Are Your Credit Card Annual Fees Refunded?
If your credit card is automatically renewed for another year, it’s easy to overlook the annual fee. Once you stop worrying about the money back welcome and perks, it’s easy to forget about them as the fee becomes one of the many items in the monthly statement, only visible long after the payment has been processed. But what if you weren’t going to renew your card – can you cancel and get an annual fee refund?
Most credit card companies return annual fees
Fortunately, most lenders will retroactively return their annual fee if you call them to cancel the card, provided it is still relatively close to the renewal date. This usually needs to be done before the closing date of the statement that displays the charge.
Generally speaking, the earlier you cancel the card, the more likely it is that the fee will be refunded – after all, it is much more difficult for the lender to justify the annual fee if the card is canceled after about a month. Here’s a look at the return policies of major creditors:
- American Express offers a refund if you cancel your subscription within 30 days of the closing date of your account statement, which includes an annual fee.
- Bank of America does not have a set policy, but you are more likely to receive a refund if you abandon the trade immediately after the commission is posted. It also helps if you have a history of timely payments.
- Barclays offers a refund if you cancel within 60 days of the closing date of the statement, which includes an annual fee change.
- Capital One provides a refund if you cancel your subscription within 30 days from the date of the checkout.
- Chase also allows refunds within 30 days of the closing date of the account statement showing the commission.
- Citi will refund your annual fee within 37 days of the receipt of payment on your statement.
- The US Bank will automatically refund the annual fee if you close your account within 30 days of the date the payment appears on your statement.
- Wells Fargo will refund your money within 90 days of your annual fee.
One thing to keep in mind: closing your credit card account can damage your credit score . Instead of closing your account, you might consider upgrading to a card without a fee. To read more about this, check out this Lifehacker post detailing all of your options.