A distance-sale refund must go back onto the same payment method the customer used, and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give a consumer a fourteen-day cancellation window and require repayment within fourteen days of that cancellation. That linkage is exactly why some merchants over-retain the original full card number — and exactly why they do not need to. PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 3.5.1 asks that a PAN be rendered unreadable wherever it is stored, and the transaction reference alone is enough to route the money back to the original card. anonym.plus marks each value on your device, so the entry stays auditable while customer data is shielded.
When this applies
A return entry repeats the original card, amount, and reason note. You strip those identifiers under the standard before it is filed.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the entry in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads a scanned return slip.
- The tool flags card digits, names, and notes.
- Keep the reference and amount you must retain.
- Swap or black out the confirmed items.
- Save the clean record locally.
What you need to provide
- The return entry (CSV, PDF, or scan).
- An operator (Replace keeps it readable).
- Optional allow-list for reference IDs.
PII & financial identifiers detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | CREDIT_CARD | ending 0004 → [CARD] |
| Names | PERSON | buyer Vance → [BUYER] |
| Amount | MONEY | -£89.00 → [AMOUNT] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | vance@example.co.uk → [EMAIL] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | refund date → [DATE] |
| Org | ORGANIZATION | store of record → [MERCHANT] |
Compliance achieved
- Renders the card number unreadable wherever it is kept, per PCI DSS v4.0 Req. 3.5.1.
- Keeps the reference and amount that route the repayment to the original card under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
- Keeps the reference and amount for the audit trail.
- Offline handling keeps the entry off any server.
Anonymise refund records offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
A free-text reason note can name a customer indirectly. The tool flags known fields, so read the note yourself before you file it.
Frequently asked questions
Why must a refund go back to the same card?
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 require a distance-sale refund to use the same payment method the customer originally paid with, within fourteen days of a valid cancellation. That rule is also why the transaction reference, not the full card number, is what actually routes the money back.
Can I keep the reference and amount?
Yes. Allow-list the reference and amount so they stay while account and customer fields are removed. The reference alone is what links the repayment to the original sale under Req. 3.5.1's unreadable-PAN rule.
Is the entry uploaded?
No. The app runs locally, so the return data stays on your device throughout.