Master Card will now protect users against companies charging after free trials are over

Master Card today announced that they will now stop companies from automatically deducting money from user’s account after the free trial period ends.

Master card users will now be notified via SMS or email about the termination of their free trial period before companies start deducting money from their accounts. For every deduction from the user’s account after the expiry of the trial period, sellers will first gain approval from the cardholder.

Furthermore, the seller/service provider will also have to send an email or a text along with the details of the payment and complete instructions on how to cancel the subscription even if the consumer has given the permission to the seller (to charge them) or knowingly subscribed to service after the free trial. The card company said:

“Sometimes a free trial can unwittingly turn into a recurring subscription that is difficult to cancel. These situations can be frustrating and costly for both consumers and their banks.”

It’s no secret that many people make the mistake of starting a free trial and forgetting to cancel it, what this essentially does is that it allows companies or subscription service providers to keep deducting money from the user’s account. After realizing that people were losing money because of this, Master Card made this change to ensure that users don’t lose their money. The company says that the seller/service provider will have to gain another authorization at the end of the trial period before they charge the consumer.

“At Mastercard, we want every commerce engagement to be simple, safe, and secure,” said Mastercard.

This is a welcoming change from Master Card as these new changes will help increase transparency. Users will now not have to worry about trying to remember and cancel the services they have subscribed for a free trial, which often results in unwanted subscriptions and automatic deduction from the user’s bank account.