What is an automatic payment and how do I update or cancel one?

An automatic payment, also known as a subscription, billing agreement, or recurring payment, allows you to save PayPal as your preferred way to pay with a merchant, including for any transactions scheduled in advance. You can set up an automatic payment with a merchant during checkout, and the terms are available to view in your PayPal account afterwards.

When checking out with certain merchants, you can choose to save your PayPal wallet for future purchases. We keep track of where your PayPal account is saved, so you can manage your payment preferences. For more information on automatic payments, please visit our user agreement.

Here’s how to find your automatic payments on the PayPal website:    

1. Go to Settings.
2. Click Payments.
3. Select Subscriptions and saved businesses or Automatic Payments.
4. Select the merchant.

On this page, you can cancel the automatic payment and change the backup payment method.

Most automatic payments allow you to assign a specific payment method when you set them up. It means that this specific payment method will be prioritized for making the relevant automatic payment, even if you’ve chosen a different card or bank as your preferred way to make general payments with PayPal.

Here's how to change the payment method for automatic payment:

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Click Payments. 
3. Select Subscriptions and saved businesses or Automatic Payments.
4. Select merchant. 
5. Select Change Payment Method. 
6. Select a new payment method or click Link a new card or bank.
7. Click Save.

Contact information for your merchant can be found in the automatic payment.

To update your automatic payment method on the app:

1. Tap Menu.
2. Tap Subscriptions or Linked Businesses or Pay Bills.
3. Tap the merchant to view or update.
4. You can update your preferred payment method.

To update your automatic payment method on the app:

1. Tap Menu.
2. Tap Subscriptions, Linked Businesses or Pay Bills.
3. Tap the merchant to view or update.
4. You can update your preferred payment method.

To remove a payment method on the app:

1. Tap Menu.
2. Tap Subscriptions, Linked Businesses or Pay Bills.
3. Tap the merchant to view or update.
4. Tap Account or Manage.
5. Select Change or Link a Card or Bank or select Stop Paying with PayPal. 
6. Tap Unlink to confirm the cancellation. 

In the U.S., you can also link your PayPal account to select merchants by setting up an automatic payment agreement directly in the PayPal Consumer App. This allows you to check out faster when shopping with those merchants.

To set it up, go to the Subscriptions or Linked Businesses page in the PayPal app. Tap +, select a merchant, and follow the prompts to set up PayPal as your payment method on the merchant’s site.