Free Trial Disclosure Rules: What to Disclose Before a Trial Converts to Paid

The table maps each moment to the sources read for this post. Federal law sets the general duty, and the state statutes and card networks supply specifics that do not all agree on timing.

State coverage here is a sample of four statutes. Other states have their own trial provisions.

California defines the term directly. A free-to-pay conversion is a provision under which a customer receives a product or service for free for an initial period and will incur an obligation to pay if they do not take affirmative action to cancel before the period ends. Since 1 July 2025 the definitions of automatic renewal and continuous service in California both include a plan that contains a free-to-pay conversion.

Federal law reaches the same offers through a broader term. As the FTC's 2021 policy statement sets out, the Telemarketing Sales Rule defines a negative option feature as a provision under which the customer's silence, or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or cancel the agreement, is treated by the seller as acceptance. ROSCA borrows that definition for sales made on the internet.

The card networks use their own wording. Visa's rules speak of a trial period, introductory offer or promotional period, and Mastercard's FAQ refers to free trials and low introductory offers. Discounted introductory prices are treated like free trials in most of the texts below.

The statute does not list the material terms. The FTC's 2021 enforcement policy statement gives its reading: at a minimum, the existence of the negative option offer, the offer's total cost and how to cancel. The statement also says the seller should obtain the customer's acceptance of the negative option feature separately from any other part of the transaction, and that a pre-checked box does not constitute affirmative consent.

California is more specific. The automatic renewal offer terms must be presented clearly and conspicuously before the agreement is fulfilled and in visual proximity to the request for consent. The defined terms include that the subscription continues until cancelled, the cancellation policy, the recurring charges and the length of the renewal term. If the offer includes a free gift or trial, it must also include a clear and conspicuous explanation of the price that will be charged after the trial ends, or how the pricing will change.

New York's statute is similar. If the offer includes a free gift or trial, or the price is temporary, the offer must explain how and when the price will change and the price or prices that will be charged afterwards. That explanation must come before consent or billing information is requested.

Visa's rules add a layout point. The length of any trial period, introductory offer or promotional period is one of the items that must be clearly displayed at the time the cardholder gives consent, and displayed separately from the general purchase terms and conditions.

California requires an acknowledgment that includes the offer terms, the cancellation policy and information on how to cancel, in a form the customer can keep. If the offer includes a free gift or trial, the acknowledgment must also disclose how to cancel, and the business must allow the customer to cancel, before the customer pays.

Virginia and Minnesota use nearly the same words. Virginia requires the acknowledgment to disclose how to cancel the free trial before the consumer pays or becomes obligated to pay. Minnesota requires the confirmation to include information on how to cancel the free trial before the consumer pays or becomes obligated to pay for any goods or services connected with it.

The networks expect a message at enrollment too. Visa announced in June 2019, with effect from 18 April 2020, that merchants must send an electronic copy of the subscription terms at enrollment even if no amount was due, including the start date, the ongoing amount and billing frequency, and a link or other simple way to cancel online. Visa's current rules require the receipt for a transaction involving a trial to show the trial length, a clear statement that the cardholder will be charged unless they cancel, the amounts and dates, and a way to cancel online or by text message.

California requires a notice when a customer accepted a free gift or trial lasting more than 31 days, or a promotional price that applies for more than 31 days. The notice must go out at least 3 days and at most 21 days before the trial or promotional price expires. It must say that the service will renew unless cancelled, the length and terms of the renewal period, the cost, one or more ways to cancel and contact information. An electronic notice must include a link to the cancellation process or another reasonably accessible electronic method.

The card networks work on shorter clocks and do not exempt short trials in the same way. Visa's rules require a notice by email or another agreed method at least seven days before a recurring transaction when a trial, introductory offer or promotional period is going to end. The notice must give the amount and date of the charges to come and a link or other simple way to cancel online or by text message. The rule text read for this post does not say how the seven-day notice works for a trial shorter than seven days, so that is a question for your acquirer.

Mastercard's FAQ on its 2022 standards refers to a notification three to seven days before the billing date. It says the reminder would apply only if the trial were longer than seven days, and that a text message qualifies as an electronic notice.

Visa's rules list this under dispute condition 13.5, misrepresentation. The dispute applies to a card-absent transaction where merchandise or digital goods were purchased through a trial period, promotional period or introductory offer and the cardholder was not clearly advised of further transactions after the purchase date.

Visa's 2019 bulletin explained why it wrote the rule. Cardholders often forget, or do not understand, that they agreed to future transactions when they enrolled, and they find it hard to cancel. Issuers were raising the resulting disputes under different labels, some as fraud, some as cancelled recurring and some as goods not received.

One part of that 2019 plan was dropped. Visa had announced a required statement descriptor, such as the word trial, on the first charge after a trial. A December 2020 notice removed the requirement and made the descriptor optional from 17 April 2021.

ROSCA itself was a response to trial offers. The FTC's 2021 policy statement quotes a congressional finding that third-party sellers used a free trial period to enroll members and then charged them until they cancelled, which took advantage of consumers' expectation that they would get a chance to accept or reject the offer when the trial ended.

The FTC's March 2026 notice says complaints about negative option marketing rose from at least 33 a day in late 2020 to more than 90 a day in 2025. It says the Commission initiated five cases and approved six settlements over alleged negative option misconduct since January 2025.

No federal rule adds trial-specific detail today. The same notice records that the amended Negative Option Rule was vacated on 8 July 2025 and that the rule left in place covers only prenotification plans.

California makes it unlawful to fail to maintain verification of the consumer's affirmative consent for at least three years, or one year after the contract is terminated, whichever is longer. The statute does not prescribe the format.

Mastercard's FAQ says that to satisfy its standards merchants must be able to prove that notices are being sent, though they do not need to keep every record. It recommends a process to track or otherwise validate that emails are going out, and it treats a good-faith attempt to an address that bounces as sufficient.

Visa's 2019 bulletin ties records to disputes. It said merchants that acted appropriately would be protected where they could prove two things: express agreement to future charges at the first interaction, and an electronic notice before the first charge after the trial. The list below gathers the records these sources point to.

• The offer page as displayed, including the trial length and the price after the trial
• The consent action, with its date and time, and the version of the terms shown
• The confirmation message, with how to cancel before paying, and when it was sent
• The pre-conversion reminder, its content and when it was sent
• The first charge after the trial and any cancel request received before it