Hi all,
Just an FYI, according to AMEX there has been a change in the laws in Australia starting Jan 1st 2019 which prohibits AMEX (and potentially other institutions) from offering retention bonuses to their members that request to close off their credit card.
Are there other institutions that have followed suite from your experience?
Cheers
You read it on the internet, of course its real and official!
It all comes out in the wash
It’ll probably translate to better sign up bonuses
Next they'll be banned.
Unfortunately, this is true.
The current version of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Compilation No. 18) contains this amendment:
133BV Credit provider not to suggest the consumer not terminate the credit card contract
When this section applies
This section applies if:
(a) a consumer who is the debtor under a credit card contract has a credit card termination entitlement under the contract; and
(b) the consumer has requested to terminate the credit card contract.
Requirement
The licensee who is the credit provider under the credit card contract must not suggest that the consumer remain in the credit card contract.
Civil penalty: 2,000 penalty units.
Offence
A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person is subject to a requirement under subsection (2); and
(b) the person engages in conduct; and
(c) the conduct contravenes the requirement.
Criminal penalty: 50 penalty units.
must not suggest that the consumer remain in the credit card contract.
I wonder if any of the banks will come up with a way to offer a deal without "suggesting" the customer remain in the contract.
They could perhaps use some software that analyses spending patterns to determine who is likely to want to cancel their card and start calling periodically to make an offer.
Or potentially analyse their card closure reasons and readjust their product lines accordingly, eg lower annual fees etc.
This could be a net positive long term.
Unfortunately, this is true.
So don't request to cancel then!
Maybe ring up and ask what offers they have for you continuing to be a AMEX card holder. If they offer nothing, then cancel :)
I wonder if this would have as much success as calling up to cancel (which would get you put through to customer retention). However, maybe it's okay to say that you're considering cancelling due to fees etc., since the legislation states that it applies to requests to cancel.
Its a grey area for sure. You might get away with considering cancelling for sure. Worth a try I guess.
Banks will just say "no problem, we've got wayyyy better cards for you to sign up to anyway"
"Do you have a customer retention team? May I talk to them please?"
Not anymore after these changes. No point keeping those people around if they can't do their job anymore. Whole team was probably let go at the end of 2018 :-(
Ive called Amex yesterday and got some more information on this.
Yes the points retention offer is hard to come by or near impossible now. Actually the rep (Australian) said that if anyone calls to cancel, they are instructed to cancel the card and are not allowed to offer any retention. However he did give some insight, upon cancelling the card (while still on the phone with the rep), they will then be able to offer you something. This is a loop hole to the current legislation I guess, and im envisioning that the "retention" page is available only after cancelling the account. If however you are not happy with the retention, the Amex account can be reinstated.
From my experience yesterday, I was offered no points, no waive of annual fee, only switching to another lower fee free card. I optioned for option 4, reinstate my platinum edge. Good luck to others who are willing to try, nothing to lose as they can always reinstate your card (as long as you dont hang up, after they cancel it).
Interesting, thanks for sharing
The laws must be really good/enforced.
Yesterday cancelled, easy 5mins, most of it was waiting fora real person and them confirming my identity. the last minute was them being nice and pleasant seeing if I needed anything else and goodbye
Confirming that no retention offers were given today. No more retentions team as of Jan 2019. Decided to keep the AMEX for another year
Wait, what?! Is this official?