A “Cardinal Blue SO” charge on your bank statement is a payment to Cardinal Blue Software for a PicCollage VIP subscription, the paid tier of the PicCollage photo collage app. The standard price is $4.99 per month or $35.99 per year.1PicCollage Help Center. Benefits of an iOS VIP Subscription If you don’t remember signing up, a free trial that rolled into a paid subscription is the most common explanation.
Your statement may show extra codes like “APL” or “GPC” alongside the Cardinal Blue name. Those point to the app store that processed the payment: Apple or Google Play. The base price is the same on both platforms,2PicCollage Help Center. Benefits of an Android VIP Subscription but some states add sales tax to digital subscriptions, so a charge a few cents or dollars above $4.99 or $35.99 is usually tax.
Why the Charge Appeared Without Warning
Most people who search for this charge don’t remember buying anything. The usual story: someone tapped a free trial offer inside PicCollage, the trial ended, and it converted to a paid subscription automatically. Trial sign-up screens disclose this, but it’s easy to tap through the fine print.
The other common source is a family member. If a child or partner installed PicCollage using your Apple ID or Google account, their subscription gets billed to your card. With Apple’s Family Sharing and purchase sharing turned on, subscriptions bought by anyone in the family group can be billed to the family organizer’s payment method.3Apple. How Family Sharing Works Ask around before assuming fraud.
How to Cancel the Subscription
You can’t cancel PicCollage VIP from inside the PicCollage app. Because the billing runs through your app store, that’s where the cancel button lives.
On iPhone or iPad
Open Settings, tap your name at the top, then tap Subscriptions. Find PicCollage in the list, open it, and tap Cancel Subscription.4Apple. If You Want to Cancel a Subscription From Apple If you see an expiration date in red instead of a cancel button, the subscription is already canceled and won’t renew. You keep VIP features through the end of the billing period you already paid for.
On Android
Open the Google Play Store app, tap your profile icon in the top right, then tap Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions. Select PicCollage and tap Cancel subscription. Google will ask you to confirm. As with Apple, you keep access through the end of the current billing cycle.
How to Request a Refund
Refunds go through the app store that took the payment, not through Cardinal Blue. Neither Apple nor Google guarantees one, but forgetting to cancel a trial is a common enough reason that it’s worth asking.
Apple
Go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in with your Apple ID, find the PicCollage charge, and select “Request a refund.” You’ll pick a reason from a dropdown. Apple typically responds within 48 hours, and any approved credit takes additional time to hit your bank.5Apple. Request a Refund for Apps or Content That You Bought From Apple
Google Play
Visit play.google.com/store/account, find the transaction in your order history, and request a refund from there. You can also start the process through Help and feedback in the Play Store app. Google estimates 3 to 5 business days for a card refund to appear, though some issuers take up to 10.6Google Play Help. Refund Timelines for Google Play Purchases
If Nobody in Your Household Uses PicCollage
If you’ve ruled out a forgotten trial and a family member’s account, treat the charge as unauthorized and involve your bank or card issuer. Your protections depend on how you paid.
Debit Card or Bank Account
Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized electronic transfers based on how fast you report. Notify your bank within two business days of discovering the charge and your maximum liability is $50. Wait longer and it rises to $500. Let more than 60 days pass after the statement was sent, and you can be liable for the full amount of any unauthorized transfers that happen after that window.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers Call your bank the day you spot it.
Credit Card
Credit cards give you more room. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have 60 days from the date the statement was sent to dispute a billing error in writing with the card issuer.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors Most issuers also accept disputes by phone or in-app, which is faster. Your maximum liability for unauthorized credit card charges is $50, and most major issuers waive it.
If your statement shows a charge amount that doesn’t match any standard PicCollage price and you need documentation to back up a dispute, Cardinal Blue’s support team accepts email at support@piccollage.com.9PicCollage Help Center. How to Contact the PicCollage Team For a straightforward cancel-and-refund, the app store route is quicker.