How to find all your recurring subscriptions and stop paying for what you don’t need
Chances are, your bank statement includes a few recurring monthly subscriptions in the ledger. Subscription services have become a convenient way of life for most of us. After all, it’s nice having socks, makeup, movies, and groceries delivered.
It’s less pleasant when you forget which companies have permission to bill your card each month after the free trial ends. According to a recent survey, two-thirds of Americans forgot to turn off at least one subscription service between 2020 and 2021. It also took half of the respondents at least three months to notice the subscription charges and take action.
From Apple to Amazon, every major company (and millions of small businesses) tempts you with subscriptions. The monthly charges are usually small, under $20, and designed to fly under the radar. Over time, these little charges do add up. Keep reading for easy ways to stay on top of your subscriptions.
How to track and cancel monthly subscriptions
Some subscription services are notoriously difficult to cancel. You might have to go through four or five rejection screens and then respond to an email or call customer service to cancel (we’re looking at you, IPSY).
Thankfully some banks have made it easy to track your monthly subscriptions right from your banking app. Once you see everything you’re subscribed to, you can cancel the ones you don’t want. Here’s how to do it on some of the most popular banking apps.
Chase
The Chase mobile app will allow you to view a list of all your automatic payments and easily make changes.
- After signing in to the Chase app, choose the account for the card you want and tap Show details.
- Tap Manage next to Automatic payments, then tap Edit in the top right corner.
- Change the amount, the pay-from account, or turn off automatic payments.
- Tap Done, then confirm your choices.
- Finally, tap Update automatic payments.
Going through an app like this shows all the automatic payments you’ve set up with your financial institution. If you see any subscriptions you want to get rid of, contact the company and cancel the subscription.
Pro tip: Remember that turning off automatic payments doesn’t cancel a subscription. You still need to do that through the company you’re doing business with.
Capital One
Capital One makes it easy to manage auto payments and subscriptions.
- Log in to your Capital One account.
- Click your profile photo.
- On your account page, select, I want to… and Manage AutoPay Series.
- Select Cancel Autopay.
TD
TD account holders can review all of their upcoming scheduled payments and make changes as needed.
- Log in to the TD App.
- Choose the Bills option from the menu.
- Scheduled Payments are listed under Payment Activity.
- Select the payment you want to cancel.
- Click Cancel Bill Payment at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Cancel to confirm.
Apple
You can manage all of your Apple subscriptions directly from your iPhone. Unlike banking apps, canceling Apple subscriptions through Apple is sufficient.
- Open the Settings app on your phone.
- Tap your name.
- Tap Subscriptions.
- Select the subscription you want to cancel.
- Tap Cancel Subscription.
To cancel subscriptions on a Mac:
- Open the App Store app.
- Click your name. If you can’t find your name, click Sign In.
- Click Account Settings.
- Scroll to Subscriptions, then click Manage.
- Next to the subscription, click Edit.
- Click Cancel Subscription. The subscription is already canceled if there is no Cancel or Cancel Subscription button.
Cancel an Apple subscription on a Windows PC:
- On your PC, open iTunes. If you don’t have iTunes, learn how to download iTunes for Windows here.
- From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account.
- Click View Account.
- Scroll to the Settings section. Next to Subscriptions, click Manage.
- Click Edit.
- Click Cancel Subscription. The subscription is already canceled if there is no Cancel or Cancel Subscription button.
Google will let you easily cancel any recurring subscription using its service. Remember, uninstalling an app does not cancel a subscription.
- Open the Google Play app or visit Google Play on your computer.
- Click on your profile photo.
- Select Payments & Subscriptions.
- Tap Subscriptions.
- Click Manage next to the subscription you want to cancel.
- Select Cancel subscription.
NOTE: Google says, if you have a subscription with an app and the app gets removed from Google Play, your future subscription will be canceled. Your past subscriptions will not be refunded.
There are other ways to cancel recurring subscriptions too. You can go directly to the manufacturers’ website. You could also use one of several popular apps to identify and stop recurring monthly charges.
Unfortunately, using third-party apps like that is not as secure. You expose your personal information and banking transactions to the app and developer. Unless you read the terms and conditions carefully, there’s no way to know what they do with your information from there.
You can better protect your privacy by dealing directly with your bank to stop your subscriptions. Check out these other ways to slash your monthly expenses and give unnecessary charges the boot.
Tags: Apple, Apple iPhone
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