🔍 Why Is My Old Card Still Being Charged?
After adding a new payment card to your Search Atlas account, you may notice that billing attempts still target your previous card. This can happen for a few reasons:
- The new card was added but not yet set as the default payment method.
- A sync delay between Search Atlas and our payment processor means the change has not fully applied.
- The old card was not removed, so it remains eligible as a fallback.
The steps below will help you confirm your new card is correctly set and prevent future charges to an outdated card.
✅ Step 1: Verify Your Default Payment Method
Setting a new card as default is a separate action from simply adding it. Follow these steps:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account.
- Click your avatar in the top-right and select Billing.
- On the Plans & Top-ups tab, locate the new card you added (use Add Payment Method if needed).
- Click Set as Default next to the new card.
- Confirm that a Default badge or label now appears on the new card and not the old one.
A card must be explicitly marked as default before Search Atlas will use it for upcoming charges. Adding a card alone does not automatically make it your primary payment method.
🗑️ Step 2: Remove the Old Card
To prevent the system from falling back to your previous card, remove it entirely once your new default is confirmed:
- On the Plans & Top-ups tab in Billing, find your old card.
- Click Remove or the delete icon next to it.
- Confirm the removal when prompted.
If you are unable to delete the old card or the option is greyed out, this may be due to a known migration issue that our engineering team is actively resolving. Please contact support using the instructions at the bottom of this article.
⏳ Step 3: Allow Time for the Change to Sync
After setting a new default and removing the old card, allow a short period for the update to sync with our payment processor. In most cases this is near-instant, but during high-volume periods it may take a few minutes. If a billing cycle falls within this window, the system may still attempt the old card one final time.
If you were charged on an old card after completing the steps above, our support team can review the transaction and assist with any necessary adjustments.
⚠️ Known Issue: Default Card Change Not Taking Effect
We have identified and resolved a technical issue where setting a new card as the primary payment method was not always reflected in our payment processor. This affected a small number of accounts where the old card continued to be charged despite a new default being saved in your account settings.
Our engineering team has deployed a fix for this. If you completed the steps above and are still experiencing the issue, please reach out so we can manually verify your billing configuration is correct.
🛠️ Quick Troubleshooting Checklist
- New card added? Confirm it appears on the Plans & Top-ups tab in Billing (via your top-right avatar → Billing).
- Default set correctly? Check that the new card shows a Default badge.
- Old card removed? Delete the old card to eliminate any fallback risk.
- Still being charged on the old card? Contact support for manual review.
- Cannot delete old card? This may be a known platform issue — contact support immediately.
💬 Still Need Help?
If you have followed the steps above and your billing is still targeting the wrong card, or if you were incorrectly charged, our team can investigate and correct the issue on your account. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.
Additional Notes
You can only remove a card if it is not currently set as the default. Make sure your new card is set as default before attempting to delete the old one. Also: Do not attempt to dispute the charge before contacting us, as we can issue a correction directly.