Credit and debit cards are convenient, yet they lack some crucial features. Mastercard had high hopes for automatic billing, but that feature has now been officially removed.
Setting up recurring payments is one of the reasons why debit and credit cards have become so successful.
A Smart Business Decision by Mastercard
It now appears that era may come to an end, following some very troublesome developments in the payments industry.
Users who sign up for a free trial and forget to cancel it will have their subscription charged to a card automatically.
This business model has been in place for several years now.
For Mastercard users, that will no longer be the case.
In a surprising move, the company won’t allow the automatic renewals after a trial subscription any longer.
Companies who want to charge their customers will need to obtain their consent via email or text.
It is a very curious policy, albeit one that will undoubtedly please a lot of cardholders.
Free trials have been of great interest to millions of consumers, yet most of them never have any intention to pay for the product or service afterward.
Now that they can be safe from having money debited from their account if they forget to cancel it, an interesting situation is created.
What is even more remarkable is how companies will be forced to send clients information on how to cancel their subscription every time a billing period comes up.
It is now up to other card issuers, such as Visa and American Express, to follow this lead by example.