How to stop a continuous payment authority

A continuous payment authority is a regular payment taken from your debit or credit card. It is set up when you give a company your card details so they can take payments from you, and it is also called a recurring transaction or a regular card payment¹. Payday lenders, buy now pay later firms, subscription services and some debt collection agencies use them¹.

You can stop one. Your bank or card provider must cancel the payment authority when you ask, and once you have asked them to, the card issuer must stop the payments even if you have not contacted the business³. You do not need the lender's permission, and the card issuer cannot insist that you speak to the business first³.

The deadline matters. You must ask your card issuer or the business to cancel by the end of the business day before your next payment is due to be taken³. Miss it and that particular payment will still go out¹. Cancelling the authority stops the money leaving your account, but it does not cancel the debt you owe¹.

What a continuous payment authority is and why it keeps taking money

A continuous payment authority is a type of recurring payment that lenders can set up on a customer's card account with permission to take payments when they are due⁶. It is built on your card details rather than your bank account number and sort code, which is why it behaves differently from a direct debit¹.

The Financial Ombudsman Service describes it as a recurring payment that may be known as a continuous payment authority, a recurring transaction or a regular card payment². StepChange lists magazine subscriptions, gym memberships, some debt collection agencies and payday loans among the payments commonly collected this way¹. National Debtline notes that a payday lender may take payment directly from your bank account if it holds a continuous payment authority⁷.

Two features explain why these payments can be hard to shake off. The amount and the payment date can change, and the arrangement can be hard to cancel⁸. Because the authority sits with your card rather than with a standing instruction on your account, it can keep drawing money until you actively withdraw it.

You can cancel with your bank or card provider directly

The right to go straight to your bank or card provider is the part of this that people most often do not know about. Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, your bank or card provider must cancel the payment authority⁴. The Financial Ombudsman Service is blunt about it: regulations make it clear that when a customer requests to cancel a continuous payment authority, the bank is required to do so, regardless of the arrangements between the customer and a lender⁶.

The FCA says you can cancel a recurring card payment by contacting the business taking the payment and asking them to stop, or by asking your card issuer to cancel the payment³. Once you have asked them to, your card issuer must stop the payments even if you have not contacted the business³. National Debtline puts it the same way: you have the right to cancel directly with your card issuer, and once you have done this it must stop payments immediately⁹.

You can cancel in several ways. StepChange lists over the phone, by email, in a bank branch, or in writing¹. Some banks also let you raise it through their app or online banking. Danske Bank, for example, tells customers they can cancel a continuous payment authority at any time by contacting the merchant, or contact the bank to block the payment¹⁰.

If you would rather put it in writing, National Debtline and Business Debtline both publish free sample letters for withdrawing a continuous payment authority from your card issuer¹¹. You will need to write to your card issuer asking for this payment to be stopped¹³.

Timing: tell your card provider at least one day before the payment

The deadline is the single most practical thing to get right. You must ask your card issuer or the business to cancel the payment by the end of the business day before your next payment is due to be taken³. StepChange states the same deadline as before close of business on the working day before the payment date, and warns that if you miss it, you will not be able to stop the payment being taken¹.

Banks set their own cut-off for blocking a payment. Danske Bank tells customers they need to give at least one business day's notice before a payment is due to come out of the account when asking the bank to stop payments because the merchant cannot cancel the agreement¹⁰.

If a payment goes out after you have withdrawn the authority, that is treated as an unauthorised transaction. National Debtline says your card issuer should give you a refund, including any interest or charges added, if money is taken after the continuous payment authority is withdrawn⁵. There is a time limit on claiming: under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 you must report it as soon as possible or, in any event, within 13 months of the date the unauthorised payment was made¹⁴.

Contacting the lender or merchant as well

Cancelling with your card provider is enough to stop the money moving, but it is not the whole job. Telling the lender as well keeps the two sides of the arrangement in step and gives you a record of when you acted.

When you contact the merchant and ask them to cancel your agreement, they should confirm the cancellation and tell you the date this will take effect from¹⁰. If payments continue after that date, you can go back to your bank. Danske Bank, for instance, tells customers to contact it by phone or send a secure message through online or mobile banking, and it will investigate and raise a dispute on your behalf if necessary¹⁰.

If you spot a recurring payment you did not intend, the advice from Which? is to contact your card provider and ask them to stop all future payments¹⁵. Where you did not consent to the recurring card payments at all, your card issuer should stop the payments and give your money back³.

There is also a limit on how often a lender can chase a failed payment. Where a customer is in financial difficulties, a firm must not request payment on a continuous payment authority more than twice on the same agreement once it has already been refused, under the FCA's Consumer Credit sourcebook (7.6.12)⁹. That rule applies across payday lending and buy now pay later credit¹⁶.

Does cancelling a continuous payment authority cancel the debt?

No. You will still owe the money for the payments you have agreed to make¹. Stopping the authority changes how the money is collected, not whether it is owed.

That distinction matters because the consequences of not paying are separate from the consequences of cancelling. If you are struggling, cancelling the payment without agreeing a new arrangement can lead to missed payments on your credit file and further contact from the lender. StepChange's guidance on speaking to a lender includes asking them to stop interest and charges for a while, and telling them you have found a better deal to see if they can match it¹⁷.

If you are dealing with payday loan debt, National Debtline publishes a guide covering the options⁹. If you are behind on buy now pay later credit, there is separate guidance for that too⁵. Free, impartial help is available from StepChange and National Debtline, and both publish sample letters you can adapt.

Is a continuous payment authority the same as a direct debit?

No, and the difference is the reason this page exists. A continuous payment authority is not covered by the Direct Debit guarantee, though the law offers similar protections¹. nidirect states plainly that it does not have the same guarantee¹⁸.

The practical effect is that you cannot ask your bank to reverse a continuous payment authority payment under the Direct Debit guarantee. What you can do instead is cancel the authority directly with your card issuer, which must then stop the payments⁹. A 2012 parliamentary committee report described the position at the time: a continuous payment authority is not covered by any bank guarantee and can only be cancelled directly with the business that holds the authority¹⁹. The rules have since moved on, and the right to cancel with your card issuer is now established⁶.

Is there a sample letter I can send to my card issuer?

Yes, and you do not have to write one from scratch. National Debtline and Business Debtline both publish free sample letters for withdrawing a continuous payment authority from your card issuer¹¹. The letter's purpose is to tell your card issuer that you are withdrawing your authority for payments to be debited from your card¹¹.

There are versions for different situations. National Debtline and Business Debtline publish a letter to withdraw a continuous payment authority from a payday loan company, telling the company that you are withdrawing your authority for payments to be debited from your card²⁰. There is also a version for a buy now pay later company²². The card issuer letters are written for a sole name¹¹.

If you would rather not use a template, a short written instruction is enough. Business Debtline's guidance is simply that you will need to write to your card issuer asking for this payment to be stopped²³. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it, because the deadline runs from the end of the business day before the next payment³.

Where to get free help

If a continuous payment authority is taking money you cannot afford, or you are behind on a payday loan or buy now pay later credit, free and impartial help is available. StepChange and National Debtline both publish guidance and sample letters, and neither charges for its advice¹.

If a bank or lender has not done what the rules require, you can complain. The Financial Ombudsman Service handles complaints about banking and payments, including regular payments, and its case studies show it expects banks to cancel a continuous payment authority when a customer asks². Complaining to the lender first is the usual route, and the ombudsman can look at the case if you are not satisfied.

For debt problems more broadly, StepChange's guidance on persistent debt and on dealing with payday loan debt sets out the options¹⁷. If you are on benefits and a payment is being taken, nidirect's guidance on payday loans covers the position in Northern Ireland¹⁸.