What is the SCANA charge on my credit card?

What the SCANA charge usually means

A charge labeled SCANA on your credit card is most commonly tied to a utility payment, typically connected to legacy SCANA-branded billing used in parts of the Southeast. SCANA Corporation was acquired by Dominion Energy, but some payment descriptors can still appear in older or backend billing formats as SCANA instead of a newer brand label. In practical terms, this is often an electric or gas account payment, installment, or related account fee rather than a retail purchase.

If the amount looks familiar and matches your usual billing cycle, it is often legitimate. Many cardholders see this when autopay is enabled, when a one-time utility payment was made online, or when a prior balance was processed.

Why it appeared on your statement

• You have active autopay for a utility account that previously used SCANA-linked billing descriptors.
• Someone in your household paid a power or gas bill using your card.
• A catch-up payment, late fee, reconnect fee, or budget-billing adjustment posted as a service charge.
• A pending utility authorization finalized and then posted with the SCANA descriptor.
• Your utility provider processed payment through a legacy merchant descriptor not matching the app or website name you expected.

How to verify the charge quickly

Start with your utility account portal and compare the exact transaction date and amount. If you are in South Carolina, use Dominion Energy account history and support channels to confirm whether the payment matches your service address and account number. Check email receipts, autopay notifications, and any saved payment methods in your utility profile.

If you use multiple payment apps, confirm whether the card was used indirectly. For comparison, you can review similar descriptor patterns like Patreon and Cash App, where the statement text may not perfectly match the app name you remember using.

How to cancel or stop future SCANA charges

If the transaction is valid but you want it to stop, disable autopay in your utility account first. Then remove the card from saved payment methods and switch to another payment source if needed. If you moved or closed service, verify the final-bill status so you do not get follow-up adjustments. Ask customer support to confirm no recurring card authorizations remain tied to the account.

After changes, monitor your next one to two statement cycles. Utility payments can post on monthly cadence, so a final scheduled draft may still appear if it was queued before you turned autopay off.

When and how to dispute

Dispute the charge with your card issuer if you cannot match it to any household utility account, the amount is clearly wrong, or the charge remains after cancellation. Contact the merchant first when possible and document the call, date, and case number. Then file a card dispute promptly with evidence such as account screenshots, move-out confirmation, cancellation confirmation, and message logs.

For potential fraud, ask your issuer to block future merchant attempts and replace the card. Also update your utility login password and enable multifactor authentication. Unauthorized utility charges are less common than phishing attempts, but they do happen, especially when stolen card data is tested with recurring billers.

In short: SCANA is often a legitimate utility-related descriptor, but you should still verify details carefully. If anything does not line up, act quickly through both the utility support channel and your card issuer to limit further charges.