Getting Started with the Refund Pool

The Refund Pool is the first step required to start issuing online refunds to parents.

The Refund Pool can be activated by default for schools using online payments through Illumine. However, before any online refund can be processed, your school must ensure that sufficient funds are available in the Refund Pool.

No online refund can be processed until funds have been added to the Refund Pool.

If you attempt to initiate a refund without sufficient funds available, the refund will not be processed and the system will display the following message:

“Insufficient balance in refund pool.”

Once sufficient funds have been added and are reflected in your Refund Pool balance, you can proceed with issuing eligible refunds back to the parent's original payment method.

Do I Need a Separate Bank Account for the Refund Pool?

No. You do not need to create or connect a separate bank account for the Refund Pool.

The same bank account that is already registered for receiving your Illumine/Adyen payouts will also be used for the Refund Pool.

The Refund Pool is simply a way of setting aside funds for refunds within your existing payment setup. You will be able to see the amount that has been added or set aside for the Refund Pool within the same account.

This means there is no additional bank account setup required to start using the Refund Pool.

How Do I Activate the Refund Pool?

The Refund Pool can be activated by default for schools using online payments through Illumine, so a separate activation request may not be required.

Once the Refund Pool is available on your account, the next step is to add funds to the pool. This is required before you can start issuing online refunds to parents.

Funds transferred to the Refund Pool generally take approximately 1–2 working days to be processed and reflected in your available balance.

We recommend adding funds to the Refund Pool in advance and maintaining a sufficient balance based on your school's expected refund requirements.

What Happens If There Isn't Enough Money in the Refund Pool?

If your Refund Pool does not have sufficient balance, the refund cannot be processed.

When you attempt to initiate a refund without enough available balance, the system will display:

“Insufficient balance in refund pool.”

You will need to add additional funds to the Refund Pool and wait for them to be reflected in your available balance before attempting the refund again.

For example:

Refund Pool balance: $200
Refund being initiated: $500

Since the available Refund Pool balance is lower than the refund amount, the $500 refund cannot be processed.

Once at least $500 is available in the Refund Pool, the eligible refund can be initiated.

Important Things to Remember

The Refund Pool can be activated by default for schools using Illumine online payments.
Adding funds to the Refund Pool is the first step before issuing online refunds.
No online refund can be processed until sufficient balance is available in the Refund Pool.
If sufficient funds are unavailable, the system will display “Insufficient balance in refund pool.”
You do not need a separate bank account for the Refund Pool. The same bank account used for your payouts is also used for the Refund Pool.
Funds added or set aside for refunds can be viewed as part of your Refund Pool balance.
Funds added to the Refund Pool generally take 1–2 working days to reflect.
Once an eligible refund is successfully initiated, it generally takes 5–6 business days to reach the parent's original payment method, depending on the parent's bank.
Refunds to the original payment method are only possible for eligible payments that were originally processed online through Illumine.
Cash, checks, direct bank transfers, and other offline payments collected directly by the school cannot be refunded through the Refund Pool.
Maintaining sufficient funds in the Refund Pool helps ensure that eligible refunds can be processed without delays caused by insufficient balance.

You will find this pool under Settings > Billing, as shown in the screenshot below. You can click on Top Up Refund Pool to add money to this pool.