How to lower APR on credit card?
Saturday, July 4th, 2009 at
3:32 pm
I have a bank of america credit card. I called today and spoke with a representative and a manager and neither was willing to lower it. I wanted it lowered to 13.99% from 15.99%. I have had the account for 2 1/2 years and I have never missed a payment and many months I pay more than the minimum due. Is there anything that I can do to lower it? I really want to get out of debt.
Filed under: Best Credit Cards Offers
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Until the credit market got so bad, you might have got that interest lowered just by asking. Right now I don’t think anyone is going to get interest lowered. Chase just raised my interest from 7.99% to 17.99% I’ve had the account over 15 years, never late always paid more than the minimum. I called and asked that the 17.99 be lowered to 15.99% I was denied. They told me to ask again in March.
I just had a similar call with Bank of America, I’ve had the current account for 12+ years, and currently am on 18.99% APR, but the person I spoke with said I’m not eligible for another rate because I’ve only been paying my minimum balance off. (Hello I just paid off my other BoA card 2 months ago) I asked for a call back from a supervisor, I was polite, but am a bit annoyed since this used to be much easier to negotiate (before the government started to get involved).
If I don’t get the response I’m looking for, I think I’ll see what I can find through Dave Ramsey’s site mytotalmoneymakeover.com and also talk to my financial advisor next week.
If you have never missed a payment, and have always paid on time, they will not work with you. The way that the banks see it, if you have always made your payment and on time, you will continue to do so. At this present time, credit card companies are not willing to lower your interest rates, because in 9 months they will be regulated by the government.
If you are desperate to get out of debt, you can try and negotiate and lower balance. There are calculations that are involved, but sometimes, they see
Good luck as most companies are hammering card holders with INCREASED apr’s.
Only thing you can do is to try and qualify for a different card and then call the BOA people back and ask them to lower it or you will transfer your balance to the other card.
good luck,
nyb
in the present market, you make a deal with another bank to take over the entire BofA balance due and close the BofA account.
try your local credit union — some hunting may be needed to find one that you are eligible to join — and credit unions frequently offer the lowest cost credit to consumers.