What a Starbucks or Tim Hortons reload looks like on a statement
A Starbucks or Tim Hortons app charge is often a reload of the stored balance, not the coffee you picked up. The statement amount is the amount you loaded. The drink is later deducted from that balance and may not appear on the bank statement at all. Neither company's pages opened 17 October 2026 print a required card code. The name usually includes the brand.
Last updated: October 17, 2026
Last checked: Oct 2026
Starbucks Card loads
The Starbucks Card Agreement, effective 24 July 2023, says you can load a card at a participating store, at https://www.starbucks.com/gift/ , or by calling 1-800-STARBUC. You may not have more than $500 of value on any Starbucks Card at one time. No more than $2,000 may be associated with any one card in a single day. The total you load onto all of your cards, plus the value of new cards you buy, may not exceed $10,000 in a day. The minimum load is typically $5. Starbucks says it may change these amounts without notice. There may be a delay between paying and the funds being available.
The agreement says Starbucks does not charge activation, service, dormancy, or inactivity fees on the card. The balance does not expire. The loaded value is a prepayment for goods at participating stores. Unless the law or the agreement says otherwise, it is nonrefundable and may not be redeemed for cash. It is not insured by the FDIC, and it does not earn interest. If you pay with a credit or debit card, an authorization runs before the charge, and the card is charged when the reload is completed. If a transaction is canceled, Starbucks requests a reversal. How fast it disappears is up to your bank. That hold pattern is on temp authorization hold.
Auto-reload is optional. You set a date or a balance threshold and Starbucks emails you the terms, then emails you after each reload. Preference changes can take up to 24 hours. To stop auto-reload, sign in at https://www.starbucks.com/gift or call 1-800-STARBUC at least 24 hours before the next scheduled reload. Once the value is loaded, the transaction cannot be reversed. Starbucks does not charge a currency conversion fee on the Starbucks Card itself. Your bank may charge a separate fee if you load the card outside the United States. That bank fee is on foreign transaction fees. Starbucks says it does not receive that bank fee.
Tim Hortons in Canada
Tim Hortons Canada's help article, updated 4 June 2026, says to reload a Tims Gift Card in the app like this: open the app, choose the Scan tab, tap the payment methods icon, choose Load Tims Gift Card, pick the amount and the payment method, then Pay with Card or Pay with Apple Pay. The article's address is 130 King St. W, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, M5X 1K6. It does not print a list of required reload amounts. The amount on your statement is the amount you selected.
A separate article, updated 18 July 2025, says automatic reload cannot be controlled in the Tim Hortons app. If an order costs more than the balance, the app prompts you to reload to finish the order. Manage automatic reload on the Tims Gift Card website, also called the Tim Card website. The turn off article from the same day says to sign in, open My Tims Gift Cards, choose Auto Reload, and select Suspend. Disable it at least 24 hours before the next scheduled reload. Once the reload is processed, it cannot be cancelled or refunded. The how to automatically reload article says you can also call 1-866-TIM-CARD. The website's own examples of amounts, such as adding a set sum once a month, are examples of the settings. They are not a required price.
The US Tim Hortons app is a different FAQ
The US mobile app FAQ is not the Canadian help centre. It says the app loads a minimum of $10 USD from your card or Apple Pay when the balance is not enough to complete an order, with your permission. It also says the app does not let you set automatic reload of the account balance, and that an order larger than the balance prompts a reload. Those two answers sit on the same FAQ. Read both. A saved card can reload a predetermined amount when the balance is too low for a mobile order. The default reload amount is under Account, Account Info, default reload amount, Update.
The same US FAQ says the first order requires a minimum balance of $5. Tim Card balances in that app cannot exceed $100. You cannot reload more than $50 per week to the in app balance with a credit card. The FAQ's own example: a balance of $80 and a $50 credit card reload will not process, because the balance would pass $100. A $20 credit card load would reach the $100 maximum. Reloads are not refundable. If you think a reload was fraud, the FAQ says to contact the card merchant. Auto reload that was set up on the Tim Card website is turned off on that website, not in the app. Disable it within 24 hours of the next scheduled reload. Once the value is loaded, it cannot be reversed. Do not copy the Canadian article's examples onto a US statement, or the US $10, $50, and $100 figures onto a Canadian Tims Gift Card. The country of the app is the country of the rule.
A reload is not the drink. Several drinks can come out of one load, so the bank line will not match the receipt in the store. A repeating reload can be auto-reload or a habit of topping up. It is not, by itself, a streaming subscription. How repeating charges get grouped is on find subscriptions from a statement. Stopping Starbucks auto-reload is the 24 hour step above. Stopping a Canadian Tims auto-reload is the Suspend step on the gift card website. The general checklist is how to cancel a subscription.
Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo groups the same merchant when a similar amount shows up again about a week, a month, or a year apart. You can mark Starbucks or Tim Hortons yourself. Expenvo does not cancel the auto-reload, and it does not count the load as savings. A line you cannot match is on unknown charge on a statement.
Questions
- Why is the Starbucks charge more than my drink?
- The bank charge is the reload of the Starbucks Card. The drink is taken from that balance later and often does not appear as its own bank line. The agreement says the minimum load is typically $5, and a card cannot hold more than $500.
- Can I stop Starbucks auto-reload the same day?
- The agreement says to sign in at starbucks.com/gift or call 1-800-STARBUC at least 24 hours before the next scheduled reload. After the value is loaded, the transaction cannot be reversed.
- Are the US and Canadian Tim Hortons reload rules the same?
- No. The Canadian app article does not print the US FAQ's $10, $50, and $100 figures. The US FAQ does not use the Canadian gift card website examples. Use the help centre for the country of the app.
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