Confused by my APR with Discover? Anyone else had something like this happen?

[Anonymous]

Hi all.

First time post here. Long story short is this: My wife and I had some challenges years back and have been rebuilding our credit. We have a plan and so far its working great. We have staged out our credit apps and be careful about unwanted inquiries.

I recently applied for Discover It and was approved for a CL of $6500. I was feeling good. However when the card and documentation arrived the interest rate is a questionable 22.99% after the 14 month 0% intro period. I was expecting in the 13-15% range.

To put this in some persceptive, here are some of the approvals prior to Discover:
American Express TrueEarning @ 15.24% with a 7k CL
Platinum Visa with our Credit Union @ 8.99% with a 10k CL
Refi'd our car @ 2.24%

Our total credit card debt is less then 1k.

So things are moving in a good direction with our rebuild and establish plan. When we last had credit pulled my score was roughly 780. The Discover app shows my Equifax as 769.

I am just a little confused by the APR of 22.99%. Anyone else had a similar issue with Discover? I called and asked about the rate. They said that they can not look into adjusting the APR until the 14 month 0% is over, because "you can't go lower than a 0% rate".

Any thoughts?

Also another question, do credit cards report APR's to the bureaus or is it mostly CL and current balance/lateness etc? With no plans to carry a balance, am I getting worked up for no reason?

Thanks all.

Hal

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all.

First time post here. Long story short is this: My wife and I had some challenges years back and have been rebuilding our credit. We have a plan and so far its working great. We have staged out our credit apps and be careful about unwanted inquiries.

I recently applied for Discover It and was approved for a CL of $6500. I was feeling good. However when the card and documentation arrived the interest rate is a questionable 22.99% after the 14 month 0% intro period. I was expecting in the 13-15% range.

To put this in some persceptive, here are some of the approvals prior to Discover:
@Anonymous Express TrueEarning @ 15.24% with a 7k CL
@Platinum Visa with our Credit Union @ 8.99% with a 10k CL
@Anonymous'd our car @ 2.24%

Our total credit card debt is less then 1k.

So things are moving in a good direction with our rebuild and establish plan. When we last had credit pulled my score was roughly 780. The Discover app shows my Equifax as 769.

I am just a little confused by the APR of 22.99%. Anyone else had a similar issue with Discover? I called and asked about the rate. They said that they can not look into adjusting the APR until the 14 month 0% is over, because "you can't go lower than a 0% rate".

Any thoughts?

Also another question, do credit cards report APR's to the bureaus or is it mostly CL and current balance/lateness etc? With no plans to carry a balance, am I getting worked up for no reason?

Thanks all.

Hal

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You're in luck. Even though that rate sucks to start with, You can call in 6 months after opening the account and ask for an APR drop after promo end.

[Membersince2013]

They'll reduce it. If they reduced it for me. i'm pretty sure they'll reduce it for you. My scores are nowhere close to 780 lol.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am just a little confused by the APR of 22.99%

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It's never just about score and something or several somethings in your report(s) -- like those recent new accounts -- may have given them some concern to give you such an APR.  Creditor A giving you a low APR doesn't necessarily mean that creditor B will as well.  Underwriting critieria is not identical from to creditor to creditor and your credit may have changed since you applied for A and then applied for B.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also another question, do credit cards report APR's to the bureaus

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No.  If you aren't regularly pulling and reviewing your reports then definitely do so.

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@Anonymous wrote:

With no plans to carry a balance, am I getting worked up for no reason?

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I'd say so,  You can request reductions later on.

[FinStar]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am just a little confused by the APR of 22.99%

---

It's never just about score and something or several somethings in your report(s) -- like those recent new accounts -- may have given them some concern to give you such an APR.  Creditor A giving you a low APR doesn't necessarily mean that creditor B will as well.  Underwriting critieria is not identical from to creditor to creditor and your credit may have changed since you applied for A and then applied for B.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also another question, do credit cards report APR's to the bureaus

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No.  If you aren't regularly pulling and reviewing your reports then definitely do so.

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@Anonymous wrote:

With no plans to carry a balance, am I getting worked up for no reason?

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I'd say so,  You can request reductions later on.

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OP, you can contact Discover to review your account and determine whether it's elegible anywhere from 6-12 months.  Not all accounts qualify right away but you can always check.  Keep in mind, the APR assigned to your account was based on a review of your overall CR profile plus other factors.

[newhis]

I just asked Discover about an APR reduction, and they said they can't do anything until the card is over 1 year old.

I got Discover with no credit history, 3.99% intro APR for 6 months and now 22.99%

[Chris679]

If you had lots of new credit when you applied for Discover that could explain the high APR. Like others said they are very good about lowering. I started above 20 and after lowering it 2-3 times its at 13.24%.

[MoreRewards]

I'm not sure the issue? I got the same promo of 0% & then 22.99% a little over a year ago. I'm not happy with it but they decide based on their criteria. I kayo getting same for the Citi DC offer 22.99% after intro even though they send me offers of 12.99-14.99 for TYP and similar for Simplicity.
I have good scores, no baddies or rebuilding but they have me that APR.
All you can do is eventually call like other posters have suggested.

[elegia]

Yes! This is my situation exactly! I was baffled by both my starting limit ($1500) and APR (22.99%) when I got my Discover It. The limit was half the starting limit of my very first credit card ever (which I got when my income was half of what it was when I got the Discover It) and 10-20% of the limits on my other cards at the time. The APR was also higher than the APR on my first card when I got it (and that was even reduced further) - my other APRs are in the 13-15% range. When I applied for the Discover It, my scores were in the high 700s, 0-1 inquiries (over 6 months old) on all reports, income was higher than it had ever been, perfect payment history of 3 years, no baddies, etc. I was very surprised by the rates and terms I got. To top it off, since getting the Discover I have added a few more cards - even with the extra inquiries on my reports, new cards reporting, new loans reporting, credit score lowered to low 700s, and income halved (started grad school), every single card gave me higher limits and lower APRs. *shakes head* I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

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@elegia wrote:

Yes! This is my situation exactly! I was baffled by both my starting limit ($1500) and APR (22.99%) when I got my Discover It. The limit was half the starting limit of my very first credit card ever (which I got when my income was half of what it was when I got the Discover It) and 10-20% of the limits on my other cards at the time. The APR was also higher than the APR on my first card when I got it (and that was even reduced further) - my other APRs are in the 13-15% range. When I applied for the Discover It, my scores were in the high 700s, 0-1 inquiries (over 6 months old) on all reports, income was higher than it had ever been, perfect payment history of 3 years, no baddies, etc. I was very surprised by the rates and terms I got. To top it off, since getting the Discover I have added a few more cards - even with the extra inquiries on my reports, new cards reporting, new loans reporting, credit score lowered to low 700s, and income halved (started grad school), every single card gave me higher limits and lower APRs. *shakes head* I don't get it.

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I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about getting 0% for 6mos and 22.99% on a $1,800 SL with a EQ FICO of 637.

*ducks*