How easy is it to get Annual Credit Card Fee Waiver for current holders?


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Adam Goi

ClubSNAP Idol
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Hi.

Just get ready to laugh again. :bsmilie:

I've been hearing from friends that you can actually enjoy annual fee waiver as long you call in to 'cancel' your card when it is due. How true is it?

Also if one decides to cancel the card and re-apply again, I was also told that as long it's within 6 months after the termination, the customer is still liable to be charged the annual fee. Do they really enforce that?

Anyway, by now you can tell I'm one of those who have been dutifully paying the annual fees ... ;)

I'd love to hear from you and thanks in advance again! ;)
 

when the fees are due, call and ask for a waiver. if you spend enough, it's usually automatically granted.

I ever had a bank that waived the charges for 2 years despite not spending much. Some others will try to impose some conditions, like having to spend some amounts in the next month to get the waiver. T
 

Seems to work with some of the card centres. I had come across one card centre who cancel your card upon you request instead of trying to pursuade you to continue holding onto the card.
 

my lecturer also told us the same thing. But also depend on ur average expenditure using credit card lah. If you dont spend much they wont hesitate to cancel it.
 

Spend and pay promptly... Leave a little "rollover", abt SGD 50 to 100 when the year's up. Then call and ask for balance to pay, say you want to settle all, and cancel the card.

Works like a charm everytime, esp with foreign banks. Local bank, tried this tactic, didn't work. Have not been paying membership fees for as long as I've had credit cards... (abt 12 years??)

Forget to add. If they ask for reason, say you are applying for other cards which gives you x years free. They'll normally match the x years, maybe x+1 or even 2. It also depends on your credit-worthiness...
 

yup works for me, i spend very little every month (<50 with the card).

my fren has a better method, just tell them upfront to extend for free, if not you'll terminate.

btw, both of us with C***B*** :)
 

just tell them that u wish to terminate the CC to sign up wif competitor. More often than not, they will 'entice' u wif these freebies jus to win u over.

Tried & tested ...... countless of times :bsmilie:
 

zorro18 said:
just tell them that u wish to terminate the CC to sign up wif competitor. More often than not, they will 'entice' u wif these freebies jus to win u over.

Tried & tested ...... countless of times :bsmilie:

Yeah, agreed, I tried it also, it works.
 

i just simply call up and ask for waiver. i'll tell them that other bank waived the annul fee for me and there's no reason why i need to pay your's.

Normally they'll either say yes or they need to check with their superior and call me back. End result is always a pleasant one ;)
 

wa lao .. like that also can???

Guess Adam and me have been suckers for all these years :cry:

thanks for the tip, will try it when my fees are due .. then got extra bucks to buy camera stuff :thumbsup:
 

I always call to say want to cancel the card, they wavie.
 

yup...called up the card office...

me: "can i request for the annual fees to be waived?"

card office agent: "yes, let me check....please make use of your card by 15 jan 2005..any amount will do"

me: "thank you, and merry christmas."

simple right?
 

hey adam,

I used to promote credit cards at road shows before they were banned a year ago. I can't say which bank. hehe. but then from what i know. It is common practise for customers to first politely request to waive the fees. If not. threaten to cancel. usually the bank will give way. afterall. it's a highly competitive service.

In the unlikely event that they really cancel ya card. you can always apply for another one. A bank usually offers a wide range of cards. Each with different perks. Some give more ''Points'', which one can exchange for vouchers OR to pay for ya card's annual fee.. Some give more discounts at clubs. Some give more discounts at petrol stations and so on and so forth. Advise u to go check them out. With some calculations. U can actually save a lot of money!

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if u need more details. heh.
 

Adam Goi said:
Hi.

Just get ready to laugh again. :bsmilie:

I've been hearing from friends that you can actually enjoy annual fee waiver as long you call in to 'cancel' your card when it is due. How true is it?

Also if one decides to cancel the card and re-apply again, I was also told that as long it's within 6 months after the termination, the customer is still liable to be charged the annual fee. Do they really enforce that?

Anyway, by now you can tell I'm one of those who have been dutifully paying the annual fees ... ;)

I'd love to hear from you and thanks in advance again! ;)

Very difficult... :think:



But so far for my 3 cards over the past 6 years, I don't remember ever paying a single cent on annual fees.

Er... what's that actually? :sticktong
 

All you need is a wife who can talk. :gbounce:




But sometimes you might find her talk too much tho. :cry:
 

Anyway the bank earns at most 1.5% of any amount you spent on your card. The other 0.5% is given back to you in the form of "reward points" or anything similar.

If the bank split the 1.5% profit with Visa/Mastercard, then the bank earns 0.75% easily.

Anthony
 

i havent had a CC, but been paying for my DC for some years liao.... guess i could call up to cancel and get a new card, NUS-DBS DC like no benefits 1....
 

Never paid any annual fee before....
and still holding to my cards.... hee hee :)

even those interest fee they charged you can be waived (i always misplaced my statement and pay late .... :embrass: )

also, if you wanna renew your card, can sometimes ask them to give you free gifts.... just tell them i wanna cancel so can get new free gifts... they might oblige and give you...

i have tried before.... free $120 food voucher for renewing.... and that is without paying the annual fee.... hee hee ;)

but not so nice to ask... sometimes pai say....
 

anthony.phua said:
Anyway the bank earns at most 1.5% of any amount you spent on your card. The other 0.5% is given back to you in the form of "reward points" or anything similar.

If the bank split the 1.5% profit with Visa/Mastercard, then the bank earns 0.75% easily.

Anthony

There are generally 4 parties involved:

(a) the cardholder
(b) the issuing bank (IB) i.e. the one that issues the CC
(c) the merchant i.e. the retailer
(d) the merchant's bank (MB)

Suppose your CC payment to the merchant is $100. The merchant will then "sell" (discount) the $100 claim to its MB. Typically, the discount is between 1.5% to 3% i.e. the merchant will get back only between $97 to $98.50 from its MB. The MB will then add on it's share of the discount, which is anything from 0.25% to 1%, and claim this amount from the IB. In turn, the IB will claim from the cardholder the full amount.
 

Works for me - haven't paid annual fees for credit cards for years now. ;)

Also works for credit lines. ;)
 

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