No one wants to be unsatisfied with a physical product after paying for it. For some consumers, a free-trial is a great way to test out a new product and get comfortable with it before making a purchasing decision. And with so many merchants offering free product trials, they’re becoming the new norm.
However, sometimes a free trial of a skincare or healthcare product can unwittingly turn into a recurring product subscription that is difficult to cancel. These situations can be frustrating and costly for both consumers and their banks. 
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.
Free trial offers can be a legitimate and useful way to increase sales and improve consumer satisfaction. The new rules will help in increase transparency and ensure an outstanding experience for cardholders. In addition to these changes, Mastercard cardholders are also covered by our Zero Liability policy which protects them against unauthorized purchases or charges. If a cardholder suspects that a transaction is fraudulent or unusual, we encourage them to contact the bank that issues their card for assistance and more information.
*This blog was updated on January 17, 2019 to clarify that the rule change is applicable to physical products such as skincare, healthcare items etc.
49 Comments
Wow first I want to say thank you and this is
is very important to me
Thank you for protecting us consumers. Too many companies abuse consumers with misleading subscriptions
Bravo to you
Will always use my MasterCard
Bravo!!
Does the protection apply equally to both digital products, like a Netflix free trial, and physical products, like a razor blade free trial?
When does auto payments after a free trial start? DATE?
wow, it’s so cool! i have trouble with this every time:(
Ура! Раньше не могли додуматься до этого?
i WOULD LIKE THIS VERY MUCH ,AND SHOULD BE A GOOD BENIFET
Does this cover trials & recurring payments in the Apple AppStore & Google Play Store?
A clear example of such acts is the free trial from Sony Playstation Plus and subsequent withdrawals from an account in silence. Well done Mastercard. It’s better late than never.
Thank you. This is good …. should have been implemented years ago, but ok.
When will this new consumer protection be implemented?
another clear example is AMAZON, they take your card details then start taking money without telling you. I had to close my account!
Nice to see that new trends and regulations starting to take effect at the consumer side. Seems to be a good step towards customer satisfaction and security.
Wow! This is a _GREAT_ initiative, really. Big step for consumer protection. I’d like to see it implemented. Hopefully the merchants won’t find an easy way around this restriction.
Thank Go do!!!!!!!!!
This is a great policy and credit card feature. I contacted my bank, the my BJ’s Wholesale Club card, and they knew nothing about this. I contacted MasterCard directly, and they also knew nothing about this.
Shouldn’t MasterCard inform its customer service teams about the feature and train them before announcing a new feature? This is a bad customer experience.
Announcing a new feature, but not being able to sign up for it, get any information, or have a date that it will be available, somewhat defeats the purpose, not to mention causes customer confusion.
It is really good service. What date will it apply from?
I just called the chief and he said this aint it
Good news !
Wow, I’m stunned that MasterCard is actually doing something that helps protect consumers. In the US market especially, profit comes before all. MasterCard must be losing some serious cash on customer support and reversals to roll out this feature. Although this is totally a cost saving feature, I’ll take any consumer friendly features I can get, even if they are spun for marketing to make it seem as though MasterCard is doing this out of concern for consumers.
When does your new policy about being charged for free trials begin?
I never in 1 million years thought I would say this, but bravo! MasterCard.
Where can i get this i need one
This is wonderful. I would add one small clarification: make sure that the cancellation process includes an option where *I don’t have to speak to anyone*. Far too many times, those phone lines are open two hours a week, have an hour queue, and one you finally talk to someone, they are not able to cancel for made-up reasons and hang-up, send you at the back the queue, etc.
What happens if the merchant doesn’t abide by this rule?
Thnk you
A great initiative. It should have been taken by public institutions starting from the EU but they are negligent (as usual). So well done.
Digital advertising non profits
Thank God! It is way past time for this! My question is……what took so long?
Lonb, long overdue
Great new policy but why did you exempt streaming services? If a trial is truly “free”, why do companies need our card number in the 1st place?
This is quite an announcement. Can you confirm that this is only applicable to physical products and not services such as Netflix or online software products?
if not, are there plans to included online software products?
Thanks for making the companies offering free trials the responsibility to check after trial is the consumer wants the subscription to continue with payments taken out of acvouny.
Great move for the consumer.
Hey, so will all cards have this option, or only new ones, because my card was issued in 2017 ?
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Saya baru nak cuba buat akaun
Request to payment sultions
J aimerait avoir une carte de crédit pour moi a la maison
J aimerait avoir une carte de crédit pour moi a la maison réponds moi juste en français
Hi,
The article is very informative yet vague. This rule seemingly only impacts free trials that evolve into a paid recurring subscription whereby physical merchandise is delivered.
Could you please update the article to clarify if this impacts recurring subscriptions online or elsewhere, whereby there isn’t physical merchandise being delivered, simply a recurring subscription fee post free trial.
thanks, Lorenzo
Nevermind — *This blog was updated on January 17, 2019 to clarify that the rule change is applicable to physical products such as skincare, healthcare items etc.
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Definitely mentioning this on the next show. MasterCard is taking a good step to decreasing charge-backs. .
Thanks for the safety and protection of customers. We do appreciate
Awesome Post.
Thank for keep updating us! This is very important for us to know about everything related to the card.
Bravo man!
Nice article.