Visa Adds Subscription Manager to Digital Enablement Suite for Issuers

Visa launched a new Subscription Manager service that financial institutions can provide to Visa cardholders.

The new service provides a single place where consumers can see where their card details are stored, view recurring payments attributed to their card and stop recurring payments, the company said in a Wednesday (April 3) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Managing subscriptions can often feel like a maze, with consumers sometimes feeling trapped in a cycle of confusing charges,” Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore, global head of issuing solutions at Visa, said in the release. “Our goal is to make this process simpler and ensure cardholders know exactly where their money is going, and when.”

Subscription Manager is designed to help consumers meet the challenge of managing their payments at a time when many are opting in to subscriptions in the retail, food and other sectors, according to the press release. Many of these subscriptions are managed through different apps, each of which may have its own terms.

The solution joins Visa’s Digital Enablement product suite, which features tools designed to help issuers offer their cardholders a better digital experience, per the release.

“The new solution supports Visa’s ongoing efforts to increase transparency and control in the subscription economy, building on initiatives such as its 2020 mandate that requires merchants to obtain cardholder consent after free trials or introductory promotions before initiating billing,” the press release said.

When announcing that mandate in April 2020, Visa said the policy is meant to combat the surprise debits that can occur when consumers sign up for a free trial, forget that they did so, and end up with unexpected recurring payments.

In another effort to meet this challenge, Mastercard said in March that it is piloting a subscription management solution called Smart Subscriptions that financial institutions can add to their consumer banking offerings.

Smart Subscriptions can be implemented by any bank and enables consumers to cancel, pause and resume their subscriptions; analyze and categorize their spending; see upcoming bills; and receive personalized offers from merchants.