Can You Block a Company From Charging Your Credit Card?

Yes—most credit card companies let you block a business from charging your credit card. This only applies to upcoming charges, and you can’t block a transaction that’s already been processed. 

That’s the short answer. 

Read on for a more in-depth explanation, including scenarios when you can block charges, when you can’t block charges, alternatives to blocking credit card charges, and exactly how to block a company from charging your card. 

I’ll also cover some important information for merchants, like the potential consequences of charging a credit card that’s been blocked.

When You Can Block Companies From Charging Your Credit Card

You can block a merchant from charging future payments to your card at any point. However, you should always contact the business first to cancel a recurring payment or subscription before contacting your card issuer.

Typically, you should be able to cancel an upcoming credit card charge directly with a merchant at least one day before the payment is due. But if you’re contacting your bank or card issuer to put a stop payment against a particular merchant, it may take up to three business days for that request to be processed.

Aside from suspected fraud, the only time you should block a merchant from charging your credit card is if you’ve already canceled a subscription or recurring payment and you’re continuing to get charged after you’ve revoked authorization. 

You should also keep in mind that when you call a business to cancel a service, you may still be charged the full or prorated amount for your current billing cycle. 

For example, you might get charged on the 15th of every month for goods and services received the prior month. So if you call a business to cancel your service on the 10th, you’ll still be charged on the 15th for the previous month (which is correct). So don’t be surprised when you see that charge on your statement, which may not be issued until the following month (depending on your credit card billing cycle). 

In this example, it’s possible that services you received in October could show up on your November credit card statement that was mailed to you in December. 

When Blocking a Company From Charging Your Card Won’t Work

To be clear, blocking a company from charging your credit card isn’t a loophole for getting out of a contract. Just because you’ve blocked a payment, you’ll most likely be bound to the terms of your contract and owe any outstanding balances.

Even if the bank blocks the charge, the merchant still has rights if you owe them money. Your account could be sent to collections, which can impact your credit score and potentially have legal consequences. 

It’s also worth noting that blocking a company from charging your credit card has no impact on any previous charges that you’ve been billed for—even if you feel like those charges were billed incorrectly.

Blocking a business from charging your card only applies to future transactions. 

Getting a refund for a previous transaction is an entirely different process that requires a valid reason to dispute a charge. In this scenario, you’ll need to file a dispute directly with your card issuer, which starts the chargeback process.

Read More: How Long Do You Have to Dispute a Credit Card Charge?

Alternatives to Blocking Businesses From Charging Your Card

Blocking a business from charging your credit card or debit card should be your last resort. First, you should try the following alternatives:

• Call or email a merchant to cancel your payments and revoke authorization.
• Go to your online account with the business to cancel your service.
• Request a refund directly from the merchant for incorrect charges.
• Dispute illegitimate charges with your credit card issuer.
• Contact your bank to stop automated payments and ACH transfers (for instances where it’s not strictly a credit card being used).

If you make a reasonable attempt at these alternatives and you’re still being charged for something you’ve canceled and revoked your authorization, then you can contact your credit card company to block a merchant from charging your card. 

How to Block a Company From Charging Your Credit Card

The exact steps to block a company from charging your credit card will vary based on your card issuing bank. 

Calling the phone number on the back of your credit card is typically a universal option. Even if the request needs to be put in writing, the phone support agent can guide you through that process.

Here are some specific steps for popular banks.

Chase Bank

If your credit card was issued by Chase, you’ll need to call Chase directly to block a merchant. 

You can see a full list of businesses where your card is stored through the Account Management menu online. However, if you click to expand the details of those merchants, you’ll see that Chase prompts you to contact the business directly to manage payments. 

US Bank

US Bank allows you to block merchants from charging your card either through your online account or mobile app.

Select Account Services from your web portal or Manage from the US Bank app, and then click Stop Recurring Payments. Select the merchant you want to block and then click Continue. 

American Express

Since American Express doubles as a card network and issuing bank, you can contact them directly to block companies from charging your card in the future. 

Just call the number on the back of your card, tell the agent that you want to block a merchant, and provide them with details—including the name of the business and your reason for blocking future charges. You may need to provide evidence that you’ve attempted to contact the merchant directly and that you’ve been unsuccessful in canceling a service.

PayPal

If your recurring payment is set up through PayPal, it’s very easy to stop future payments directly from your account. 

Simply navigate to the Payments menu and select Manage Automatic Payments. From there, just choose Cancel or Cancel Automatic Billing (depending on if you’re on the web or mobile app). 

This can be done up to one day before the next scheduled payment. But you’re still responsible for paying for any goods or services that have already been provided. 

A Quick Note About Locking or Freezing Your Credit Card

Today, the vast majority of card issuers have a simple feature that allows consumers to block or freeze their credit cards at any time.

This can easily be managed through your online account, mobile app, or by calling the card issuer.

However, it’s important to understand that the purpose of this feature isn’t to block a specific company from charging your card. It’s a security feature to prevent charges in instances where your card has been lost or stolen.

So yes, technically, locking or freezing your card will stop all merchants from charging your card while the freeze is on. But this is a short-term solution, and you’ll still owe any outstanding balances until you successfully cancel recurring payments or subscriptions.

Unsuccessful attempts will be processed during the next cycle after your freeze has been lifted. 

How to Stop Recurring Payments From Your Bank Account

Similar to credit card payments, your first step should always be to contact the business directly before blocking payments directly with your bank.

Payments pulled directly from your bank account via ACH transfer can sometimes be a bit trickier to manage, depending on how you’ve set this up.

For example, you might provide a utilities company with your routing number and account number and give them authorization to automatically withdraw what you owe for gas and electric charges. Some banks also have a “Bill Pay” service, in which the initial setup is initiated on the bank’s end instead of through the merchant. 

If you have Bill Pay enabled through your bank, this is easier to stop. Simply go to your Bill Pay account and cancel the automatic payment. Otherwise, you’ll need to request a stop payment order from your bank to block future payments from a business. Depending on your account type and the bank you’re using, you might be charged a fee for each stop-payment order.

In both of these scenarios, you’ll still be responsible for any goods or services that have been delivered, and canceling a Bill Pay or enabling a stop payment order does not cancel your contract with a third party. 

Merchant Guide: What Happens If You Charge a Credit Card That’s Blocked?

As a business, you’ll likely pay a small penalty and/or assessment fee if you charge a card that’s been blocked. The exact fee depends on how the transaction was processed, what type of card was used, and if you’ve re-attempted the charge too many times.

For example, Visa has an Issuer Never Approve Fee, which is a $0.10 penalty for each reauthorization attempt after a Category 1 decline code. 

There are several different Category 1 decline code reasons, but revoked authorization and a stop payment on the account are two reasons that fit this scenario. 

Mastercard also has an excessive authorization fee for unsuccessful attempts within a 24-hour period. 

So it’s in your best interest to set up a system in which any declined recurring payments aren’t continuously charged again and again. Otherwise, you’ll keep paying small penalties, and a high percentage of these charges could lead to additional consequences from the card issuers or your payment service provider. 

Final Thoughts

Consumers shouldn’t make a habit of blocking businesses from charging their credit cards. 

This method should only be used if you suspect fraud or if you’ve tried to cancel a recurring subscription and continue getting charged. 

For merchants, you should make it as easy as possible for your customers to cancel subscriptions so they don’t have to resort to these measures. It makes things easier for everyone, and you won’t have to pay penalties for charging cards that you don’t have authorization on.