How do I stop a payment on my credit card?

If you notice something on your credit card statement that shouldn’t be there, it can be very annoying. One of your first thoughts may be ‘how can I reject this payment?’

Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done while a payment is being processed. Credit card transactions can sometimes take a few days to process and may show up as ‘pending’ on your statement.  While you can check if your credit card issuer will stop the pending payment, in most cases you will have to wait until the transaction is completed to dispute the transaction. 

How do you stop payment on a credit card? 

You have a couple of courses of action if you see payments on your credit card that shouldn’t be there. Often, credit card companies suggest you contact the company who took out the payment first to explain the situation. Of course, this only applies if you know the company and it’s not a fraudulent transaction. Sometimes you can get a refund or resolve the situation this way. 

Sometimes patience is required in these situations. Suppose your card has been accidentally charged twice by a merchant or you’ve had multiple payments taken out because it was thought the first attempt hadn’t gone through, when in fact, it had. The merchant may reverse the charges right away, even automatically in the case of online transactions, but this may only reflect on your credit card account in 3-5 business days. If the charges aren’t reversed, you may want to contact the merchant and request the reversal. Only when the merchant refuses to reverse the charges, you’ll need to raise a dispute with your credit card issuer. 

In the case of credit card fraud or theft, you will have to dispute the transaction through your credit card provider. This is often as simple as filling in an online form or making a phone call. In such cases, the credit card company will probably want to investigate the transactions and confirm that they were fraudulent before removing them from your account. 

Can I put a stop payment on a credit card transaction that I’ve disputed?

If you’ve already raised a dispute with the credit card company, you’ll have to wait until the dispute is resolved before taking any further action. The time it takes to investigate disputed transactions can vary for different credit card companies, but you can ask your card issuer how long you’ll usually need to wait. Keep in mind, you may need to submit further information or respond to the card issuer’s enquiries during this time. For instance, your credit card company could share with you the response received from a merchant refuting your dispute. You’ll then have to show them some receipts or invoices. 

If the dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can request a review from the credit card company’s customer advocate at no cost. You can find the contact details for the customer advocate in your credit card issuer’s customer disputes brochure. 

• If that also fails, you can approach the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). 

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