78 million U.S. cardholders changed their primary credit card in the past two years, but 58% of switchers simply promoted a card they already owned.

Seventy-one percent of switchers made the change within a month, while 78% seriously considered no more than two cards.

Forty-six percent switched without any contact with their previous issuer, while just 13% said nothing could have kept their old card on top.

Credit card issuers may think their biggest retention threat is another bank persuading a customer to open a new account.

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But the replacement card may already be sitting in the customer’s wallet.

PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The Switching Trigger: How Issuers Can Stop Their Credit Cards From Losing Top-of-Wallet Status” report, in collaboration with Elan, surveyed 2,460 U.S. consumers with at least one general-purpose credit card in June, including 884 who had changed their primary card during the previous 24 months. Thirty-six percent of U.S. cardholders, an estimated 78 million people, switched during that period.

The numbers show that retaining top-of-wallet status involves more than preventing account closures. It means recognizing when spending is moving somewhere else, often before the customer has given the issuer an obvious reason to intervene.

Among consumers who switched primary cards, 58% elevated a card they already had, compared with 42% who obtained a new card. That translates to roughly 45 million switchers moving an existing card into the primary position versus 33 million choosing a newly obtained one.

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