---
title: "Payment statuses reference"
description: "The statuses a payment moves through, from created to settled, plus the refund and failure states — with what each one means for your integration."
url: "/docs/developers/payment-statuses-reference/"
category: "Developers"
---

A payment moves through a sequence of statuses from the moment it's created to when it settles. These are the states you'll see on a payment and receive on webhooks, and what each means for your integration. You don't need to handle every internal step — key off the ones that matter to you (usually **completed**, **settled**, **refunded**, and **failed**).

## The main lifecycle

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **New / initializing** | The payment has been created and is starting. |
| **Routed / pending** | It's being sent to the payment provider for authorization. |
| **Compliance review** | Paused for a risk or compliance check before it proceeds. |
| **Authorized** | The customer's bank approved the amount; funds are held, not yet captured. |
| **Completed** | The payment succeeded and is captured. This is the one most integrations treat as "paid". |
| **Settled** | Funds have settled from the provider — the point at which refunds can be processed and money can be paid out. |
| **Failed** | The payment didn't succeed. See [why payments fail](/docs/troubleshooting/a-payment-says-failed-what-do-the-error-codes-mean/). |
| **Cancelled** | The payment was cancelled before completing. |

## Refund states

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Refund pending** | A refund is processing (it waits for the payment to settle first). |
| **Refunded** | The refund completed and went back to the customer. |
| **Refund failed** | The refund didn't go through; funds stay with you. |
| **Refund cancelled** | The refund was cancelled before completing. |

## Working with statuses

- Treat **completed** as "the customer has paid"; treat **settled** as "the money is available to refund or pay out".
- A payment can pass through **compliance review** before completing — don't assume a brief delay means failure.
- Subscribe to payment webhooks rather than polling. See [Which webhook events does Fynex send?](/docs/developers/which-webhook-events-does-fynex-send/)

## Related

- [Payout statuses and failure codes reference](/docs/developers/payout-statuses-and-failure-codes-reference/)