Retention offer.
In plain English
A retention offer is what a card issuer proposes to keep you from closing an account, usually when you call to cancel, especially over an annual fee. It might be a statement credit that offsets the fee, bonus points for spending a certain amount, or a temporary interest-rate reduction. Issuers make these because keeping an existing customer is cheaper than winning a new one. You do not always get one, and there is no obligation to accept, but simply asking whether a retention offer is available before canceling a fee-charging card can be worth real money.
01Why it matters
A two-minute call can turn an annual fee into a credit or bonus, so knowing retention offers exist can save the fee on a card you were about to cancel.
02The math, step by step
Before canceling a card with a 95 dollar annual fee, you call and ask about keeping it. The issuer offers a 100 dollar statement credit for spending 1,000 dollars, which more than covers the fee for another year.
03What this is NOT
A retention offer is NOT guaranteed. Issuers extend them at their discretion, so you may be offered nothing, and there is never an obligation to accept one to keep the card.
04Receipts
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