Free trials where you have to provide your credit card details beforehand are not really free trials.

It's more like a sign on bonus.

Pffft...you are not a free trial

Use entropay, works for almost all of them. Worth topping up a 5$ so u can use it for "account verification". Used it once on dodgy portal and keep using it since then as the mfuckers tried to charge me after trial for full subscription and there was no option whatsoever on the website to cancel it :)

Google App Engine does that too

There’s method to this madness.

1) asking for a credit card upfront removes “tire kickers” ie people who are going to use your app but have no real intention of actually signing up as a paying member

2) giving a free trial without asking for a credit card essentially creates double effort in signing up, thus adding friction for the user. You need to sign up once at the beginning and then effectively sign up again when the free trial is over. There is data to show this can hugely damage conversion.

3) if employing this strategy you MUST make it easy to cancel AND send reminders a few days before you take payment. If you don’t you’re a cunt.