At Cord Cutters News, we’re always encouraging readers to test out streaming services with a free trial before committing to a monthly subscription. Free trials are a great way to see if you like the interface, content, and features of a service. The problem is that with so many free trials available, it can be easy to forget to cancel in time, ending in charges for a service you may not want to keep.
The DoNotPay App wants to help with that. They creator of the app, Joshua Browder, created a service called Free Trial Card, available through the app.
Here’s how it works. The Free Trial Card acts as a virtual credit card that you can use to sign up for free trials of everything from Amazon Prime to Netflix, without using your real credit card information or contact information. After the free trial is up, Free Trial Card will decline any charges and end the trial. You’ll get email notifications when your trial begins and when it ends.
When Wired’s Emily Dreyfuss tried the service, she noted that there’s no way to know which banks the app is dealing with, as Browder won’t offer up this information. The bank doesn’t know who you are either because all information goes through DoNotPay. If this sounds a little strange and not exactly on the up and up, you’re not alone. Even Browder says that he’s ready with a back up plan if the current banks stop working with the app, saying “I’m confident that this is at least going to go on for a few months.” And later, “I hope we don’t get shut down. We’ll see,” he says a few minutes later.
If you’re unsure about offering up your information to this company and using the app, there are other ways to remind yourself to end your free trials. You can easily set up an alert on your phone’s calendar to cancel the day before the trial ends. Apps like Due will also sent you an alert when you set up a reminder.
Would you use a service like Free Trial Card? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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