So, Petal 1 just made it super easy for me to close my account with them.
I got Petal 1, 2 years ago as part of my rebuild because it had no fee.
I did see a few months ago they released the new Petal 1 Rise with a annual fee and their site currently shows both, the no fee and the rise with af.
However, today I got an email that they are adding a $8 per mo. Fee to my Petal 1 legacy card. So I logged into my app and it gave an option to accept the $8 fee or close my account.
Since it's a sockdrawered card, I closed it. Bye bye $1400.
Not a big deal. I was contemplating calling in to close it anyways, they just made it super simple for me with a button click.
It helped me when I needed to rebuild, but I outgrew it with much better cards.
Anyone else get the same notification?
No fee card suddenly gets fee...yeah you did the right thing. The fact that they made it so easy tells me they were already expecting backlash and actually thought ahead a little bit. What a weird thing to go through with though. I'm sure defaults are up though and this was their way of dealing with it. Glad you could close with little impact. Unfortunately there are probably a lot of people out there that will be stuck with the new $8 per month fee. Hopefully everybody can jump ship that is able.
8/8/25
@ptatohed wrote:That's lame. I don't see any indication of a monthly fee. I wonder if it is an inactivity or dormancy fee just because you have not been using your card? Just guessing.
https://www.petalcard.com/petal-1
That's what I thought it was at first too when I checked the same Petal 1 page you linked to, but the wording was different.. basically, thanks for being valued customer. We wanted to let you know we are updating our Petal 1 terms of use, because we are adding even more cash back categories. In order to continue saving with your Petal 1 card you'll need to accept the new terms and $8 per month membership fee. We value you as a customer and understand if you decide to close your account. Please login to your app to accept or decline the new terms of use.
It really didn't feel or read like an inactivity action.
I did see posts on reddit about others that got the same notice as me today. Here's the reddit I saw earlier: https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/13jejfu/petal_1_introducing_8_monthly_membership_fee/
@Lou-natic wrote:No fee card suddenly gets fee...yeah you did the right thing. The fact that they made it so easy tells me they were already expecting backlash and actually thought ahead a little bit. What a weird thing to go through with though. I'm sure defaults are up though and this was their way of dealing with it. Glad you could close with little impact. Unfortunately there are probably a lot of people out there that will be stuck with the new $8 per month fee. Hopefully everybody can jump ship that is able.
Unfortunately I think you are right. Some people may still be fresh in their rebuilds and stuck with it.
What's more unfortunate. Is the $8 per month works out to double the cost of their new Petal 1 Rise versions af.
I got my original Petal card before there were Petal 1/Petal 2 cards. I was rebuilding then and it was my go-to card for a long time, with a SL of $850 and currently sitting at $2300. My card eventually became Petal 2. I do know if I was the owner of a Petal 1 and received this notice, I would close it without hesitation. The card is no longer one I carry; however, I use it for my gym membership each month to keep it active.
