Win customer loyalty with better subscription management

Subscriptions are now part of everyday life, but consumer expectations around how they manage them are changing. Increasingly, a great subscription experience is not just about the service itself. It is also about giving consumers greater visibility, flexibility and control over their payments.

Mastercard partnered with Datos Insights to survey more than 3,500 consumers and understand what subscribers value, where they experience friction and what can make them more likely to maintain a subscription.

The research highlights a strong preference for self-service. Consumers want simple ways to manage subscription payments on their own terms, whether that means viewing upcoming charges, updating payment details, pausing a service or cancelling when they need to.

Yet friction remains. Nearly a third of consumers globally report difficulty pausing or cancelling subscriptions. Making subscriptions easier to manage can have a significant impact on the customer relationship, with 79% of consumers saying they are more willing to subscribe when a service is easy to manage.

Consumers are also looking for a clearer view of their recurring payments. Many are interested in being able to track and manage subscriptions in one central place, including through the banking apps they already use.

For businesses with subscription models, these findings point to an opportunity to make payment management part of the customer experience rather than simply a back-end process. Providing greater transparency, convenience and control can help reduce friction, build trust and create stronger subscriber relationships.

Download the report to explore the findings in full and learn how changing consumer expectations can inform a better subscription experience.