A charge labeled “Ezi Health and Fitness” on your bank statement is almost always your gym membership, billed through a third-party payment processor rather than by the gym directly. That’s why the descriptor doesn’t match the sign on the building. Before assuming fraud, compare the date and dollar amount to your membership contract or the gym’s app; if they line up, you’ve found your answer.
Why Your Gym’s Name Doesn’t Appear
Most fitness centers don’t run their own billing. They outsource recurring drafts, failed-payment retries, and collections to specialized processors, and the processor’s registered name or a generic descriptor is what reaches your bank. Companies like ABC Fitness Solutions, EzPay, and EziDebit handle this work for thousands of gyms, from large chains to independent studios.
Subscription businesses outside the fitness world do the same thing. Streaming services, meal-kit companies, and software subscriptions often show up under a billing entity you’ve never heard of. The mismatch catches people off guard, but on its own it doesn’t signal anything wrong.
How to Confirm Which Gym Is Charging You
Start with the amount and date. Pull up your membership contract or open the gym’s app and look for a billing history. Searching your inbox for “Ezi” or the gym’s name around the charge date usually surfaces an email receipt from the processor. If the figure matches your monthly dues or an annual fee, you’ve identified it.
If the amount doesn’t match anything obvious, call the gym with your member ID. The front desk can pull your billing history and tell you what the charge covers. If they punt you to the billing company, ask for the processor’s customer service number and have your member ID, the exact amount, and the transaction date ready. Processors search by those data points, not by your name.
Charges That Catch Members Off Guard
Your monthly dues are only the baseline. Several other charges can appear under the same billing descriptor:
- Annual maintenance fees. Many large chains, including Planet Fitness, Crunch Fitness, LA Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Blink Fitness, charge a separate yearly fee on top of monthly dues. It hits once per year on a date buried in the contract and can be significantly more than one month’s payment.
- Rate increases. Month-to-month contracts usually allow the gym to raise dues with written notice. If your bill ticked up by a few dollars, check recent mail or email for a rate-change notification.
- Add-on services. Personal training packages, premium access tiers, locker rentals, and tanning sessions often bill through the same processor under the same descriptor, which can look like a duplicate charge.
- Late fees. A failed payment followed by a retry can produce the original charge plus a late fee close together on the statement. The late fee amount varies by gym and state law.
Reviewing your full membership agreement clarifies which of these you actually authorized. The document is usually in the gym’s app, in the welcome email from when you signed up, or available at the front desk on request.
If You Want the Charges to Stop, Cancel Before You Block
This is where most people get into trouble. Blocking the draft at your bank or killing the card on file does not end your contractual obligation to the gym. The gym still treats you as an active member, the unpaid balance accumulates, and after roughly 90 days of nonpayment many gyms send the account to a third-party collection agency.
Once in collections, the debt can be reported to credit bureaus and drag down your scores. Some newer scoring models ignore collection accounts under $100, but a few months of unpaid dues plus late fees easily clears that threshold. The safer sequence is to cancel through the gym’s required process first, then use a stop-payment order as a backup only if drafts continue after cancellation is confirmed in writing.
Canceling the Membership
Most contracts require written notice and many impose a 30-day notice period. Submit your cancellation less than 30 days before the next billing date and you should expect one final charge. That last payment is almost always enforceable because you agreed to the notice window when you signed up.
- Check your contract for the required cancellation method. Some gyms accept cancellations through their app or website; others require a physical letter to a specific address. Using the wrong method gives the gym grounds to claim it never received your request.
- Get written confirmation with a specific effective date, whether you cancel in person, by mail, or online. Without documentation, a later dispute becomes your word against theirs.
- Send certified mail with return receipt if the contract specifies written notice by mail. The delivery confirmation is your proof.
- Mark the effective date on your calendar and verify that no charges appear after it. If one does, that’s when a stop-payment order or bank dispute becomes appropriate.
Many contracts also include early termination fees if you’re still inside a commitment period, typically 12 or 24 months. The fee structure varies by gym and by state. Some states limit what gyms can charge for early termination, and a few require gyms to let you cancel without penalty if you relocate beyond a certain distance from the nearest location or develop a medical condition that prevents use.
FTC Click-to-Cancel Protections
The Federal Trade Commission finalized a “click-to-cancel” rule in October 2024 covering nearly all subscription and recurring-charge businesses, including gyms. Sellers must make cancellation as simple as sign-up. If you enrolled online, you can cancel online. If you enrolled by phone, a phone cancellation option must exist.1Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule
The rule also bars sellers from misrepresenting material terms and requires clear disclosure of charges and cancellation terms before billing information is collected. A gym that forces an in-person visit to cancel a membership you signed up for online is the exact practice the rule targets.1Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule If a gym refuses to let you cancel through the same channel you used to sign up, you can file a complaint with the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.
Using a Stop-Payment Order as a Backup
Federal law lets you block a future gym draft through your bank. Under Regulation E, you can place a stop-payment order on any preauthorized electronic fund transfer by notifying your bank at least three business days before the next scheduled payment date. You can do it by phone, in person, or in writing.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.10 – Preauthorized Transfers
If you give the order verbally, your bank may require written confirmation within 14 days. Miss that window and the oral order expires, which means the processor could draft your account again.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.10 – Preauthorized Transfers A stop-payment order works even if you haven’t revoked authorization with the gym; your bank must honor it regardless of what the merchant says about your contract.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Can I Stop Automatic Payments From My Bank Account Most banks charge a fee, typically in the range of $15 to $35, so ask about the cost first.
If the Charge Is Actually Unauthorized
A charge you agreed to in a signed contract but forgot about is not unauthorized, even if it surprises you. An annual fee you didn’t remember is frustrating, but it isn’t fraud if the contract disclosed it. True unauthorized charges include drafts that continue after proper cancellation, charges from a gym you never joined, or amounts that don’t match anything in your agreement. Banks will deny a dispute if the merchant produces a signed contract authorizing the charge.
When a charge truly is unauthorized, Regulation E gives you 60 days from the date your bank sends the statement showing the charge to file a notice of error.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers, Regulation E How much you could lose depends on how fast you report it:
- Within 2 business days of learning of the loss or theft: maximum liability of $50.
- After 2 business days but within 60 days of the statement: liability can reach $500.
- After 60 days: you could be on the hook for the full amount of any unauthorized transfers occurring after that window, with no cap.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers
Those tiers are why opening the statement every month pays off. A charge you ignore for three months is far harder to recover than one you flag the week it appears.