What to do if…
a lender or subscription service pulls more money than you authorised from your account

What to do now

1. Check how the money was taken.

   • Look at the transaction details and identify whether it was a bank-account automatic debit, a debit-card transaction, or a credit-card charge.
   • Save the date, amount, company name, transaction description, and any reference number.
   • Save any record showing the amount you agreed to, the date you cancelled, or the date you revoked permission.

2. Contact your bank or card issuer now.

   • Say: “This company took more than I authorized” or “This payment was taken after I cancelled or revoked authorization.”
   • Ask the bank or card issuer to open the correct dispute for that transaction type.
   • Ask what control is available to prevent another payment from the same company and whether you need to complete a form or take any further step.

3. For a bank-account automatic debit, revoke permission and ask about stop payment.

   • Tell the company in writing that you revoke authorization for future automatic debits from your bank account. Keep a copy.
   • Tell your bank or credit union that you revoked authorization and ask it to stop future automatic debits from that company.
   • If another preauthorized debit is scheduled, ask for a stop-payment order as early as possible. For a scheduled preauthorized electronic fund transfer, notice given to the bank at least three business days before the transfer is important.
   • Ask whether the bank requires written confirmation and where to send it. If written confirmation is required after an oral stop-payment request, send it within 14 days.

4. Start the dispute promptly and preserve the formal route.

   • For a bank-account or debit-card electronic-transfer error, tell the financial institution promptly. Explain the type, date, and amount of the error. To use the Regulation E error-resolution process, the institution generally must receive your notice no later than 60 days after it sends the periodic statement that first shows the error.
   • The financial institution may require written confirmation within 10 business days after an oral electronic-transfer error notice. Send the confirmation promptly using the address or process it gives you.
   • For a credit-card billing error, use the issuer’s dispute process promptly and send a written billing-error notice to the billing-inquiries address shown by the issuer. To preserve the Regulation Z billing-error route, the creditor generally must receive the written notice no later than 60 days after it sends the first periodic statement showing the alleged error.
   • Keep a copy of every message and note the date, time, and reference number for every call.

5. If the payment was from a lender, arrange the next correct payment.

   • Ask the lender in writing for the correct amount due.
   • Ask how to pay manually while the automatic-payment issue is being handled.
   • Keep paying any amount you still owe using the agreed method. Stopping an automatic debit does not cancel the debt.

6. Protect essential spending.

   • Turn on transaction and low-balance alerts if they are available.
   • If the extra debit has affected essential costs, tell the bank and ask it to review any related overdraft or returned-payment fees.
   • Explain which fees followed from the disputed debit and keep a note of the bank’s response.

7. Escalate if the bank, card issuer, lender, or subscription service does not resolve the problem.

   • For a bank, card issuer, or consumer-lender problem, consider submitting a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
   • For a subscription cancellation problem or a subscription charge you did not agree to, consider reporting it to the Federal Trade Commission.
   • You can also find your state attorney general through the USAGov directory.