Do Credit Issuers Match Offers?
Our question this week makes me realize that we’ve shockingly never covered the topic of which credit issuers will match increased bonus offers. I’ll start by asking for forgiveness in not covering this previously, because it’s a great topic and a resource we should have. Now, on to the question: which banks and credit card issuers (if any) will match increased bonus offers? Some will, and here they are.
The Question
Our question of the week comes from Eliana in our Facebook group:
I signed up for Amex platinum and received 75k bonus points. A week later they increased it to 100k for new signups. I’m sure the answer is no but wondering if anyone has been able to get them to give you the extra points? TIA.
Eliana applied for the Platinum Card from American Express and then watched in dismay as the welcome offer went up. Her question is whether Amex will match this new, higher offer onto her profile.
Credit Card Issuers and Their Policies on Matching Bonus Offers
Bank-by-bank, let’s look at this. Here are common issuers of credit cards and their policies on matching you to a welcome offer that’s higher than the one you just applied for recently.
American Express
They don’t match offers. It’s rare. You’ll hear about someone saying it happened, but assume you can’t get a match to a higher offer. However, if you chat with them, they will sometimes offer you courtesy credits in the form of some Membership Rewards points. It’s worth a shot.
Bank of America
Depending on your relationship with the bank and the mood of the phone rep, you can sometimes match to a better offer. If the first person says no, it doesn’t hurt to HUCA (hang up, call again).
Barclaycard
One of the more reliable credit card issuers in this area, Barclaycard will usually match offers up to 30 days after your application. Thus, you should absolutely watch the credit card that you applied for and see if the public offer increases within 30 days after your application.
Capital One
They never match.
Chase
This bank used to typically match offers within 90 days after you applied for a card. That seemed to change at the start of the pandemic and they have been refusing most requests. They seemed to deny anyone with the recent best-ever offer on the Sapphire Preferred. When it jumped to 100,000 points, Chase did not match this offer for people who had recently applied with an 80k offer. Let’s hope they go back to matching public offers in the first 90 days soon.
Citi
Typically matches offers for 90 days after you open your credit card. Thus, you should keep an eye on that credit card and its public welcome offer.
Discover
With this bank, it totally depends on who you talk to when calling. Some phone reps say it can’t be done, but others will do it. HUCA.
U.S. Bank
Spotty reports exist for customers being matched to higher offers. These usually came when asking for a supervisor to reconsider the request.
Wells Fargo
They don’t match increased offers after you’ve already applied.
How to Request a Match
Let’s say you recently applied for a credit card. After approval, you see the public welcome offer on that card goes up. The bank is now offering more points. Here’s how to request a match:
- Call the number on the back of your card. Explain to the phone rep that you recently opened the card and now see that the welcome offer for new cardmembers is higher, so you want to request a match to this better offer.
- With American Express and Citi, you can do this via chat.
- Chase users can send a secure message within their accounts.
- While other banks have a “message us” feature, they tend to be slow or offer assistance only on limited topics.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately for Eliana, the answer to her specific situation is “unlikely”. I would say that the best she can hope for is to get some courtesy points from American Express. Other banks, thankfully, are more generous with matching increased welcome offers after you’ve already applied for a credit card.
If you have a question, feel free to ask in our Facebook group or email me at Ryan[at]MilesToMemories.com
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As a relative novice to the points world at the time, the stories I read about draconian actions by bank card issuers kind of kept me from raising too much of a fuss over the issue. Just swallowed the $400 loss (assuming 2 cents valuation) and moved on.
Regarding Chase: Much earlier in the year (during the [first] Sapphire Preferred 60,000 points offer), I applied for the card and was accepted. Seemingly like about a week later, the offer went up to 80,000 and I contacted Chase for consideration for an 80,000 point upgrade on the offer. It was like communicating with a brick wall. I was never told “no”. The agent just dodged my request with some double talk and did nothing. So I just had to give up. If he just told me Chase had changed its policy, I would have reluctantly just accepted that. However, I was really put off by the hard cold shoulder treatment I received.
Rich – that’s both weird and annoying, since there were plenty of people who got matched up to 80k after applying a week or 2 earlier on the 60k offers.