You change it in the same place you subscribed. For an App Store subscription, open your iPhone's Settings, tap your Apple ID, then Payment & Shipping. For Hinge payment, open Account Settings in Hinge, tap Manage subscription, then Add payment method. On Android, open the Google Play Store, tap the Menu icon, then My Account, and add or edit a payment method there.

Which of the three is yours

The card on file lives wherever the subscription was bought. Hinge doesn't keep one central wallet for everyone, so the first job is working out which of the three routes you used.

If you bought on an iPhone through the App Store, Apple holds the card. If you entered a card at checkout inside Hinge, you are on Hinge payment, and the card is stored with your Hinge subscription. If you subscribed on an Android phone, Google Play holds it.

Not sure? Find the receipt from your first payment. A receipt from Apple or Google tells you it is one of theirs. A Hinge subscription email points to Hinge payment. Your card statement is a backup, since the line for each charge shows who billed you.

Getting this right first saves you a frustrating few minutes. Men often go hunting inside Hinge for a card setting when Apple or Google is the one holding the card. The steps below only work in the place that actually bills you.

On an iPhone billed through the App Store

  1. Open your iPhone's Settings.
  2. Tap your Apple ID.
  3. Tap Payment & Shipping.
  4. Add or update the card you want to use.

Keep in mind that this is the payment method on your Apple ID, not a Hinge-only setting. Anything else you pay Apple for draws on the same place, so choose a card you are happy to use for all of it.

With Hinge payment

  1. Open Hinge and go to Account Settings.
  2. Tap Manage subscription.
  3. Tap Add payment method and enter the card.

This one really is specific to Hinge. Nothing else on your phone changes.

On Android

  1. Open the Google Play Store.
  2. Tap the Menu icon.
  3. Tap My Account.
  4. Add or edit a payment method.

Like the Apple route, this happens in your Google Play account rather than inside Hinge, because Google Play is the one billing you.

Do it before the renewal, not after

The most common reason to change a card is that the old one expired or got replaced. Sort it out before your next renewal date rather than waiting to find out what happens when a charge fails.

It takes two minutes, and it spares you the guessing. Put the renewal date in your calendar while you are there, so you know when the next charge is coming.

Changing the card changes nothing else

A different card doesn't touch your plan. The tier you are on and the length you signed up for stay exactly as they were. Only the source of the money moves.

That also means a card change is the wrong tool if what you really want is to stop paying. Cancelling happens in the same place you pay, as a separate step.

While you are in there, make sure you are only paying through one route. A man who once subscribed through the App Store and later paid again through Hinge payment can end up with two charges and no idea which is which. If you find two, cancel the one you don't use, in the place that bills it, and keep the other.

Is the plan bringing you matches?

Every card update is a good moment to ask whether the subscription is earning its keep.

a dating coach's view is that paying for dating apps usually makes sense. An app earns its money from the people who pay, so it has every reason to put them in front of more women. But he treats every paid feature as a test. Before and after you pay, count how many likes and real conversations you get in an ordinary week. If the numbers clearly moved, the plan is working and the card update was worth doing. If they barely moved, the problem is probably in front of the payment, not behind it.

Give the comparison a fair run. Judge it over a month, not a weekend. Plenty of women only check the apps now and then, so a single slow Saturday can fool you either way.

A subscription multiplies what your account already earns, so work on the three things that decide results. Open with a sharp photo of your face taken outdoors. Give her answers with a small story in them, something she can tease you about. And suggest a plan within a few messages instead of waiting for a perfect moment. Those give the subscription something to multiply.