The gradual expansion of fintech has been one of the most useful tech developments in recent years. Years ago, before banking apps, I had an Amex card cloned while in Hong Kong. A fraudster made a jewelry purchase of several thousand dollars, and I only discovered it when my monthly statement arrived over a week later. Fortunately, I could prove I was back in the UK 24 hours before the in-person purchase.

These days, my banking app sends notifications for every transaction, typically within 30 seconds. Or so I thought. There's an exception: recurring card payments don't trigger immediate notifications because they aren't initiated via a payment terminal. They only appear when manually reviewing statements.

I discovered this when I spotted a card transaction for a subscription I'd cancelled. In my banking app, an additional transaction toggle defaulted to off. Once enabled, I received alerts for recurring card payments too. Check your banking app's notifications section to ensure everything is toggled on. Apple Card features in iOS 27 highlight similar recurring payment controls.