# FAQs
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/consumer-clarity/documentation/experience-design-guide/smart-subscriptions/resource/faqs/index.md

* [Understanding the capabilities](https://developer.mastercard.com/consumer-clarity/documentation/experience-design-guide/smart-subscriptions/resource/faqs/index.md#understanding-the-capabilities)
* [Customer-centric concerns](https://developer.mastercard.com/consumer-clarity/documentation/experience-design-guide/smart-subscriptions/resource/faqs/index.md#customer-centric-concerns)
* [Merchant questions](https://developer.mastercard.com/consumer-clarity/documentation/experience-design-guide/smart-subscriptions/resource/faqs/index.md#merchant-questions)

### Understanding the capabilities {#understanding-the-capabilities}

Subscription management allows a cardholder to manage subscriptions that they pay for with their card, within the banking application. Currently, this includes being able to cancel the subscriptions they no longer need. In the future, this will include being able to pause and resume subscriptions, as well as upgrade or downgrade the subscription plan. After logging in to the banking application or website, navigate to the list of card transactions. Select the subscription that should be managed to see the options available. Select the desired option and follow the instructions presented. Businesses offering subscription-based payment methods are continuously evolving. Our aim is to support cardholders with management of all services across all categories and industries. To this end, we are continuously adding businesses into the subscription management service.

If a subscription which a cardholder regularly pays for does not have any management options available, there may be a few different reasons why:

* The subscription is paid through a third-party payment provider that makes it unable to identify (such as PayPal, Klarna, or others).
  * Sometimes when the payment is made using a third-party payment provider, the transaction in the bank application does not show the subscription name accurately. This can lead to issues with identification of subscriptions.
* The cardholder recently subscribed to the service.
  * We need a consistent pattern of payments to identify a recurring subscription. It may take more than one payment cycle for our automatic identification service to recognize a new subscription.
* The cardholder is not paying for the subscription on their card (in other words, someone else may be paying for it).
  * Subscription management options are shown to the cardholder whose account the payment is taken from.
  * If the cardholder is using a service but the payment is made from another person's account, then that person's app will show the subscription management if they have a card and use it to make the payment.
  * The cardholder should speak to the person paying for the subscription to understand how they make the payment and ask them to manage the subscription within their app if they use a card for making the payment.
Once a cardholder views a subscription transaction, they can click it to reveal all the options available to manage the subscription. Currently, this includes the ability to cancel, and in the future, this will include the ability to pause, resume, upgrade or downgrade, and more.

* When a cardholder clicks any of these options, they may be prompted to provide certain details, such as email ID, phone number, or address. The cardholder needs to provide the details associated with the subscription account and submit the request. These details will be sent to the merchant on the cardholder's behalf. After the merchant confirms the outcome of the request, the status will be updated.
* Sometimes, when a cardholder clicks an option, they may be shown detailed instructions to manage the subscription themselves. In this case, we recommend that the cardholder uses the step-by-step instructions provided to perform the action directly with the merchant.
The management process is different for different subscriptions due to the merchant's policies and terms and conditions. To ensure that the cardholders get the best experience possible, we have different ways to reach out to the merchant. Thus, the journey may look different for different subscriptions. There are two types of journeys possible:

* An automated journey where we request the cardholder's subscription details and reach out to the merchant on the cardholder's behalf.
* A self-serve journey, where we provide step-by-step directions to the cardholder to manage the subscription with the merchant directly.
When provided with the self-serve journey for managing a subscription, we recommend that the cardholder follows the step-by-step instructions to reach the merchant's website directly. In case of issues, use the help section on the merchant's website to get clarification or use the merchant's customer support to raise an issue directly with their team.

### Customer-centric concerns {#customer-centric-concerns}

If the link provided in the self-serve journey for managing a subscription does not work, there may be a few different reasons why:

* The Internet connection is not working.
  * We recommend checking the Internet settings on the device and trying again after ensuring the Internet is working as expected.
* The browser settings disable loading an external website.
  * We recommend checking the browser settings and trying again after ensuring the browser is working as expected.
* There is another technical issue with the device.
  * We recommend restarting the device and trying again after ensuring it is working as expected.
* There is a technical issue with the merchant website.
  * We recommend trying to load the website again after some time.
* There is an unknown issue with the link.
  * We recommend trying again after some time, or directly reaching out to the merchant to manage the subscription.
Unfortunately, we are unable to help if any subscription account details are unavailable. We recommend that the cardholder directly reaches out to the merchant to manage the subscription through their website or customer support. Cancellation requests are sent to merchants as soon as they are submitted by the cardholder and the average time taken for the merchant to process the request is 1-3 business days.

There may be rare occasions where the cancellation request may take longer, especially during peak processing periods.

The status of the request can be viewed within the banking app. Once it is processed by the merchant, the outcome will either be successful or unsuccessful and will be updated in the banking app.

If a cardholder wishes to follow up on the status of an ongoing request, we recommend they contact the merchant directly.

### Merchant questions {#merchant-questions}

There may be a few different reasons why the request may not have been processed. Some common reasons are:

* **No matching account was found based on the information provided:** The merchant was not able to identify an account based on the information provided, because some of the details were factually incorrect.
  * In this scenario, we recommend that the cardholder resubmits the request with the correct details.
* **The cardholder is the consumer but not the owner of the subscription:** The merchant may not have been able to identify the account as the details on the account may have someone else's information (like someone in the cardholder's family or friend circle.)
  * In this scenario, we recommend that the cardholder checks if the subscription is in their name and resubmits the request with the correct details or reaches out to the owner of the subscription and asks them to submit a request.
* **The cardholder made the payment through a third party:** The merchant was unable to process the request because the payment is made through a third party, such as Roku, cable companies, Apple, or Google Play.
  * In this scenario, we recommend reaching out to the third party through which the subscription was initiated or contacting the merchant directly.
* **The cardholder already cancelled the subscription outside of the banking app:** The merchant was unable to process the request because the service was cancelled directly with the merchant.
  * In this scenario, there is nothing more to do as the cardholder should not get charged in the future.
* **The subscription has a binding period:** The merchant was unable to process the request because the subscription has a binding period contract which requires the cardholder to make payment for a set period of time.
  * In this scenario, we recommend that the cardholder reaches out to the merchant directly and negotiates an early release from the contract.
* **It was a free trial:** The merchant was unable to process the request as the subscription was a free trial that already expired and cancelled before the first payment was due.
  * In this scenario, there is nothing more to do as the cardholder shouldn't get charged in the future.  

In general, we always recommend the cardholder checks their details carefully before submitting a request to ensure fast and successful cancellations.
It is not possible to withdraw a cancellation request once it has been submitted from within the banking app. If the cardholder wishes to withdraw the cancellation request, we recommend they contact the merchant directly. It is uncommon for a merchant to deduct money from a cardholder's account after processing a cancellation request. However, if it does happen, it could be a result of:

* **Multiple subscriptions:** if the cardholder has multiple subscriptions with the same merchant or recently restarted a subscription, the payment may have been a result of that.
  * In this case, we recommend the cardholder checks if they have multiple subscriptions and ensure they cancel/change the ones that are not needed.
* **Notice period:** the subscription is subject to a minimum notice period that extends beyond the next payment date.
  * In this case, the cardholder will need to pay the balance for the period between the next payment date and the end of the notice period. If there are issues with this, we recommend that the cardholder reaches out to the merchant directly.
* **Timing of the cancellation request:** the cancellation request was placed too close to the next payment date. For example, some merchants will not be able to process the cancellation request immediately if the next payment date is due in less than 24 hours. In this case, the cancellation will become effective after the payment is withdrawn.
  * In this case, there is not much that can be done as the request to cancel was not made in time for the merchant to process it. If the merchant has confirmed cancellation, they will not take payment in the next month.  

If the cardholder suspects that the money may have been withdrawn in error, we recommend they reach out to the merchant directly.


If the cardholder wishes to restart the subscription after a successful cancellation, they can directly reach out to the merchant using their website and subscribe to their services using again. In the future, resubscribing to a subscription will be added as a subscription management feature within the banking app.   

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Next: [Figma Files](https://developer.mastercard.com/consumer-clarity/documentation/experience-design-guide/smart-subscriptions/resource/figma-files/index.md)