Barclay APR & CLI

[Themanwhocan]

Well, its been a year since I called Barclaycard, so I called to see about an APR reduction and SP CLI on my Priceline card. For whatever reason, i've always had horrible luck getting that cards APR reduced, and it was still at 21.74%

Well, it looks like they refuse to do SP CLI requests anymore. I was bounced around to 4 different groups, and I asked the first 3 for SP CLI and was always told they dont do that. The last person was just closing one of my Commence cards and transferring the balance to the Priceline card, so I didn't ask them about SP CLI.

The third person I talked to was able to reduce the APR 4 points to 17.74% after asking if this was for an upcoming purchase. I merely indicated that i call each year to see if it could be reduced, and she said that made sense. But, she also said that they review accounts 3 times a year, so I could call every 4 months to see if there is an offer available to reduce the APR. I might try that, since 17.74% on a card i've had since 2013 and with a transunion FICO that is give or take 760, is still rather high im my opinion. Of course, only Barclaycard's opinion truely counts...

I might press the online button for a HP CLI, as now is the time I had planned to request some CLI's and apply for at least one card.

So, does anyone else have any recent experiences dealing with Barclays?

[CrankyDave]

I got my Barclaycard APR reduced from a painful 27.49 to a still-painful 24% about six months ago. No CLI, though. I hardly ever carry a balance, so it rarely affects me, but it's the principle of the thing. I was planning to see if I was eligible for another reduction or CLI anyway, so I'll report back and let you know how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Since it was going to take a HP for my CLI I decided to forgo the online request and just called the backdoor number and spoke to an analyst. I was concerned that if I did it online I wouldn't be happy with the amount. And then I would wind up calling in and needing to take another HP anyway. He grilled me on my number of inqs and what my plan was to pay off my balances but I did go from 3500 to 7500 on that call. I had  a zero balance on my Barclays card at the time.

Front line customer service won't do soft pull CLIs. The "trick" is to ask them for an APR reduction and if an offer is available they transfer you to someone else. Those are the people that might have an offer to grant you a soft pull CLI. 

[gdale6]

4 points at a time is their max, got that out of a UW when I got mine reduced a few months ago.

[CrankyDave]

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@gdale6 wrote:

4 points at a time is their max, got that out of a UW when I got mine reduced a few months ago.

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That certainly corroborates the pittance of a reduction I got. I just got off the phone with them, and the CSR claimed that 24% is the lowest interest rate I can get on my card, period. I even asked him to repeat what he'd just said to make sure I had heard him right -- he said it won't go any lower, ever. Which seems kinda... odd.

The card has a decent limit now, but it was originally a "builder" card from Washington Mutual and has passed through several issuers in its lifetime. It lends credence to my paranoid suspicion that cards you get during times of poor credit always retain some sort of red flag through subsequent product changes regardless of how good your scores become.

[Anonymous]

CrankyDave was able to get a 4% Apr reduction and was told it was the max they could do at the time. Wondering if certain cards (starters) have limits to how far they can be reduced. My reduction was on a Barclay Sallie Mae MC.

[CrankyDave]

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@Anonymous wrote:
CrankyDave was able to get a 4% Apr reduction and was told it was the max they could do at the time. Wondering if certain cards (starters) have limits to how far they can be reduced. My reduction was on a Barclay Sallie Mae MC.

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Looking at my card, it's a Platinum, which is code for "sub-prime" or "builder." I'll call them again and see if I can do a product change.

edit: I used a backdoor number to get a credit analyst on the line, and he confirmed what I was told by the last CSR. The account started out as a WaMu builder card and passed through at least one other issuer before Barclays bought it. The analyst said that Barclays has to abide by the terms of the original builder card, so a) it can't go below its current crappy APR, and b) no product change can be done... ever. I'd have to apply for another card to get decent rates. Which I have no interest in doing.

Sheesh. Guess that's one for the sock drawer.

[Anonymous]

Hey CrankyDave, interesting what you learned ... glad you shared that for others to know. Also, interesting about WAMU. In a former credit life I had two cards through Providian which was sold to WAMU and then I was swept up with the take over by JP Morgan Chase where I was placed in the backroom and the lights were turned out. Chase wanted the physical branch sites not all the losers they got as part of the deal. Figured I would limp along until new cards were available. Finally, I was with Chase long enough to convince them I had turned over a new credit leaf. In order to actually move ahead with them, I cold applied for a Chase Freedom MasterCard (their underwriters suggested I do this from the backroom) and got the door opened (they did a two bureau pull). They even reworked my Chase Business Card into an Ink Card and gave me UR points. Funny the journeys we take.

[CrankyDave]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hey CrankyDave, interesting what you learned ... glad you shared that for others to know. Also, interesting about WAMU. In a former credit life I had two cards through Providian which was sold to WAMU and then I was swept up with the take over by JP Morgan Chase where I was placed in the backroom and the lights were turned out. Chase wanted the physical branch sites not all the losers they got as part of the deal. Figured I would limp along until new cards were available. Finally, I was with Chase long enough to convince them I had turned over a new credit leaf. In order to actually move ahead with them, I cold applied for a Chase Freedom MasterCard (their underwriters suggested I do this from the backroom) and got the door opened (they did a two bureau pull). They even reworked my Chase Business Card into an Ink Card and gave me UR points. Funny the journeys we take.

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Yeah, mine was a WaMu, then Household Bank (Or vice versa? Can't remember - things were chaotic during the sub-prime buyout square dance of the late aughts), and now Barclays. What's funny is that this dead end card has a significantly higher limit than my "proper" BankAmericard. I don't *want* to have more than three cards, but it looks like I'm gonna have to if I want cards that are actually capable of growing. I'm finally back at a point where I know I'll get approved pretty much anywhere, I just don't want the credit score hits from the hard pulls and decreased AoA right now.

[BKFireFly]

I had no clue platinum was code for sub-prime. Thank you for this information.