Subscription industry experts have broadly welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s push to bring forward measures tackling so-called “subscription traps”, arguing that greater transparency will benefit both consumers and reputable businesses.
Giles Tongue, subscription expert at Bango, said many consumers will recognise the tactics the new rules are designed to eliminate. “Most people will recognise the sort of subscription trap these new rules are targeting,” he said. “An app looks free, but suddenly you’re faced with a payment screen designed to make signing up feel like the only option… once you’ve subscribed, cancelling feels way harder than joining.”
Bango’s research of 1,500 UK consumers highlights the scale of the issue. Around 30% say they spend more on subscriptions than they can afford, while 45% feel they waste money paying for a full month when they only use a service a handful of times.
Cancellation only part of the problem
Tongue argued that tackling difficult cancellation processes is only part of the challenge facing subscribers today. “Subscriptions are now scattered across so many apps and providers that simply keeping track of them can feel like a job in itself,” he said. This chimes with Bango’s research, which found a growing appetite for simpler subscription management; 38% of consumers are interested in a single sign-in and bill for all subscriptions, with the same proportion willing to trust AI to cancel and restart services based on usage to help save money.
“The law can stop businesses from trapping customers, but it can’t make customers loyal. Subscription services still have to give people a reason to stay,” Tongue concluded.
Avoiding preventable disputes
Monica Eaton, Founder and CEO, Chargebacks911, said that making subscriptions easier to cancel “should matter to every merchant that relies on recurring payments.” Chargebacks911’s 2026 Chargeback Field Report found that subscription billing is the most commonly cited chargeback risk factor among merchants, at 32.1%, yet more than a quarter of subscription merchants send no billing reminders at all.
“If a customer doesn’t know when they are going to be charged, doesn’t recognise a renewal or cannot easily work out how to cancel, frustration can quickly become a payment dispute,” Eaton said. “At that point, what started as a potential customer experience problem has moved to become a payments issue.”
She added: “Clear reminders, transparent renewal terms and straightforward cancellation aren’t merely regulatory obligations but they’re also some of the simplest tools merchants have to prevent avoidable disputes…If the new changes encourage businesses to make the route back to the merchant easier than the route to the bank, consumers and merchants both stand to benefit.”
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