Will my subscriptions (to streaming services and such) automatically stop if I cancel or replace my credit card? I just got a replacement card and want to know if I need to bother cancelling services?
Let’s say you have a few subscriptions or services tied to your credit card and they withdraw regular, monthly payments. Maybe you pay your phone bill this way, or your Netflix subscription, or you’re an Amazon Prime member. Whichever services you have, these accounts are linked to your credit card and they automatically withdraw a small amount of money each month.
Then your card is lost or compromised and you call the credit card company. You explain the breach, they cancel the old card number, and issue you a new card. Are you still subscribed to the monthly services?
Yes, you are. Depending on the service and the credit card, the service may be able to “follow” your new credit card and keep withdrawing funds from your card. However, what typically happens in these situations is you remain subscribed, but your automatic payment fails because the original credit card is no longer active.
When this happens, the service provider (Amazon, Netflix, your phone company) will probably charge you interest or a late fee and continue to provide the service (and continue to bill you). This will result in larger bills until the company cuts off your service or you pay them. Either way, you’ll end up with a larger bill which they’ll want to collect at some point.
To avoid these types of situations, where you’re getting billed for services but no payments are coming off your card, you should sign into each service and update your payment information. (Or cancel the service subscription if you no longer want it.)
Simply cancelling your old credit card does not cancel services linked to that card.
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