Order not confirmed reasons and solutions

If an order or donation is not confirmed after payment, the transaction will not be completed, and BBMS (Blackbaud Merchant Services) will automatically refund the cardholder. This means your organization won’t receive the funds, even though the person making the payment may have seen a charge on their bank account.

What does “Order Confirmation” mean?

When someone makes a payment, it’s not just about charging their card. The system must also complete all internal steps—saving the donation, linking it to a payment method, and finalizing the order.

The final step in this process is called order confirmation. It tells BBMS, “We’ve saved everything. You can release the funds to us.”

What happens behind the scenes?

Here’s what typically occurs during a transaction:

A donor fills out a form and submits their credit card information.
BBMS charges the card and temporarily holds the funds.
BBMS sends a token to your system saying the charge was successful.
Your system processes the order, saving records like the donation and payment method.
After completing those steps, your system sends a confirmation back to BBMS.

If the confirmation is sent, BBMS keeps the funds and deposits them into your organization’s account.

If the confirmation is not sent, BBMS refunds the payment to the cardholder.

Why might an order not be confirmed?

Several issues can prevent an order from being confirmed:

A technical error while processing or saving the data.
The system didn’t complete all necessary steps before attempting confirmation.
A failure in the connection between your backend system and BBMS.

What will the payer see?

From the payer’s perspective, this can be confusing. They may:

See a charge on their bank account.
Not receive a confirmation email or receipt.
Later notice that the money was refunded without understanding why.

This happens because the payment was never officially confirmed, and BBMS returned the funds as a safety measure.

How to avoid this?

To reduce the chance of failed or refunded transactions:

Ensure your system follows all steps in the correct order before confirming.
Monitor transactions to verify each one is finalized properly.
If in doubt, double-check BBMS and your internal records.

To summarize, if the system fails to send a confirmation to BBMS after a payment, the transaction is automatically refunded. No payment record is saved, and your organization does not receive the funds.

Confirming the order is essential to complete any payment successfully.

"\nIf an order or donation is not confirmed after payment, the transaction will not be completed, and BBMS (Blackbaud Merchant Services) will automatically refund the cardholder. This means your organization won’t receive the funds, even though the person making the payment may have seen a charge on their bank account.\n\n**What does “Order Confirmation” mean?**\n\nWhen someone makes a payment, it’s not just about charging their card. The system must also complete all internal steps—saving the donation, linking it to a payment method, and finalizing the order.\n\nThe final step in this process is called order confirmation. It tells BBMS, “We’ve saved everything. You can release the funds to us.”\n\n**What happens behind the scenes?**\n\nHere’s what typically occurs during a transaction:\n\n- A donor fills out a form and submits their credit card information.\n- BBMS charges the card and temporarily holds the funds.\n- BBMS sends a token to your system saying the charge was successful.\n- Your system processes the order, saving records like the donation and payment method.\n- After completing those steps, your system sends a confirmation back to BBMS.\n\nIf the confirmation is sent, BBMS keeps the funds and deposits them into your organization’s account.\n\nIf the confirmation is not sent, BBMS refunds the payment to the cardholder.\n\n**Why might an order not be confirmed?**\n\nSeveral issues can prevent an order from being confirmed:\n\n- A technical error while processing or saving the data.\n- The system didn’t complete all necessary steps before attempting confirmation.\n- A failure in the connection between your backend system and BBMS.\n\n**What will the payer see?**\n\nFrom the payer’s perspective, this can be confusing. They may:\n\n- See a charge on their bank account.\n- Not receive a confirmation email or receipt.\n- Later notice that the money was refunded without understanding why.\n\nThis happens because the payment was never officially confirmed, and BBMS returned the funds as a safety measure.\n\n**How to avoid this?**\n\nTo reduce the chance of failed or refunded transactions:\n\n- Ensure your system follows all steps in the correct order before confirming.\n- Monitor transactions to verify each one is finalized properly.\n- If in doubt, double-check BBMS and your internal records.\n\nTo summarize, if the system fails to send a confirmation to BBMS after a payment, the transaction is automatically refunded. No payment record is saved, and your organization does not receive the funds.\n\nConfirming the order is essential to complete any payment successfully.\n"