facebook is convenient, you may sometimes need to cancel or decline a payment that has been requested or sent to you.
Declining a payment request
If someone sends you a request for payment on Facebook, you have the option to decline it. Here’s how:
- Open the Messenger app on your mobile device or navigate to Facebook.com on your desktop.
- Go to your Messages or click on Messenger.
- Open the message with the payment request.
- Tap or click “Decline” below the request.
When you decline the request, the sender will be notified that you declined to send the money. The request will be canceled and no money will be transferred.
On mobile
On the Facebook mobile app:
- Open the Messenger app.
- Tap on the payment request message.
- Tap “Decline” below the request details.
On desktop
On the Facebook website:
- Go to Facebook.com and log in.
- Click on Messenger in the top right.
- Open the payment request message thread.
- Click “Decline” below the request.
Declining a payment request is permanent and cannot be undone. However, the sender can send you another request if needed.
Canceling a payment you’ve sent
If you’ve sent someone money through Facebook but need to cancel it, you may be able to if the recipient has not yet accepted the payment. Here’s how to cancel a sent payment:
- Open Messenger and go to your messages.
- Open the message thread where you sent the payment.
- Tap on the payment details to open it.
- Look for the option to “Cancel Payment” and select it.
The payment will be canceled and the funds will be refunded to your original payment method. However, you can only cancel unclaimed payments. Once the recipient accepts the money, it cannot be canceled.
Time limits for canceling
For most payment methods, you have up to 7 days to cancel an unclaimed payment. However, for PayPal payments, you only have up to 30 minutes to cancel before the recipient claims it.
Notifying the recipient
When you cancel a payment, the recipient will be notified that it has been canceled so they know not to expect the funds.
Declining Facebook donations
If someone sends you a donation through Facebook, you can decline it if you don’t want to accept it:
- Go to your Notifications on Facebook.
- Find the notification about the donation.
- Click “Decline donation.”
- Confirm that you want to decline the donation.
When you decline it, the donation will be canceled and the donor will be notified. You have up to 7 days to decline a pending donation.
Nonprofit donations
For Pages representing nonprofits and charitable causes, admins can enable donation matching. This allows Facebook to match eligible donations to give the nonprofit extra funds.
If a nonprofit needs to decline a donation for any reason, they should make sure donation matching is disabled first so they do not lose out on the matching funds.
Turning off Facebook payments
If you do not want to send or receive any payments through Facebook at all going forward, you can turn off payments completely:
- Go to your Facebook Settings.
- Click on “Payments.”
- Toggle the switch off for payments.
This will disable all ability to send or receive payments on Facebook. You will have to enable them again from your Settings to turn payments back on.
Impact on pending payments
Turning off payments will cancel any pending payments that have not been completed yet. Make sure you do not have any payments in progress that you want to complete.
Permanent change
Disabling payments is permanent until you re-enable them. All payment functionality will remain disabled until you decide to toggle payments back on.
Avoiding fraudulent payments
To avoid having your account compromised or sending money to scammers, be cautious when receiving payment requests from strangers. Here are some tips:
- Be wary of anyone you do not know well asking you to send them money.
- Never provide sensitive information like your login details with a payment.
- Do not accept payments for illegal goods or services.
- Use caution when buying/selling goods with strangers.
- Monitor your payment history and report suspicious transactions.
Facebook offers certain protections against fraud and unauthorized payments. But it is still important to use discretion when sending money to people you do not know on Facebook.
Reporting suspicious activities
If you believe someone is attempting to scam or extort money from you, report it immediately:
- Report the messages within Messenger.
- Block the user to prevent further contact.
- File a report using Facebook’s support options.
Facebook has teams dedicated to investigating fraudulent activities. Reporting issues promptly can help keep your account secure.
Getting help with payments
If you have any other questions or issues related to Facebook payments, here are some options for getting assistance:
- Check the Facebook Payments Help Center for FAQs, guides, and troubleshooting.
- Submit a report to Facebook Payments Support regarding a specific issue.
- Contact Facebook Payments support via live chat or request a call back.
- Submit feedback on Facebook Payments by tapping “Provide Feedback.”
The Facebook Payments team can look into any problems you may be having with sending, receiving, declining or disputing payments. Be sure to have any relevant details ready such as date/time, transaction IDs, screenshots, and error messages.
Common payment issues
Some common issues that Facebook Payments Support can assist with include:
- Problems sending or receiving money
- Questions about declined or canceled payments
- Suspicious payments and scams
- facebook error codes or messages
- Unable to accept payments
- Donation problems
- Billing and payment method issues
- Account access and security issues
The Facebook Payments Help Center also provides troubleshooting guides to help resolve many common problems.
Conclusion
Facebook offers convenient options for sending money and making payments through its platform. However, mistakes happen and you may need to cancel a payment you’ve sent or decline a payment request or donation. You can cancel unclaimed payments, permanently disable all Facebook payments, and get help from Facebook’s support team. With caution and proper use of Facebook’s tools, payments can be a useful feature while avoiding major issues.