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Resolve "cannot remove payment method"

When attempting to remove a payment method, you may see one of the following error messages:

  • "You can't remove this payment method while it's linked to active subscriptions. Go to Billing to manage subscriptions."
  • "You can't remove a payment method while there are transactions in progress. Make sure all transactions are completed and all subscriptions are cancelled."

Causes

  • You still have active paid subscriptions.
  • You have canceled your paid subscriptions, but a usage-based charge is still scheduled.
  • You have an upcoming Registrar domain registration renewal within the next 24 hours.

Solutions

Check for active paid subscriptions

You can only remove a payment method after all paid subscriptions are canceled and outstanding charges are settled.

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard ↗ and select your account.

  2. Go to Manage Account > Billing.

    Go to Billing

  3. Select Subscriptions.

  4. Check Service status for any subscriptions marked Active.

  5. Select Cancel for each active paid subscription.

Repeat this for all active paid subscriptions before attempting to remove the payment method.

Check for usage-based products

If you have canceled all paid subscriptions, any usage-based products canceled within the last 30 days may still generate charges. Your payment method must remain on file until those charges are processed. If you recently canceled any of the following products, wait 30 days before removing your payment method:

ProductBillable metricFree tier or included usagePricing details
WorkersRequests and CPU time10M requests and 30M CPU-msWorkers pricing
R2Storage and operations10 GB storage, 1M Class A operations, and 10M Class B operationsR2 pricing
Argo Smart RoutingData transferFirst 1 GBArgo Smart Routing
Cache ReserveReads, writes, and storageNoneCache Reserve
Load BalancingDNS queriesFirst 500K queriesLoad Balancing
StreamMinutes stored and minutes viewedVaries by planStream pricing
ImagesTransformations and storageVaries by planImages pricing
SpectrumData transferNoneSpectrum
Rate LimitingRule requestsVaries by planRate Limiting
Log ExplorerLog storage and queriesVaries by planLog Explorer pricing
Zero TrustSeats and usage-based servicesVaries by planZero Trust
VectorizeStored dimensions and queried vectorsVaries by planVectorize pricing
Analytics EngineData points read and writtenVaries by planAnalytics Engine pricing

After the next monthly invoice is generated, you can remove the payment method.

Check for an upcoming Registrar renewal

For Registrar domains scheduled for auto-renewal, we will attempt to renew approximately 30 days before your renewal date. In the 24 hours prior to that, we will automatically process a payment hold using your payment method. During this time you will be unable to remove your payment method.

To check if any of your domains are in the renewal process:

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard ↗ and select your account.
  2. Go to Domain Registration > Manage Domains.
  3. Under Expires, look for domains expiring within the next 31 days that have auto-renewal turned on.

If you have any domains with auto-renewal turned on that are expiring in 31 days or less, wait for them to renew before you remove your payment method. To understand more about this process, refer to Renew domains.

Verify the fix

After you clear active subscriptions, pending usage-based charges, and upcoming Registrar renewals, return to Payment > Payment methods and try to remove the payment method again.

If none of the above apply

If none of the above apply and you still receive an error, contact Cloudflare support.