A $15.89 Microsoft charge on your bank or credit card statement is almost always an Xbox Game Pass Premium subscription. The base price is $14.99 per month, and with sales tax of roughly 6 percent added on top, the total lands at about $15.89. It renews automatically each month until someone cancels it or turns off recurring billing.
The charge usually appears on statements as “MICROSOFT*” followed by a product abbreviation and “msbill.info WA,” which is why it can be hard to recognize at a glance. Seeing “msbill.info” is a reliable sign the transaction came from Microsoft’s billing system in Washington state.
Confirm What the Charge Is For
Sign in at account.microsoft.com/services to see every active subscription tied to your Microsoft account. Each listing shows the product name, the billing amount, and the next renewal date, so the one generating the $15.89 charge should be easy to spot.
For a transaction-level view, open account.microsoft.com/billing, choose “Payment & billing,” then “Order history.” You can filter by date and open “Order details” on any entry to see the full invoice.
If you still don’t recognize the charge, Microsoft has a dedicated billing troubleshooter. From “Manage your payments” in the account dashboard, select “Investigate” next to the charge. It walks through the common explanations, including subscription renewals, in-app purchases, and purchases made by family members sharing the same payment method.
Why the Charge Appeared When You Weren’t Expecting It
Even a legitimate charge can feel like it came out of nowhere. A few common reasons:
- A free trial or promotional period ended and converted to a paid subscription. Microsoft’s terms state that subscriptions “automatically continue at the then-current regular price, unless canceled, plus applicable taxes.”
- Someone in your household, such as a child or partner with access to the payment method, signed up for Game Pass or made a purchase billed to your card. Microsoft lists family purchases among the most common causes of unrecognized charges.
- The subscription is tied to a secondary or older Microsoft account you don’t use often. Checking order history under any accounts linked to the same email or payment method can surface it.
- An earlier billing attempt was declined and retried later, so the charge shows up at an unexpected date.
- Prices changed. Microsoft restructured Game Pass tiers in October 2025, and consumer Microsoft 365 prices went up in early 2025 for the first time in more than a decade, so a charge that used to be a different amount may have shifted.
How to Cancel or Stop Future Charges
To stop future billing, go to account.microsoft.com/services, find the subscription, and select “Manage.” Choose “Cancel” or “Upgrade or Cancel” and follow the prompts. If you see “Turn on recurring billing” instead of a cancel option, the subscription is already set to expire and won’t charge again.
If you’d rather keep access through the end of the paid period, use “Turn off recurring billing” from the same menu. You’ll keep the subscription until it lapses, and it won’t renew.
One boundary worth knowing: if you originally bought the subscription through the Apple App Store or Google Play, Microsoft can’t cancel it. You’ll have to manage it inside Apple’s or Google’s subscription settings.
Request a Refund
If the charge was accidental or you want your money back, Microsoft handles refunds through its support portal at support.microsoft.com. Apps and games use the store refund process; subscriptions have a separate refund path for recurring charges. Both start from the same support site after you’ve identified the charge in your account.
For direct help, Microsoft’s U.S. phone support is (800) 642-7676, Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific Time. Online chat is available through the Microsoft Store page, and the “Get Help” app built into Windows can connect you to a live agent for billing questions.
If the Charge Isn’t Yours at All
If the $15.89 doesn’t match any Microsoft account you or your family control, someone may have used your card on their own account. Microsoft recommends contacting your bank or card issuer to report the card as compromised rather than only disputing the single charge, since disputing one transaction won’t prevent further use of the card.
A chargeback through your bank is available, but Microsoft treats it as a last resort. Its support pages state that “repeated misuse abuse of chargebacks can be considered fraud,” so a chargeback should be reserved for genuinely unauthorized charges that Microsoft support can’t resolve. Start with Microsoft support; if they confirm the charge isn’t linked to your account, then a bank dispute is the appropriate next step.
Reading the Descriptor on Your Statement
Microsoft charges show up under several descriptors, which trips people up. Common formats include “MICROSOFT*XBOX,” “MICROSOFT*MICROSOFT 36,” and even “MICROSOFT*CANDY CRUSH” for in-app purchases, usually followed by “msbill.info WA.” If you see msbill.info in the description, the charge came from Microsoft, and matching the amount to a subscription in your account will tell you which product it is.