Switching credit cards--tips for coping with the autopay blues.

August 21, 2023 4:37 AM

Recently, I leveled up my point game by applying for several new credit cards . . . only to be faced with the lengthy, agonizing ordeal of contacting autopay vendors--by website, email or phone--to re-register the new cards. I'd been through this gauntlet ten years ago, when my data was stolen by a card skimmer at a gas station, but back then, vendors with whom I'd registered autopay were far fewer in number.

It's unlikely that I'll switch to other cards in the near future, but, given the possibility of fraud or theft, it would be prudent to come up with a system to simplify autopay re-registration, if one is available using modern technology and devices. Any thoughts on how to best accomplish this?

posted by Gordion Knott to Work & Money (10 answers total)

I also just recently went through this and a lot more vendors are accepting digital wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc) payments now, so I chose that if possible. They're great because if you change the default card in the digital wallet, they will charge the new card without you having to do anything.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:02 AM on August 21, 2023 [4 favorites]

I agree with the recommendation to "centralize" as much as possible through Apple or PayPal or similar. The other thing I have done is just let things miss a payment for a few days - they will let you know!, and you usually have a few days before anything bad happens in terms of late fees etc. In other words, other than really critical stuff (i.e., housing, electricity, etc.), just letting stuff bounce and then going around and fixing it has worked fine for me and also is instructive in letting you know about all of those long-forgotten subscriptions.
posted by Mid at 6:37 AM on August 21, 2023 [4 favorites]

2nding the idea to let non-critical providers contact you if they could not take payment. That spreads the admin out for you. It also prompts you to ask yourself if you don't want to curate your list of services/subscriptions a bit.
posted by koahiatamadl at 7:00 AM on August 21, 2023

Also if you're not in the habit of paying late, most places will refund your late fees 1x or 2x a year if you call and ask nicely.
posted by mcgsa at 7:05 AM on August 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

Low tech solution. Change the payment mechanism of everything you remember. And then monitor your old credit card and as new charges go through that should be on something else, update those. Depending on the frequency of autoplay, you'll be done in 1-3mo.

Alternatively, take your old card statement for the last few months and go through that to figure out what to update. Maybe I don't have as many places with my card on file, but after changing my number or address once every two years, it really isn't quite as overwhelming once you start getting going. I like doing this when I'm watching something on the TV.
posted by ellerhodes at 7:57 AM on August 21, 2023

I use a password keyring app (NordPass, though 1Password is also good) and it stores my username, password, and the login page for everything. I have all of the ones that represent autopay accounts tagged. When I need to go through and change things, I can do them bing bang boom, one after the other.

(Having a password app is also useful in general.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:41 AM on August 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

This isn't the answer you're looking for, but I have used this in the past as a prompt to be mindful about what things I even have on auto-pay and to audit whether I still need them. For example, lately we've been turning a jaundiced eye on streaming services, have already canceled Netflix, and now have a calendar reminder to revisit how we feel about Amazon Prime before our yearly plan renews. I've let magazines go rather than change my payment method on file, and there was once a gym membership we kept saying we'd use that didn't survive a card number change after a skimming incident.

I totally recommend sitting down and looking for recurring charges on your bill for the past 90 days or so and giving each one a little think before you change your payment method on file. You can also use it as a reminder to do things like call your cable company (if you even have one) or phone company and see if there are any new promotions for which you're eligible.
posted by fedward at 9:11 AM on August 21, 2023

I put my credit card # and details in a text file, and just cpoy-paste/ reapply as I get notifications.
posted by theora55 at 10:12 AM on August 21, 2023

As you already mentioned, one problem you'll typically encounter is that one of your cards will get hacked / stolen / whatever, you have to cancel it, and then you have to go update all of the vendors that had it configured for autopay. So what I do is reserve one card for these autopay / subscription services, and use it only for that. That card never gets used at gas stations, at restaurants, or regular online shopping. It's in my wallet, but all the way at the bottom of the stack because I only pull it out when setting up a new subscription.

In my experience, this makes it much less likely to get compromised.

A fringe benefit is that you can see, with each monthly statement, all of the subscriptions that you have set up. So you have a decent sense of what you're monthly total outlay is, like "okay, I'm spending $120/month on all those streaming services".
posted by intermod at 3:11 PM on August 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

One thing you can't reply on is having a card's experation date go by. Many vendors get the exp date directly.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:48 AM on August 22, 2023