Have you ever had a free trial that turned into a paid subscription without your knowledge? Or had trouble canceling a service you no longer wanted? As the subscription economy continues to grow, it’s an increasingly common problem.
Have a question about credit cards? E-mail me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to help.
Recurring payments explained
A 2024 CNET report revealed that Americans spend an average of $91 per month on subscription services. In 2022, Bankrate’s Subscription Service Charges survey found that the majority of U.S. adults (51 percent) with subscription or membership accounts had incurred unexpected charges at some point. And, according to a 2021 Chase survey, almost three-quarters of respondents (71 percent) estimated they wasted more than $50 per month on unwanted recurring payments. That adds up to more than $600 annually — a significant sum, considering that fewer than half of Americans would use their savings to pay for an unexpected $1,000 expense, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Emergency Savings Report.
Millions of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, hovering over a financial cliff with record amounts of credit card debt lurking below.
A new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule is supposed to help address these pain points. The FTC’s new rule took effect on Jan. 14, 2025 and regulated entities have until May 14, 2025 to fully comply. Basically, the policy is supposed to make it as easy to cancel a recurring service charge as it was to sign up in the first place. It concerns “negative option marketing” – the business practice that continues to charge customers for services until they actively opt out.
Opting out isn’t always easy, but the FTC is trying to change that. Businesses now have to clearly disclose the terms of the offer, obtain consent before charging the customer and include a simple way for people to cancel the service. This is why it has been dubbed the “Click-to-Cancel Rule.” If you’re able to sign up with a single click, it’s supposed to be just as easy to get out of the obligation.
Managing recurring payments with Chase
If you’re a Chase cardholder, you might be able to take advantage of a special tool when it comes to tracking recurring payments.
Chase’s Saved Account Manager is now called Stored Cards
Chase has a potentially helpful feature that allows you to identify which retail websites have saved your payment information. The Stored Cards tool, as it’s now known, is included in the Chase mobile app. (It used to be called “Saved Account Manager.”)
How Chase’s Stored Cards feature works
As a Chase credit cardholder, I was curious to see where my card info is saved. To access Chase Stored Cards, these are the steps I had to take:
- Log into the app
- Click “More” in the lower right section of the screen
- Select “Stored Cards” in the upper right section of the screen
I learned that eight businesses have stored my Chase Freedom Flex®* information. I was surprised by a few of them.
For example, I didn’t realize I had saved my card info with Chipotle, Delta Air Lines or a Nashville concert venue. I’m not particularly concerned about any of these, but if you discover that a business has saved your payment information and you no longer want them to do so, it’s best to contact the business directly.
How to see recurring payments on the Chase app
The tool distinguishes between recurring payments (I don’t have any) and locations where your Chase card has been stored and used within the past nine months. There are separate tabs for each category.
The recurring elements are the most interesting. Chase Stored Cards identifies possible irregular charges (for example, if a subscription fee differs from its usual amount). It can also alert you to businesses that automatically update your card information if it changes (if you get a new card number, expiration date and/or security code), as well as which businesses you need to contact because they do not update this on their own. Chase will even help you cancel certain unwanted subscriptions.
How to stop automatic payments on the Chase app
Some subscriptions can be canceled via the Chase Stored Cards service. According to the bank, to see if a subscription is able to be canceled in this fashion, users should go to the business’ details page in the Stored Cards tool. If applicable, there is a “cancel subscription” link. Interested customers should click that and fill out the required information.
Chase does not charge any fees for this service, and it says service providers usually cancel unwanted subscriptions within three business days (although they may still keep the card on file unless you explicitly ask them to remove it).
OneMain Financial offers a similar subscription cancellation benefit to its customers. There are a number of third-party cancellation services which usually charge fees (either a monthly subscription fee – isn’t it ironic to pay a subscription fee for a service that cancels unwanted subscriptions? – or a percentage of the savings). Rocket Money, DoNotPay, Hiatus and PocketGuard are a few notable examples.
I’m not typically a fan of paying for things that I can do myself, but I’ll concede that it’s not always easy to figure out who to contact, so these services could be especially worthwhile if you’re in that position.
Tips for effectively managing your recurring payments
It’s important to review your bank and credit card statements each month. That can help you identify payment card fraud as well as money leaks such as services you willingly or unwillingly signed up for but no longer benefit from.
The FTC’s new rule should help, too, but I wonder how well it’s going to play out in the real world. I often hear from consumers who have trouble deciphering the terms of an offer and figuring out how to contact a company when they want to get out of a service contract. That’s supposed to change – for example, recurring billers could comply by sending monthly emails notifying customers that a payment is coming up with a link to cancel if they wish. Businesses can be fined for noncompliance. But what if the customer doesn’t notice? Or what if they changed their physical or electronic mailing address?
While you’re supposed to try to sort out billing problems with merchants, credit card disputes are a valuable fallback plan. If you’ve exhausted other avenues, filing a dispute with your card issuer might help you get your money back and prevent future unauthorized transactions.
You might also consider submitting a complaint to the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, your state’s Attorney General or another regulator.
The bottom line
The subscription economy is booming. It encompasses everything from streaming TV, movies and music to beauty boxes, meal kits, shaving equipment and more. Consumers enjoy many of these services, but it’s easy for recurring charges to fall through the cracks. Whether it’s a free trial that’s no longer free or a once-loved subscription that has lost its luster, it’s important to know where your money is going. Reviewing your monthly statements and taking advantage of tools such as Chase’s Stored Cards feature are good places to start.
*Information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
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