A “CMI Marketing” line on your bank or credit card statement almost always comes from Creative Marketing Incentive Group, Inc., a Laguna Beach, California company that sells a subscription marketing platform to business owners. The typical charge is $99 per month, and it means someone with access to the account signed up for the service or started a trial that converted to paid billing.1Creative Marketing Incentives. Creative Marketing Incentives Home
Who Creative Marketing Incentive Group Is
Creative Marketing Incentive Group, Inc., also known as CMIG or CMI, has been in business since 2006 and is led by CEO Shane Higgins.2Better Business Bureau. Creative Marketing Incentive Group Inc BBB Profile The company sells a platform that lets business owners generate promotional gift certificates redeemable for things like hotel stays, cruise vouchers, vacation packages, and restaurant discounts. Those certificates are then handed out by the business as lead magnets, closing gifts, or loyalty rewards.3Creative Marketing Incentives. Boost Website Conversions
Why You Might Not Recognize It
CMIG sells to businesses, not to the people who ultimately receive the promotional certificates. If you got a free hotel voucher from a real estate agent and later saw “CMI Marketing” on your statement, those are not related; the agent paid CMIG, and the end recipient of the certificate has no account with the company.
If the charge is on your own card, the most common explanation is a trial that rolled into paid billing. The company advertises free trials and risk-free sign-up periods on its site, and once a card is on file, the recurring charge begins when the trial ends unless the account is cancelled.4Creative Marketing Incentives. CMI Features Demo The abbreviated billing descriptor doesn’t help: “CMI Marketing” looks nothing like the full “Creative Marketing Incentive Group” name people would remember from a signup page.
What the Subscription Costs
CMIG offers two plans. The Unlimited Monthly Plan is $99 per month with a $199 setup fee, so the first payment is $298. The Unlimited Annual Plan is $898 per year, also with the $199 setup fee, for a first payment of $1,097.1Creative Marketing Incentives. Creative Marketing Incentives Home Memberships are month-to-month with no long-term contract.5Creative Marketing Incentives. FAQ
How to Cancel and Ask for a Refund
To cancel, log into your CMIG account and click the “Cancel My Account” button, or open a cancellation request through the support ticket system in the dashboard. The request must be submitted at least three business days before your next billing date. Weekends and holidays don’t count toward those three days.6Creative Marketing Incentives. Terms of Service
Refund options are narrow. The company offers a 14-day money-back satisfaction guarantee on initial signups, and a separate three-day refund window; after that, CMIG says it cannot honor refunds because the funds have already been forwarded to vendors. Reactivated accounts don’t qualify for the 14-day period a second time, and premium certificates are non-refundable once created.6Creative Marketing Incentives. Terms of Service
You can reach CMIG support at (800) 619-6101 or through its Zendesk support portal.7Creative Marketing Incentives. Privacy Policy
Disputing the Charge With Your Bank
If cancelling doesn’t stop the charges, or if you believe you never authorized the subscription in the first place, you can dispute the charge through your card issuer or bank.
For a credit card, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute billing errors, including unauthorized charges and charges for services you didn’t receive. Your liability for an unauthorized credit card charge is capped at $50, and it drops to $0 if the charge was made online or by phone without your authorization.8FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges9FDIC. Consumer News Send a written billing error notice to the address your issuer designates for billing inquiries within 60 calendar days of the statement date on which the charge first appeared. The issuer must acknowledge your notice within 30 days and finish investigating within 90 days. You don’t have to pay the disputed amount while the investigation runs, and the issuer can’t report you as delinquent on that charge.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill
For a debit card, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E apply instead. If the card itself wasn’t lost or stolen but the number was used without authorization, you have $0 liability when you notify your bank within 60 calendar days of the statement. Report later than that and you can be left responsible for unauthorized transfers that occurred after the 60-day window closed.9FDIC. Consumer News
When you file the dispute, tell the bank you tried to cancel directly first and include dates, confirmation numbers, and copies of any support tickets or emails. That record is what moves a dispute from “he said, she said” to a documented billing error.