Setting up a recurring payment is a convenient way to settle those recurring charges like cable bills, cell phone bills, gym membership fees, magazine subscriptions, etc. With recurring payment, you don’t have to worry about making those monthly payments yourself, as everything will be done automatically. Sometimes, you may get fed up with a particular service and decide to end your relationship with them. At times like that, you may want to know if stopping such a company from charging your credit card is possible.
To block a company from charging your credit card, simply contact your card issuer and tell them of your intention to stop the merchant from charging your card. If your credit card issuer is corporative, they’ll assist you.
When that magazine hike its price from $15 to a price you find outrageous, what do? The first thought that would likely cross your mind would be to cancel your subscription with the merchant. Or, if it is a magazine you love, you may decide to call their representative to negotiate a considerable fee. However, if the latter is unsuccessful, you may have no choice but to cut your tie with the company. And that is where the question “Can I stop a company from charging my credit card?” comes in. As we progress, you’ll find out.
Can a bank deny access to your money?
Can You Block a Company From Charging Your Credit Card?
When you set up a recurring payment, the merchant or company will have the right to charge your credit card without further confirmation from you. So, if, for instance, you set up a recurring payment for a local newspaper that costs $10, you’ll be charged $10 on a monthly, daily, or weekly basis (depending on your contract with them). Of course, making recurring payments in such a way has made life a little easy. It has eliminated the stress involved in the process of making those frequent payments.
While we cannot dispute the fact that recurring payments have added ease to the process of settling those recurring charges, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that some issues may arise when you decide to end your relationship with the merchant. And this is where you begin to ask yourself, “Can I block a company from charging my card?” Of course, you can. However, it depends on a few factors. First off, it depends on your credit card company.
If your credit card company isn’t cooperative, it may decide not to help you. In such a case, the best way to block the merchant from deducting money from your credit card is by contacting the merchant. Also, not all merchants are corporative in this aspect, especially when you still have a running contract. A running contract? What does this mean? You see, when you set up a recurring payment, you are indirectly entering an agreement with the merchant. So when you decide to halt your relationship with such a merchant before the expiration of the contract, you’ll be met with resistance.
In such a case, if you contact your credit card issuer or your bank, they may not be able to help you even if they are willing to. This is because the contract you have is not with them but with the merchant. To make things clearer, I’ll give you an instance.
For example, you set up a recurring payment for a maid service. However, a few weeks later, you stumbled across an alternative maid service that charges less. So, you decided to cancel the service and jump ship. You call the merchant and inform them of your decision, but they tell you that they’ll charge you anyways because you waited too long to cancel (based on their policy).
In such a case, your credit card company may not be able to help. Even if they decide to block the charges, you’ll still have to pay the recurring bill because the contract you have with the merchant is still on course. So what do you do? The suitable thing to do here is contact the merchant (maid service) and see if they can reduce their charges. If they can’t, you’ll have to stick with them till the end of your contract. After the contract has ended, you can decide to cancel their service without worrying about them still charging you.
If there was no agreement between you and the company or merchant, the best way to restrict them from charging your credit card is to call them. Tell them of your intention to cancel the service, and they’ll do so. However, if they prove to be stubborn, you can decide to call your credit card company. If your credit card company is corporative, it should be able to block the merchant from charging your card.
Should you be worried if a credit card transaction is not showing up?
Can You Have Your Bank Block a Company From Charging?
A recurring payment is very beneficial. It makes the process of paying those recurring bills effortless and more convenient. With recurring payment, you don’t have to perform the process over and over again. It becomes automatic. However, sometimes, you may, for one reason or another, want to end your relationship with a merchant and probably try out a cheaper alternative. At this point, you’d be looking for ways to block the merchant from charging your card. Thus, you may want to know if your bank can help in that regards.
You can have your bank block a company from charging. To do this, you’ll have to give your bank a “stop payment order.” A stop payment order instructs your bank to stop allowing the company to extract payment from your account.
You can also decide to contact the company and tell them that you are eliminating your permission for the company to remove the automatic payment from your bank account. This is commonly known as “Revoking payment”. Afterwards, contact your bank and inform them that you have “revoked authorization” for the merchant or company to take automatic payment from your account.
However, you should note that stopping your payment doesn’t end your contract with the company. Some companies may still be able to charge you even after blocking the charge. This is because the contract you have with the company is still on course.
So, even if you decide to change your credit card, the company will still be able to charge you until the contract ends. The best way to cancel such charges is by cancelling your contract with the company and demand that it halts automatic payments.
Should you be worried if a credit card pending transaction disappeared?
