Do you own a BPI credit card? Did you see an annual fee charge on your statement of account? If you do, know that the cc annual fee may be reversed if you will request for it and if your account meets the ‘waived fee’ criteria.
Usually the first year fee is free on most cards like those issued by BPI, BDO, Citibank, Metrobank, HSBC, Security Bank, and other banks. Then there is an annual fee chargeable starting on the second year, but if you meet certain parameters, the annual fee can be waived or reversed.
How? Make sure that you are diligently paying your credit card charges in full on or before due date. Meaning your account is in good standing all throughout the year. Meaning you’ve never have past dues and you don’t incur interest fees on your card because again you pay the whole amount due reflected on the SOA on time.
I’ve had my BPI Amore Visa credit card for couple of years now and I’ve never paid any annual fee on it. I regularly use it every time I am transacting in an establishment which accepts credit cards. So groceries, medicines, dine-ins, shopping, etc are all charged on my card.
I prefer using the card for its statement of account which is a good way to monitor past purchases.
My personal rules in using credit cards are as follows:
First, don’t use the card when you don’t have actual money to pay for the purchases. Treat the card as cash. No cash? Don’t buy.
Second, strictly pay the amount within 3 days of charging it on the card. I do not wait for the statement of account to arrive. I pay asap.
Third, keep only 1 or 2 credit cards. Having lots of cards tend to complicate things and life.
Calling BPI to Request for Annual Fee Charged Reversal
When I logged-on to my BPI Express online account this morning, I saw that there is a new charged of P2,050. I know right away that this is for the Amore Visa annual fee.
Right away, I called BPI domestic hotline number 1-800-188-89100 and was able to connect to a customer service representative. I explained my request to the csr that I’ve just been charged the annual fee for my credit card and I would like to have it reverse.
After hearing me out the csr said to kindly hold the line as she will need to check the evaluation of BPI on my credit card account. After about 2 minutes, she was back on the phone and said “Good news!”.
According to her, my BPI credit card was approved for the 100% reversal on the annual fee.
Reversal is usually done within 4 to 5 banking days but to avoid any possibility of interest charges, she advised that I settle or pay the P2,050 Amore Visa renewal fee for now. This is because the annual fee reversal will be reflected on the next statement of account.
She further said that the P2,050 that I will pay will be considered as “overpayment” and will be used againts new credit card charges.
Since I can’t go out to the bank and I don’t have a BPI peso savings account that is okay for online bills payment, I used Gcash to pay the P2,050.
I actually logged-on to BDO online to ‘send money’ to Gcash. Then logged-on to Gcash to access bills payment to pay the P2,050 on the BPI cc. A bit circuitous way to pay but it works. 🙂
I’ll be updating this post when I see the reversal finally reflected on my next BPI credit card statement of account.
UPDATE: The annual fee reversal of BPI credit card was processed fast. See this screenshot:
Oh by the way, my sister also have a BPI credit card, she also called and requested to have the annual fee charges reversed.
Her request was granted but the csr told her to make sure there is at least P9,000 new charges on the card in the next 3 months. Meaning she must use her card and spend that set amount, otherwise, she was told that the annual fee will be charged again.
*My sister thinks this particular advisory is just a bluff and that the fee will not be charged again even if the P9k spending within 3 months will not be met. But she didn’t risk it, she used her BPI credit card much often lately to met the ‘required amount’ in the given time frame hehe.
In my case, I never got that same advisory from the csr I talked with today, probably because I regularly use my BPI credit card, whereas my sister rarely use hers before.
Reversal and annual fee waiver may be dependent on other factors like spending history, paying history, and what not. I strongly suggest that once you are charge with the cc annual fee, that you try to request for its reversal. Sayang din yung pera na matitipid kung ma-a-approve naman.
Do the same principles work with other bank’s credit card? I think so.
*My husband’s BDO Shopmore credit card fees were also reversed. Shopmore cc fee is levied monthly; he made a one-time request in January for the previous year’s monthly fees.
To wrap this up, just try to request for annual fee reversal, it may be granted by the credit card company.
Hope this sharing helps. Thank you for reading Penfires. All the best!
Requesting to wave my edge credit card annual fee of Php 1320.00. I have been using my bpi credit card no. 520 [reducted for security] ,account no.02010 [reducted for security] for more than 20 long years and also been paying before the due date. Previos past years i’ve requested a life time waiver of my credit card and been approved and i enjoyed using my credit card without paying a monthly fee of php 110.00 and i think i can use it continously but last year i was surprised that you’ve charged me agn a monthly fee of 110.00. And so i just followed and paid coz i don’t want any trouble. You can check your records accordingly regarding staus of my payment. Please, please i humbly request to waive my annual fee of 1,320.00 if possible life time waiver fee coz am already a senior, i want to enjoy freely using continously my bpi credit card without any hassle.
I deeply appreciate if you could get back the soonest possible.
Thank you and God bless.
Nenita Palma
Hi Nenita, BPI does not monitor this website. Please contact BPI directly or visit your bank branch of account for your credit card annual fee waiver request.
How long will it take for the annual fee be given back to you?
I applied annual fee reversal last September and until now it is not yet reflected on my credit card.
Hi Ja, it was just a few days in my case. But per the csr, it will be reflected the next billing statement.
I worked in a financial institution before and in regards to annual fee reversal request, mostl likely, the provider looks into payment history if the account holder religiously pay his/her bill before due date (at least minimum payment). If there were no late payment, over spent limit instances in the past, for sure the they will waive the fee.
Thanks for sharing, Niek!
Hello, do you have any idea if requesting through email is possible? I am not in the Philippines now and I cannot connect through the international toll free numbers. I tried the other number, i waited for 5 minutes and I was charged for the call. 🙁
Hi, sorry to hear about the charge :/.
I haven’t personally tried contacting via email for reversal request, but you can try messaging them via help@bpi.com.ph. Hope they get back to you soon after.
I just called BPI today and requested to waive my annual fee. I have been a good payor ng Amore Visa card ko and then sinabi na I need to spend 9000 para mawaive to. Tinanong ko saan makikita yung ganung policy sabi hindi daw available sa customers which I think is unfair. She kept telling me na kelangan ko mameet yun or dapat naka40000 points ako bago mawaive yung annual fee. Sa last credit cards ko nakakapagwaive naman. Lulusot kaya to sa ibang agents? haha. Badtrip lang.
Hi Chineeta, you can try calling again, hope you get favorable response next time. 🙂
My sister was told that her BPI cc annual fee will be waived, but the charge will be reinstated if she will not use at least P9,000 within the next 3 months. She made sure she meet the 9k though para safe daw hehe.
Kahapon feb 12, 2021 tumawag ako sa hotline nila to ask bakit na naman ako na charge ng 2050 na annual fee if ung credit card ko is inapply ko sya as no annual fee for life. Bad trip lang kasi ganyan din ung condition sken na i need to spend 9000 worth para ma reverse ung annual fee. Tagged as “Billed” daw talaga ung annual fee ko. I ask again the csr, sabi ko bakit nga mgbi billed if no annual fee for life tong card. Ganun daw talaga sagot ng csr. Unfair lang tlga na may ganun condition si BPI without letting the clients know ng mga parameters nila. Internal policy daw un ng company. Parang hello saka lang tayo mgkakagulatan once na tumawag ka sa hotline. Im thinking of cutting my relationship na with BPI sa cc services nila. Marami din naman ng bank ng ooffer ng no annual fee for life din.
Hi Cecille, totoo yan talaga, madami palang conditions na wala sa marketing materials nila. I hope you find one credit card na totoong no annual fees for life, na walang conditions whatsoever. So far ako ngayon I am keeping my BPI CC tapos ayun kada bill ng annual fee, tumatawag ako sa hotline for reversal.
Last year din na ipawaived ko yung annual fee ko.. Kse nakapg swipe ako ng 9000 yun din sabi ng csr, b4 duedate nakakapagbayd din ako agad, nagulat nalang last month after ng bagong statement ko isang araw lang nakalipas, my pumasok sa acount ko na my late charges ako, pumunta agad ako bpi para itanung bka dw my late payment ako, pinakita ko na wla nmn sabi sa nxt statement pa nmn ppsok yung charges, pero sabi dapat wla un. Balik nlng daw ako kog oumasok pdn, pero after 1week na reverse naman. Pwede ko ko pa din kaya ma pawaive yung annual fee ko.. Pang 2nd year ko plng kse to bpi amore
Hi Julie Ann, every year ako tumatawag sa BPI hotline to request waiver of annual fee. Na gagrant naman.