How To Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rates
Lately high interest rates on credit cards are pretty normal. Most all my clients I talk to have interest rate between 20-30%. Very rarely does someone have a single digit interest rate these days! The national average for interest rates is between 14-16% right now. So if you are one of those people that do have an above average interest rate, there are things you can do. To do this you will need to make some phone calls to your banks. Use your customer service number on the back of your credit card or credit card statement.
First things first, make sure to round up any new card offers you may have got in the mail recently. Also go your banks website to see what the current interest rates are on the credit card you currently have.
Example: If you have a CitiBank Platinum Select Credit Card your interest rates can be between 11.99%-21.99% based on your credit worthiness. So if you are sitting at a higher rate, you must have either had a late payment, maxed out your credit line, have gone over the limit or maybe did a cash advance at some time. All these factors can trigger a higher than average interest rate. If you have not had any of these factors before, you need to find out why you have such a high rate and ask for something lower.
Call your customer service number and get a customer service representative on the line. Let the CSR know you checked out their website and you’re above the interest rate rage quoted for your credit card. Then ask if there is a better interest rate available for your account. Take whatever lower rate they give you for now. If the CSR cannot do any for you, let them know about your new credit card offers you received in the mail. Also, tell the CSR you are considering moving the balance somewhere else if they cannot help if needed.
Still if all this fails, ask to speak with a supervisor. This is not to say anything bad about the CSR, but to speak to someone at a higher level. The supervisor can do things that a CSR cannot do. You may have your best luck this way. Repeat the same thing to the supervisor that you just did with the CSR.
Take whatever deal they give you for now. Even if they only drop it 1 point, take it! This is a starting point for you and you can call back every month until you get it closer to where you would like it to be.
Tip1: Do not be afraid to move your balance somewhere else and do business with another bank. If your current bank is not meeting your needs, find someone who will. You do not have to close any accounts; just move the balance to another bank. Take advantage of a 0% promotion offer to pay down account faster.
Tip2: If you do the balance transfer and pay off the high rate card completely, here is what you do! Call back your bank you have the high interest rate with once you get the next bank statement. The statement should show a $0.00 balance or close to it. Then call back the CSR and Supervisor if need to ask for a better rate. You tell them you want to use this credit card again “BUT”, the interest rate is too high and higher than all your other cards. With your balance being paid off, you’re in control now because you don’t owe the bank anything now. The bank generally wants your business and they do not make money from you with a paid off account. So they should do something for you at that time.
Now if your bank does not cooperate with you and your request, you might want to do business with someone else. Do you really want to stay with that bank anymore?
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