CSP downgrade question

[jake619]

If you app for CSP, use it for the first year and then downgrade to avoid the AF, do you get to keep the metal card?  I don't travel enough and if I do it's regionally so the big travel benefits are squelched, and I don't treavel internationally.  

[enharu]

they will mail out a plastic card, but your account number should remain the same. Your 3 digit pin at the back will change however.

you might still be able to use the metal card, assuming the different 3 digit code at the back isn't going to be a problem getting transactions authorized.

[FinStar]

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@enharu wrote:

they will mail out a plastic card, but your account number should remain the same. Your 3 digit pin at the back will change however.

you might still be able to use the metal card, assuming the different 3 digit code at the back isn't going to be a problem getting transactions authorized.

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+1

The metal card would still be valid until the expiration date; however, as mentioned by enharu above, once you downgrade the product, a new plastic will be issued which may differ in the 3 digit CSC on the signature panel, at which point the metal card would remain as your keepsake/memento.

[rex_03]

+1 ^^^

[jake619]

Thanks, Everybody.  I guess they feel the need to spend some more money for no reason.  That kind of stuff amuses me; they issue the metal card, charge no AF, give out 40,000 UR's, the user downgrades w/o paying AF and they spend more money to reissue plastic for no reason.  I'm sure it's pennies, but there's labor and other hidden costs in there.  Just silly.

[FinStar]

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@jake619 wrote:

Thanks, Everybody.  I guess they feel the need to spend some more money for no reason.  That kind of stuff amuses me; they issue the metal card, charge no AF, give out 40,000 UR's, the user downgrades w/o paying AF and they spend more money to reissue plastic for no reason.  I'm sure it's pennies, but there's labor and other hidden costs in there.  Just silly.

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The costs, if any, are very factional as there isn't much "labor" involved or hidden costs with downgrading the product.  It's all about economies of scale and market penetration.  You qualified for the CSP, got the flashy metal CC and the sign up bonus as expected.  However, Chase provides the flexibility with the CS/CSP program so that in the event it does not meet the customer's needs as expected or is unable to maximize the reward benefits, you are given the option to downgrade.  Results: you now have the "watered down" version and the plastic is just pennies.  For those of us who use the CSP and maximize the reward structure, the fee pays for itself.

[jake619]

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@FinStar wrote:

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@jake619 wrote:

Thanks, Everybody.  I guess they feel the need to spend some more money for no reason.  That kind of stuff amuses me; they issue the metal card, charge no AF, give out 40,000 UR's, the user downgrades w/o paying AF and they spend more money to reissue plastic for no reason.  I'm sure it's pennies, but there's labor and other hidden costs in there.  Just silly.

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The costs, if any, are very factional as there isn't much "labor" involved or hidden costs with downgrading the product.  It's all about economies of scale and market penetration.  You qualified for the CSP, got the flashy metal CC and the sign up bonus as expected.  However, Chase provides the flexibility with the CS/CSP program so that in the event it does not meet the customer's needs as expected or is unable to maximize the reward benefits, you are given the option to downgrade.  Results: you now have the "watered down" version and the plastic is just pennies.  For those of us who use the CSP and maximize the reward structure, the fee pays for itself.

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Well, when you cancel HBO you don't get a lesser-featured replacement cable box.  I was illustrating the pointless need to reissue against a functional card.  It's not like it went bad by downgrading.

[enharu]

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@jake619 wrote:

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@FinStar wrote:

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@jake619 wrote:

Thanks, Everybody.  I guess they feel the need to spend some more money for no reason.  That kind of stuff amuses me; they issue the metal card, charge no AF, give out 40,000 UR's, the user downgrades w/o paying AF and they spend more money to reissue plastic for no reason.  I'm sure it's pennies, but there's labor and other hidden costs in there.  Just silly.

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The costs, if any, are very factional as there isn't much "labor" involved or hidden costs with downgrading the product.  It's all about economies of scale and market penetration.  You qualified for the CSP, got the flashy metal CC and the sign up bonus as expected.  However, Chase provides the flexibility with the CS/CSP program so that in the event it does not meet the customer's needs as expected or is unable to maximize the reward benefits, you are given the option to downgrade.  Results: you now have the "watered down" version and the plastic is just pennies.  For those of us who use the CSP and maximize the reward structure, the fee pays for itself.

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Well, when you cancel HBO you don't get a lesser-featured replacement cable box.  I was illustrating the pointless need to reissue against a functional card.  It's not like it went bad by downgrading.

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They are reissuing you a new card because you are no longer paying the AF and you now have a DIFFERENT product.

You are not just removing features from the CSP. You are converting to a different card altogether.

When you trade in your Mercedes and get a Honda, you do get a less featured car. 

Yes, the card still works. However, you are forgetting that part of the benefits of the card is its "prestige" and the "exclusitvity" of it. You want to keep your metal card that you want others to think you have a CSP, which is the prestige factor, or maybe because you like the metal card, which is the exclusivity factor. 

I know many people who have an Amex Plat, Chase CSP, Blue Cash Preferred, Citi Prestige and Citi Thank You Premier even when they do not use enough to justify the AF. Some of them own several or all of those cards that I listed and they don't even really care about the rewards. They're just getting those cards simply for the "prestige". They don't even shop at supermarkets for instance and they opted for the Blue Cash Preferred over the Everyday only because the Preferred sounds better and looks more exclusive.

Banks know this and they capitalize on this. All they need is 1 person out of 100 to retain that card purely for its exclusivity, and they are still making a profit overall. Those plastic cost cents to make, and mail volume is pre-purchased from the couriers in advance at really low rates. Not everyone will pay the AF just to keep the metal card, but there's enough people willing to. If banks were to allow people to keep their cards, most people would have just downgraded except for those who are just using the card to churn out rewards.