Reducing your credit card interest rate...

I was reading some interesting articles through Google and had great luck reducing mine. I was paying an APR of 12%, which is already low but I got it dropped to 9% APR. All I did was call and say I saw another card with zero balance transfer fee and 0% APR for 12 months. Once they heard I was thinking about closing my account, they were happy to lower my rate to keep my business. Give it a shot and post here how it goes...Good luck!

If you need help on what exactly to ask, punch in lower credit card interest into Google...

Yes, this is something most anyone can do as long as they've paid on time and have a good credit history elsewhere. I've done it several times over the years with various accounts. I've only had a couple of times where they were stubborn about it, so I had to follow through on my threat to leave them. One had actually just raised my rate, and when I called they gave me attitude, so I immediately closed the account. A day or two later I got a call from somebody who claimed to be a V.P. (but you know how banks are, even the cleaning crew has a VP) who apologized profusely and said he would reset my rate to the lower rate. I said "no thanks" and left anyway.

You have a lot of leverage to work with your credit card company as long as you're a good, established customer.

My husband and I have both tried it an none of our cc's would do it for us, and we have really good credit and ALWAYS pay on time.

Which company did this work for with you super?

I have USAA Mastercard...Also, do you guys have a large balance on your cards? I think if you did and then brought up you wanted to switch to a 0% APR card they might be more willing to help? Not sure...At first they said "no, 12% is the lowest on that card." When I said I was going to transfer my balance, they said "ok, 9%"

Not directly relevant, but I thought I'd share that I increased my line of credit yesterday. Just logged into my bank's online service, entered my annual salary, and bam--70% increase with no hard pull on my credit.

I'll be traveling more over the next year, so I figured I could use a little bigger line. Plus, when I'm not using it, my credit utilization ratio will improve. Food for thought if you haven't asked for a CLI (credit line increase) in a while. Personally, I had never requested one.

I tried that & they didn't budge. That's ok though. I have a card with 7.99% fixed for life. That's the one I use for everything.

[quoteeedaa9136e="LLee93"]I have a card with 7.99% fixed for life. That's the one I use for everything.[/quoteeedaa9136e]
Until they change their terms. )

I have one that was 5.9% "for liife" when I got it. What they mean is, the "life" of the terms. In the small print they tell you that they can change their terms at any time. So after about 6-7 years at 5.9%, they let me know that the terms were changing to 9.9% if I wanted to continue using the account. I could keep the 5.9% only if I closed the account to further purchases. This was back when interest rates were on the rise again, so it was still as cheap or cheaper than other cards I had, so I kept it open. And it's still lower than anything they currently offer to new accounts. But it still pissed me off.

As far as credit line increases, I don't think I've ever asked for one on a major CC. They just give 'em to me automatically every so often.

[quote23462902d3="dmorris68"][quote23462902d3="LLee93"]I have a card with 7.99% fixed for life. That's the one I use for everything.[/quote23462902d3]
Until they change their terms. )

I have one that was 5.9% "for liife" when I got it. What they mean is, the "life" of the terms. In the small print they tell you that they can change their terms at any time. So after about 6-7 years at 5.9%, they let me know that the terms were changing to 9.9% if I wanted to continue using the account. I could keep the 5.9% only if I closed the account to further purchases. This was back when interest rates were on the rise again, so it was still as cheap or cheaper than other cards I had, so I kept it open. And it's still lower than anything they currently offer to new accounts. But it still pissed me off.

As far as credit line increases, I don't think I've ever asked for one on a major CC. They just give 'em to me automatically every so often.[/quote23462902d3]

I'm at about 4 years now with that, so I guess I'll see. If they raise it, I'll just close it.