topic Re: Locking credit card in Credit Cards

Locking credit card

red259 — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 18:53:33 GMT

Posted a question about locking a credit card to avoid a recurring charge but just realized that recurring charges will go through the lock with this particular card.

Re: Locking credit card

M_Smart007 — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 20:29:58 GMT

@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?

Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.

Re: Locking credit card

coldfusion — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 20:30:09 GMT

Having an issuer continue to process recurring charges on a locked card is not a 100% guarantee. Even those that will do it often won't continue to do it indefinitely.

How happy you are with the outcome is dependent upon the issuer (maybe you wanted to even block recurring charges) but as you're already starting to realize this is a pretty grey area.

Re: Locking credit card

wasCB14 — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 20:44:10 GMT

@M_Smart007 wrote:
@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?
Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.

While I've never experienced, I've heard some issuers will approve recurring charges from merchants using an old card number. Getting a new number might not be 100% guaranteed to stop old charges.

Re: Locking credit card

Credit12Fico — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 20:51:58 GMT

@M_Smart007 wrote:
@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?
Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.

You might think this would do the trick...but the brilliant overlords at the banks and Visa/Mastercard have a "Updater" system that Merchants can subcribe to, so that they are able to bill your new card number automatically for recurring charges (without you giving it to them), once the old account number is reported as closed/canceled due to lost/stolen or whatever other reason. A misguided "convenience" service for the customer...

It will depend on the merchant who subscribed to services like this. Just hope yours is not one of them.

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-account-updater-product-information-fact-sheet-for-merchants.pdf

Re: Locking credit card

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 22:36:39 GMT

@Credit12Fico wrote:
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?
Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.

You might think this would do the trick...but the brilliant overlords at the banks and Visa/Mastercard have a "Updater" system that Merchants can subcribe to, so that they are able to bill your new card number automatically for recurring charges (without you giving it to them), once the old account number is reported as closed/canceled due to lost/stolen or whatever other reason. A misguided "convenience" service for the customer...

It will depend on the merchant who subscribed to services like this. Just hope yours is not one of them.

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-account-updater-product-information-fact-sheet-for-merchants.pdf

Actually, I think it really is genuinely a convenience. My guess is that more people are having cards replaced due to fraud, and they are somewhat likely to miss some of their recurring billers. But yes, for persistant shady billers, it would be good to have a way to shut them down

Re: Locking credit card

CYBERSAM — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 22:46:19 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?
Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.
While I've never experienced, I've heard some issuers will approve recurring charges from merchants using an old card number. Getting a new number might not be 100% guaranteed to stop old charges.

You are 100% correct. I know for fact that Citi and Barclay continue to authorize recurring charges after issuing a new card number.

But by contacting banks directly to block authorization is very easy way to resolve this.

Re: Locking credit card

ccquest — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 23:54:43 GMT

Another DP for Citi putting recurring charges through on new card numbers. Happened to my mom about 4 times before they finally understood that those charges were fraudulent each time and needed to be blocked after she got a new card each time.

Re: Locking credit card

sammydavidjr — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 12:42:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Credit12Fico wrote:
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@red259, Can you call the CC lender and have it blocked?
Also is there a phone # on your statement for the recurring charge?

Last resort, cut the card up and report it lost. Get a replacement with a new CC#.

You might think this would do the trick...but the brilliant overlords at the banks and Visa/Mastercard have a "Updater" system that Merchants can subcribe to, so that they are able to bill your new card number automatically for recurring charges (without you giving it to them), once the old account number is reported as closed/canceled due to lost/stolen or whatever other reason. A misguided "convenience" service for the customer...

It will depend on the merchant who subscribed to services like this. Just hope yours is not one of them.

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-account-updater-product-information-fact-sheet-for-merchants.pdf
Actually, I think it really is genuinely a convenience. My guess is that more people are having cards replaced due to fraud, and they are somewhat likely to miss some of their recurring billers. But yes, for persistant shady billers, it would be good to have a way to shut them down

I've been working for subscription businesses for over a decade: while numbers and proportions vary a lot depending on the industry and the merchant, it's true that credit card updaters for recurring relationships are usually a convenience.
Consumer recurring revenue businesses have been booming recently: they can be extremely lucrative even when they don't truly provide a lot of value to consumers. But the whole subscription world is changing quite drastically:

1) After the subscription bonanza of the 2010-2019 decade, companies like Trim and TrueBill are giving consumers easier ways to monitor their recurring billings and even cancel them. With the multiplication of recurring charges, companies will have to fight more aggressively for a place in people's wallets (or -- more precisely -- in people's monthly credit card bills).

2) Apple and Google are managing more and more subscription relationships (taking a hefty 30% commission to do so when the purchases are for digital goods in an app). They also make it easier and easier for people to remember and cancel their subscriptions. They do, however, provide certain advantages to merchants (see below).
3) "Friendly fraud" is eventually going to disappear: a lot of consumers opt into subscriptions, use the services, and then dispute the charges with their credit card company invoking fraud (that's especially common when the services are digital). This phenomenon is called "friendly fraud" in the industry. Several companies have built software that makes it easier and cheaper for merchants to defend those disputes. And merchants are gaining a tiny bit of leverage against credit card issuers (who tend to side with consumers) because they are starting to have more options to bill customers: billing via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, Venmo are all ways to minimize friendly fraud.
4) For those who want the power to manage subscriptions, perhaps the best option is Privacy.com. You don't really get points, but you can use their service to open pretty much as many credit card numbers as you need. The catch is that one card can be used with only one merchant (that's also how they keep things secure). You can use one card for every subscription: if you have trouble cancelling a subscription you no longer need, you can just pause or kill the relevant card in your account, and they will stop accepting charges.

Re: Locking credit card

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 01:39:31 GMT

I had this happen to me in February 2017 with my Citi DC card. After shutting down a reoccurring and getting a credit dispute, it happened again. I called Citi to explain the situation and got another credit. The CSR told me the best way to stop it is to get a new card with a new number issued to me. So I agreed and was told that any other reoccurring transactions would be declined so I'd need to update those billers with the new card number.

Never saw the fraudulent reoccurring charge again.

Re: Locking credit card

tacpoly — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 09:46:32 GMT

I don't think I saw this, but is there a reason why you can't contact the merchant to stop the recurring charge?

Re: Locking credit card

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 10:49:43 GMT

@tacpoly wrote:
I don't think I saw this, but is there a reason why you can't contact the merchant to stop the recurring charge?

I did this, but was told I must continue payment each month for a year due to the "contract" that I signed. I signed no contract. The website said I can cancel at any time.

After getting a new card, they did call me informing me that a payment is due and that I was violating the contract. I told them to sue me and bring a copy of the "contract" that I "signed" to court.

I monitored my credit report closely for 6 months. No issues.

Re: Locking credit card

UpperNwGuy — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 17:37:06 GMT

This why I don't do autopay or recurring charges. Every time I get into one of those arrangements, I have a heckuva time getting back out.

Re: Locking credit card

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 00:42:02 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
This why I don't do autopay or recurring charges. Every time I get into one of those arrangements, I have a heckuva time getting back out.

Yeah, some don't want to give up the revenue stream. Your basic expenses like cell phone and internet usually aren't a problem. Subscriptions are a little tougher to get rid of.