Do you have a credit card with an annual fee that you might be looking to close? Did you know that many banks, especially Amex, will offer you a retention offer in order to get you to keep the card open?

The retention offer can be either a waived annual fee, a statement credit, or an amount of points that would offset the annual fee and convince you to keep the card open.

How to ask for a retention offer

Usually, when you call to close a card, the rep will ask you why you chose to close the card. 

In my experience, the best excuse that triggers a retention offer is “that you currently can’t afford the annual fee”.

Don't always accept the first one

Often, the way retention offers work is that they will offer you a lower offer to see if you accept it. Only if you decline will they offer you a better offer. That’s why whenever you are offered a retention offer, ask the rep “Is there any other offer you can offer me?”.

What retention offers can I expect?

Amex retention offers

Amex will usually offer an amount of points or statement credit that is equivalent, or almost equivalent, to the annual fee. You can ask Amex at any time if there is a retention offer on your account even if you were not recently charged an annual fee. Amex can sometimes offer a retention offer even on cards with no annual fee.

When you accept a retention offer, you agree not to close the card within 12 months. 

You can reach the Amex retention department at 1800-452-3945.

Capital One retention offers

On most Capital One cards, besides the Venture X, Capital One will easily waive the annual fee on the second year of card membership if you ask.

Chase retention offers

I have barely seen any retention offers from Chase recently.

Barclays 

Barclays may offer to waive the fee on the card as a retention offer.

Citi 

Citi sometimes offers points equal to the amount of the annual fee as a retention offer.

How to keep track of retention offers

In the CardRight app, you can always add offers to your cards at any time.

So when you get a retention offer, you can just add the offer to your card and CardRight will start tracking it for you.

Another benefit in the CardRight app, is that you can always see the history of your offers.

So even once you complete a retention offer, you can go back to check exactly when you received it. It’s an important function for Amex, for example, where they don’t allow you to close your card within 12 months of receiving a retention offer.