How to stop automatic payments from your bank account or card
To stop automatic payments, tell the company in writing that you revoke its authorization to debit your account, then tell your bank or credit union that you revoked it. You can also give your bank a stop-payment order at least three business days before the next scheduled payment, by phone or in writing; the bank may ask for written confirmation within 14 days. Stopping the payment does not end the contract, so cancel the service itself in writing too.
Last reviewed 10 official sources
Stopping a payment is not cancelling
You have the right to stop a company from taking automatic payments from your account, even if you previously allowed them, according to the CFPB.
Automatic payments are different from your bank's bill-pay. With bill-pay you tell your bank to send the money. With automatic payments you give the company permission to take it, and the company must give you a copy of the terms of your authorization, as the CFPB explains.
Stopping the payment does not end what the payment was for. For a contract like a gym or cable, the CFPB says to cancel the contract with the company as well as telling it to stop automatic payments, so check Planet Fitness's cancellation guide or the page on gym memberships for how to leave. The same applies to software subscriptions and streaming services: end the plan, not only the payment.
The CFPB puts it plainly: cancelling an automatic payment does not cancel what you owe.
How to stop automatic payments, step by step
Revoke authorization with the company
Call the company and say you are withdrawing its permission to take automatic payments from your account. There may be an online form. Then follow up by letter or email, keep a copy for your records, and say whether you are cancelling the contract or only changing how you pay. The permission is sometimes called an ACH authorization, and revoking it stops electronic debits.
Tell your bank or credit union
Call your bank and say you have revoked the company's authorization to take automatic payments from your account. Your bank may have an online form. Follow up in writing. Once a bank has been told the authorization is no longer valid, Regulation E requires it to block all future payments for that debit, and it may not wait for the company to stop. If your bank asks for a copy of your revocation, send it within 14 days of your call, or the bank may let later payments through.
Add a stop-payment order if your bank suggests it
A stop-payment order is an instruction to your bank not to pay a named company from your account. Give it at least three business days before the next payment is scheduled, in person, by phone or in writing. If your bank asks for it in writing, send it within 14 days of your call. Banks generally charge a fee for stop-payment orders, so ask first.
Cancel the contract in writing
Stopping the money does not stop the service or the account. Find the company in our company cancellation guides and send a written cancellation, using the cancellation letter template if you need wording.
Watch your next statement
Once both the company and the bank know, any further payment initiated by that company would be an error, and you can ask your bank for a refund.
Revoking authorization vs a stop-payment order
The two tools overlap, and you can use both. A stop-payment order works even if you have not revoked your authorization with the company, according to the CFPB's sample stop-payment order. Once your bank knows the authorization is revoked, Regulation E requires it to block all future payments for that debit.
- What it is
- Revoking authorization
- You withdraw the company's permission to debit your account
- Stop-payment order
- An instruction to your bank not to pay a named company
- Who you tell
- Revoking authorization
- The company first, then your bank
- Stop-payment order
- Your bank
- Timing
- Revoking authorization
- Before the next payment; tell the bank as soon as you can
- Stop-payment order
- At least three business days before the scheduled date
- Written follow-up
- Revoking authorization
- Yes, to both the company and the bank
- Stop-payment order
- Bank may require it within 14 days of a phone order
- Cost
- Revoking authorization
- Ask your bank
- Stop-payment order
- Banks generally charge a fee
- What it stops
- Revoking authorization
- All future debits for that payment
- Stop-payment order
- The next payment, or all future payments to that company
| Revoking authorization | Stop-payment order | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | You withdraw the company's permission to debit your account | An instruction to your bank not to pay a named company |
| Who you tell | The company first, then your bank | Your bank |
| Timing | Before the next payment; tell the bank as soon as you can | At least three business days before the scheduled date |
| Written follow-up | Yes, to both the company and the bank | Bank may require it within 14 days of a phone order |
| Cost | Ask your bank | Banks generally charge a fee |
| What it stops | All future debits for that payment | The next payment, or all future payments to that company |
Your rights under Regulation E
Regulation E, 12 CFR § 1005.10, and official interpretations
Source: CFPB: Regulation E, 12 CFR § 1005.10, preauthorized transfers
- Preauthorized electronic fund transfers from a consumer's account may be authorized only by a writing signed or similarly authenticated by the consumer. The person that obtains the authorization shall provide a copy to the consumer.
- A consumer may stop payment of a preauthorized electronic fund transfer from the consumer's account by notifying the financial institution orally or in writing at least three business days before the scheduled date of the transfer.
- The financial institution may require the consumer to give written confirmation of a stop-payment order within 14 days of an oral notification. An institution that requires written confirmation shall inform the consumer of the requirement and provide the address where confirmation must be sent when the consumer gives the oral notification. An oral stop-payment order ceases to be binding after 14 days if the consumer fails to provide the required written confirmation.
- If the debit item is resubmitted, the institution must continue to honor the stop-payment order.
- Once a financial institution has been notified that the consumer's authorization is no longer valid, it must block all future payments for the particular debit transmitted by the designated payee-originator.
- The institution may confirm that the consumer has informed the payee-originator of the revocation (for example, by requiring a copy of the consumer's revocation as written confirmation to be provided within 14 days of an oral notification). If the institution does not receive the required written confirmation within the 14-day period, it may honor subsequent debits to the account.
The same stop-payment right is written into the statute, 15 U.S.C. § 1693e, which lets a consumer stop payment by notifying the financial institution orally or in writing at any time up to three business days before the scheduled date.
Recurring debit and credit card charges
Setting up automatic payments can mean giving a company your checking account or debit card information, per the CFPB. Debits that run through a debit card network are covered too. If your bank cannot block one directly, Regulation E lets it use a third party to block the transfers, as long as your account is not debited.
For a credit card, the FTC's advice when you cannot cancel a free trial is to call your credit card company and ask it to stop the payments. If a company charged you extra or will not stop charging your account after you told it to cancel, the FTC says to file a dispute, also called a chargeback, with your credit or debit card.
Sample letters
These two letters follow the CFPB's samples: the letter to a company and the stop-payment order. The CFPB also publishes a letter to your bank revoking authorization, which you should send only after you have told the company.
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]
[Company name]
[Company address]
RE: Revocation of authorization for debits
To Whom It May Concern:
Please stop taking automatic payments from my bank account for payments to my account with your company. My account number with your company is [Account number].
I am writing to inform you that I am revoking authorization for you to debit my account via electronic funds transfer. Choose one:
[This revocation applies to any and all future debits.] OR [This revocation applies to the next scheduled debit. I have not revoked authorization for other debits.]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Signature]
[Date]
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Date]
[Bank name]
[Bank address]
RE: Stop Payment Order
To Whom It May Concern:
I am sending this stop payment order to instruct you to stop making payments from my bank account [Account number] to [Company name]. My account number with the company is [Company account number].
I wish to stop: [all future payments to this company / the next payment only / a series of payments: specify dates].
I expect the next debit may be in the amount of [amount] on or near [date].
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Signature]
[Date]
If a payment still goes through
Tell your bank or credit union right away. The CFPB says federal law gives you the right to dispute and get your money back for unauthorized transfers from your account, as long as you tell your bank in time.
If the company or the bank does not fix it, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB. For disputing a charge that already posted, see how to dispute a charge for the timelines. For refund steps after a cancellation, see what to do if a company keeps charging you.
Send your cancellation by certified mail
Tell us the company you want to leave. We write a formal cancellation letter, mail it by certified mail the next business day and send you the delivery proof.
Sources
Official pages we read on the review date.
- CFPB: How do I stop automatic payments from my bank account?
- CFPB: How do automatic payments from a bank account work?
- CFPB: How can I stop a payday lender from electronically taking money out of my account?
- CFPB: Regulation E, 12 CFR § 1005.10, preauthorized transfers
- U.S. Code: 15 U.S.C. § 1693e, preauthorized transfers
- CFPB: Sample letter to a company revoking authorization for debits
- CFPB: Sample letter to your bank or credit union revoking authorization
- CFPB: Sample stop payment order
- FTC Consumer Advice: Getting in and out of free trials, auto-renewals and negative option subscriptions
- CFPB: Submit a complaint
This is general information, not legal advice.
Related guides
How to dispute a charge on a credit card, debit card or bank account
The steps, the 60-day deadline, credit and debit timelines side by side, and a dispute letter to copy.
What to do if a company keeps charging you after you cancel
Your proof, a letter to the company, a billing dispute with your card issuer within 60 days, and where to complain.
How to stop an automatic renewal
The practical sequence for stopping a plan that renews on its own, and what to do if it charges you anyway.
How to write a cancellation letter
What to include, in what order, with a sample letter and the mistakes that make a company write back instead of cancelling.
How to cancel a Direct Debit in the UK (and end the contract too)
In the UK, your bank stops a Direct Debit but only a letter to the company ends the contract. Timing, the Guarantee and card payments.
Questions readers ask next
Cancellation guides for companies
Each company guide shows how the company takes cancellations and the mailing address we hold for it.
