Chase and Amex, where to go from here.

[smc733]

Hi all,

Two lenders that "grow with you", who are super-prime, with fantastic CS, Chase and Amex, are now occupying my wallet.

Chase Freedom (4/11) - $6,000/22.9

Amex BCE (9/11) - $2,000/22.24

Here's where I need some changes (two from each card)

Chase:

-APR Reduction!  22.9% is insane, even though I PIF, it bothers me to charge on a card with an APR that high  I would like it around the 11.99% Variable they offer.

-Convert to Visa Signature (now that they report CL), when I called, they said it would "change the terms too much"

How can I go about these?  The Exec office phone number was no help.

Amex:

-Get CL to $6,000 (this will take time, I was thinking of asking for $4,000 at 6mo, and then $6,000 at 1yr)

-APR Reduction!  I would like this around something like 11.99-14.9%, which seems impossible for Amex.

Any ideas on how to go about these goals?  Would these happen with some more time on the cards?  I just don't want to use these cards heavily, then have them sit like this, stuck forever.

[CS800]

I have teh same card as you

BCE is at $4000 CL

Freedom is at $4500 CL

For the BCE, once you hit the 61 day mark from activation, you can request a CLI up to 3X, they can either give it to you or counter or deny it all

For hte freedom, I would say any CLI would be a HP even a rate reduction. Rate reduction as I was told has more to do with your score then with your history. They will pull your score,and see if there has been any increase. Of course they also look at your history with the card. But when I contact Chase to have my APR decreased, they said my score wasnt up where it needed to be for an APR reduction (it was a HP). Although to be fair, Chase is my lowest APR at 14.99%. My BCE is at 19.99%

[TM82]

Both my Blue Cash and Clear are at 17.24% which according to multiple CSRs is the lowest they can go.

[Anonymous]

The goals you have are long term and you will need to let the cards grow with you. APR is based on creditworthiness at the time of application and you will need to show that you are using the credit given to you responsibly over time. Unless there is a big change in income or in paying off your installment loans (if you have them), I don't see that budging without patiently waiting. I have both cards too and am stuck at a relatively high APR. Part of that is b/c these are cash reward cards which tend to have higher APRs anyways - the lowest for the Amex BCE is still a whopping 17.24%, not much of an improvement if you ask me!

Depending on your income, it may be safe to ask for CLI to $6000 strait off from Amex - 3x your current CL is about as high as they will do. They will counteroffer if they can provide you something but not $6000. Others might want to comment since this is anecdotal and not personal experience.