Dangers of Auto Renew
I have no idea if other countries do this.I've never heard of this before: is it a US thing?
I've had important things fail to renew because the card had expired and the company made no serious attempt to tell me that the renewal had failed (sending an email whose subject line is "Your policy renewal" on the day you expect the renewal confirmation email is not a serious attempt to warn you that the renewal has failed...). I've never had anything renew on an expired card.
Like you, I've had credit cards expire and I get a notice. I have auto renew with Google Fi and if my card expires or the number change I get an email from Google Fi saying I have 5 days to add a new card or my phone number will shut off.