Billing plumbing

Three systems that cannot see each other

A duplicate is not carelessness. It is the predictable result of paying for the same thing through channels that do not talk.

When you subscribe inside an app, the store is the merchant. Your bank sees a single store charge that may bundle several subscriptions together, with no breakdown. The provider, meanwhile, may not even know your card exists.

When you subscribe on the provider's website, the provider is the merchant, and the charge appears in your bank under their name. The store knows nothing about it.

PayPal adds a third variant: the merchant is the provider, the money comes from PayPal, and your bank sees only a PayPal charge.

What this means for finding them

One screenshot cannot show a duplicate, because a duplicate by definition lives in two systems. Two or three screenshots can — which is the practical reason to capture more than one source even when the first looks complete.