How do I manage subscription cancellations?

Subscriptions and recurring payments often require direct involvement with the merchant to manage. While Payhawk offers tools like spend policy to help control payments, it’s important to note Payhawk's limitations in managing or terminating subscription agreements with third-party merchants.

Notes on managing subscriptions

• Prioritize direct cancellations with the merchant. Note that Payhawk cannot cancel a subscription for you, as it does not have jurisdiction over agreements made between you and the merchant.

• Leverage supplementary tools in Payhawk, like blacklisting and card management, to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized charges.

• Be proactive to ensure that your subscriptions are managed closely, as Payhawk cannot guarantee that blocked merchants will not charge due to exceptions like pre-authorized payments.

Managing subscription cancellations

To address such situations, follow the steps below:

1. Cancel the subscription directly with the merchant - the most reliable way to stop recurring payments is to cancel the subscription directly with the merchant. This can usually be done via their website, customer service, or other official contact channels. Payhawk cannot terminate this type of agreement, as it is solely between you and the merchant.

2. Supplementary actions to prevent future charges - although contacting the merchant is the ideal approach, here are additional steps you can take if direct cancellation is not immediately possible:

   1. Blacklist the merchant on Payhawk:

      1. In the Payhawk Web Portal, go to Cards.

      2. Edit the relevant spend policy.

      3. Add the merchant to the blacklist to try blocking future transactions. Note that blacklisting does not guarantee full prevention of charges as some offline or pre-authorized transactions may still go through.

   2. Close or replace the card used for the subscription:

      1. If blocking alone is not effective, consider closing or replacing the card linked to the subscription. This may disrupt future billing attempts, but it won’t terminate the agreement with the merchant.

3. Reject upcoming payments - Payhawk does not support rejecting ongoing subscription payments directly. Contacting the merchant is essential to ensure the cancellation of the recurring payment authorization. Failing that, measures like blacklisting or card replacement described above can reduce the risk of additional charges.