They got ya back, Jack.
Update: MasterCard has since updated their post to clarify that this feature is only for physical products. The rest of the article has been left for posterity.And to maybe get someone to roll over on the original assumption.
You know that scummy thing companies do, where they start charging you for a subscription right after a free trial runs out? And, you know, you forgot to cancel before that point? Well, there’s some good news. MasterCard isn’t going to let that shit happen anymore without your say so.
At Mastercard, we want every commerce engagement to be simple, safe and secure and we are introducing rules for merchants that offer free-trials to make this a hassle-free experience for their consumers. The rule change will require merchants to gain cardholder approval at the conclusion of the trial before they start billing. To help cardholders with that decision, merchants will be required to send the cardholder – either by email or text – the transaction amount, payment date, merchant name along with explicit instructions on how to cancel a trial.
For each payment thereafter, the merchant will have to send a receipt to the cardholder for each transaction by email or text message with clear instructions on how to cancel the service if the consumer so desires. In addition, all charges that appear on the cardholder’s statement must now include the merchant website URL or the phone number of the store where the cardholder made the purchase.
Overall, this is a pretty good change. And it’s probably something you’ll hopefully see other major cards do in their own way.Especially as one of the best things here are the receipts; for the unsavvy, they contain info on cancelling the given subscription. Doubly helpful if you subscribed to the sort of service that deliberately makes it hard to find a way to quit.
Source: Engadget
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