How To Stop Credit Card Payment

Stopping a Credit Card payment is a time-sensitive matter. Here are some ways to stop and reverse a Credit Card payment.

Stopping a Credit Card payment is a time-sensitive matter. You can stop a Credit Card payment that is due, but if a payment has already been made then the only thing you can do is try and reverse it.

You can stop a Credit Card payment in advance for any one-off payment that is due or for a recurring payment such as your Netflix membership plan for example. Remember, you can only stop these payments before they are made.

How To Stop A Credit Card Payment

Ask The Bank

You can stop a Credit Card payment by informing your card issuing bank of the same before the payment due date. You can take the help of your bank’s customer service representatives or take the net banking route. Most banks allow their customers to stop recurring or future Credit Card payments that are due, right from their net banking account.

Ask The Service Provider

In the case of a recurring payment, you can also look at cancelling your subscription by speaking with the merchant directly. This works well for monthly magazines and online streaming service subscriptions.

When you sign up for these services, merchants give you the option to cancel your subscription with a single click. You can always resume these services later when you have the funds.

Additional Reading: How to close a credit card!

If The Bank Doesn’t Stop The Payment

If you give a stop payment notice to your bank in advance, but you still get charged for it, you can ask the bank to refund the money along with all the interest costs.

Many people tend to make payments for goods and services using their Credit Cards, either online or offline. Sometimes, after making a payment, you may want to cancel your order or transaction due to whatever reason.

Some of the ways by which people can reverse Credit Card payments are as follows:

Online Refunds

Many people use their Credit Cards to make purchases online. When you make an online payment for a product and then cancel your order, you may get a refund of the full payment.

However, before making a purchase, you should read the returns and refunds policy of the merchant you are making the payment to. Every merchant has their own refund policy for cancelled orders.

Some websites do not provide refunds, some have conditions on refunds, some provide points as refunds instead of cash and there are even some websites that provide a full refund without asking for a reason.

These refunds usually take about 7 to 14 working days to go through.

Additional Reading: 11 Tips To Scam-Proof Your Online Transactions

Double Swipe

On rare occasions, when you swipe your Credit Card at a store, you receive an SMS saying you have been charged, but the machine does not provide a charge slip. In this case, the store owner may ask you to swipe your card again.

Due to this, you may end up paying twice for a product because of a glitch in the machine. If you report such incidents to the bank, your bank will forward details about the same to the merchant and ask them to accept the reversal request.

Cancellation of Purchases

Credit Card holders have the option of cancelling any card transactions that they have made both online or at brick and mortar stores. Cardholders can either cancel the transaction directly or demand a chargeback.

For direct cancellation, cardholders have to cancel the order and the payment will be reversed to their bank account within 30 minutes. Chargeback is a way through which cardholders can cancel their purchase if they are not satisfied with the service or product they bought.

In this case, the banks will reverse the amount to the Credit Card and will not pay it to the merchant. Customers have to place chargeback requests within a period of 180 days, starting from the date of purchase.

Additional Reading: 10 Smart Ways to Avoid Credit Card Frauds

Possible Options In Case Of Non-Reversal Of Funds

In case online merchants or card companies fail to reverse card payments after multiple reminders, customers have the option of approaching the consumer court.

And if the merchant hesitates to refund the money, the customer can approach a district forum court. In the case of online transactions, get in touch with the online merchant directly using their ‘Contact Us’ page. You can also use their social media handles and file a formal complaint. Most genuine online merchants try and resolve all consumer complaints at the earliest since any bad publicity can be detrimental to their business in the long run.

Additional Reading: 8 Unimaginable Reasons You May Be Denied A Loan Or Credit Card

Here’s a short list of the transactions that you can dispute and get a reversal:

• Any transaction that wasn’t authorised by you or anyone who has access to your card
• Any fraudulent transactions made from your card
• Charges on your card statement that do not match with the receipts you hold. For example, if made a transaction for Rs. 500, but your card was charged for Rs. 1,000 by the merchant, you can ask for a reversal of the extra charge
• Duplicate charges can be disputed as well. For instance, if you bought a product online, but the merchant charged you twice for the same purchase, you can raise a refund request
• Refunds that have not been processed can also be disputed
• If you’ve made a transaction, but cancelled within the cancellation period offered by the merchant, you can demand a reversal of the charged amount
• If you’ve enabled auto-payments on your card and then cancelled them, your card isn’t supposed to be billed further. In case it still gets charged post-cancellation, you can raise the issue and ask for a reversal
• ATM withdrawals can be disputed if the amount dispensed didn’t match the amount entered, or if the ATM didn’t dispense money but your account was debited.

Additional Reading: 5 Things To Know For First-Time Credit Card Users

Credit Cards come with enough protection to ensure the safety of your money. You also benefit from a whole range of features like cashback, discounts and fee waivers. Explore the wide range of Credit Cards we have on our website and take your pick.

Additional reading: Credit Card Handbook: All Questions Answered