Personal Finance Tips

How to cancel a payment made on a Visa card?

Zorica Lončar

16.02.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 2 minutes

Paying for goods and services by card is easier than ever, whether tapping your contactless card in a shop or checking out online. But what happens when something goes wrong?

A prime example of this is when a payment is taken after your card is lost or stolen, or your card details used fraudulently. Or perhaps you’ve recently cancelled a service or subscription, and want to stop future payments going out. Whichever is this case, you’ll need to know how to cancel the payment.

In this guide, we’ll show you your options for cancelling payments made on a Visa card. This includes how to stop future payments going out and what to do if you’re a victim of fraud.

Looking for a new card? Check out the Wise international debit card for secure, convenient spending in 175 countries⁴.

But for now, let’s get back to Visa and how to cancel payments..

How to cancel a future payment on your Visa card

If you’ve agreed that a company can take a payment from your card at a future date, you also have the right to cancel the payment before it’s taken¹.

For example, if you’ve agreed to a future payment for a gym membership, magazine subscription or to pay back a loan. If you change your mind, you can contact your bank or card provider to stop the payment. You may also be entitled to a refund if the payment goes ahead even after you asked for it to be cancelled.

It’s important to bear in mind that these rights don’t extend to purchases of goods in shops, or services such as hotel bookings¹.

And if you’re cancelling payments for a service or subscription you’ve signed up to, you will still have to honour the payment using another payment method or at a different date.

What to do about unauthorised or fraudulent card payments

If you notice a card payment on your account that you didn’t make or authorise, or your card has been lost or stolen, here’s what to do.

As soon as you notice the payment or that your card is missing, contact your bank - or whoever issued your card. They’ll be able to help you with blocking or reversing the payment. They can also secure your card and account against future unauthorised payments.

For lost or stolen cards, you can also contact Visa, but only if you can’t get through to your bank. This can be helpful if you’re on holiday, for example. Call the Visa Global Customer Assistance Service (GCAS) and explain the situation. You can find a list of freephone numbers for different countries here².

What is the Visa Zero Liability Policy?

Another useful thing to know about is the Visa Zero Liability Policy.

This requires your bank or building society to refund your account if an unauthorised or fraudulent card payment has been made without your permission³.

They must do this within 5 days, although in some cases refunds are made immediately while the case is investigated³. You should be able to find out more about this and any other of Visa’s cancel payments processes from your bank.

Sources used:

Citizens Advice - Stopping a future payment on your debit or credit card
Visa - Lost or stolen cards
Visa - Visa Zero Liability Policy
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Sources last checked on date: 16-Jan-2023

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