Reason code · Discover
Discover AP: recurring payments
AP is Discover’s recurring-billing code. The cardholder says a recurring charge posted after their plan expired or after they canceled. Processor guides have listed a 15-day condition: the cancellation came at least 15 days before the disputed charge posted. Check your notice.
What AP means
AP is Discover’s code for subscriptions, memberships and other recurring plans. Processor guides describe it as a transaction posted after the recurring plan expired, or after the cardholder canceled it.
Some processors show a number instead: Stripe and Checkout.com list Recurring Payments as 4541.
What the customer told their bank
“I canceled and they kept charging me.” Or “My plan ended and they billed me again.”
Time limit
Processor guides have listed 120 days from the transaction date, with one more condition: the cancellation must have come at least 15 calendar days before the most recent disputed charge posted.
Discover’s rules come through your processor. Discover doesn’t publish its dispute rules manual. Its rules reach you through your processor, and published response windows conflict from one source to the next. The due date on your notice governs. Use it, not a number from an article.
What proof matters
The terms the customer accepted and how you showed them, proof they didn’t cancel at least 15 days before the charge, or terms that require payment despite cancellation. Proof that a cancellation number they cite is invalid, or that a refund already went through, also answers it.
The 15-day rule cuts both ways
A customer who canceled the day before the renewal hasn’t met the 15-day condition as processor guides describe it. A customer who canceled a month earlier has. Line up the cancellation date and the posting date before you decide anything.
One processor guide also describes what acceptance should look like for online sign-ups: terms shown in the final pages before checkout rather than behind a separate link, and recurring terms that are clear and distinct from your general terms. A checkbox buried in a footer doesn’t do that job.
The common mistake
Having proof the customer signed up but no record of the cancellation side: when they asked, how, and what you did. Log every cancellation request with its date.
Dispute Daddy builds this for you
Upload the notice and your records. Dispute Daddy builds a response around the reason the bank actually gave, and you approve it before you submit. See how the method works.
