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Is there any benefit to getting lower interest rates?

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Joesh
New Contributor

Re: Is there any benefit to getting lower interest rates?


@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Low APRs come in handy. Many credit cards today have high rates though :-/

I remember back before the Financial Crisis... You could call and get you rates reduced every six months... My ANF card had a 12% rate and my Chase Platinum had a 9.24%! Lol

It's harder to get low rates that aren't intro imo, so if you can get them, do it!!!! Lol
My lowest now is like 13.99%
:-)

Do same rules apply as asking for CLI? I have about 3% util. on the card I want to ask for lower APR on now. Should I make balance read $0 before I ask?

AMEX BCP : $30K | Citi Forward : $15K | Citi Dividend : $14K | BoA Travel Rewards : 7K | NFL Cash Rewards : $6K | Chase Freedom : $10K | Discover IT : $6.5K | AMEX BCE: $5k | Age: 26 | Occupation: Grad Student | CreditKarma: 800TU/812EQ |
Message 11 of 14
chnceit
Valued Contributor

Re: Is there any benefit to getting lower interest rates?


@Joesh wrote:

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Low APRs come in handy. Many credit cards today have high rates though :-/

I remember back before the Financial Crisis... You could call and get you rates reduced every six months... My ANF card had a 12% rate and my Chase Platinum had a 9.24%! Lol

It's harder to get low rates that aren't intro imo, so if you can get them, do it!!!! Lol
My lowest now is like 13.99%
:-)

Do same rules apply as asking for CLI? I have about 3% util. on the card I want to ask for lower APR on now. Should I make balance read $0 before I ask?


There is no rhyme or reason for reduction in APR. But I notice a lender will give you a reduction when your report looks better and your scores increase. Good luck!


Last Pulled EQ: 809
Last Credit Card App: 02/05/2016
Last CLI: 02/06/2016
Find Me: Gardening
Message 12 of 14
Joesh
New Contributor

Re: Is there any benefit to getting lower interest rates?


@chnceit wrote:

@Joesh wrote:

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Low APRs come in handy. Many credit cards today have high rates though :-/

I remember back before the Financial Crisis... You could call and get you rates reduced every six months... My ANF card had a 12% rate and my Chase Platinum had a 9.24%! Lol

It's harder to get low rates that aren't intro imo, so if you can get them, do it!!!! Lol
My lowest now is like 13.99%
:-)

Do same rules apply as asking for CLI? I have about 3% util. on the card I want to ask for lower APR on now. Should I make balance read $0 before I ask?


There is no rhyme or reason for reduction in APR. But I notice a lender will give you a reduction when your report looks better and your scores increase. Good luck!


Just tried, no luck. CSR said if I kept making payments on time etc. he was sure I would be able to get one in the near future, but that he didn't see any options available to me at the moment. I was calling about my Citi Forward card, which i've had the longest (I think almost 2 years), which has the lowest APR of all my cards (11.24%). I figured if I'm going to try to get a lower APR might as well try on the one that is lowest already.

 

Maybe should have tried a backdoor number Smiley Tongue

AMEX BCP : $30K | Citi Forward : $15K | Citi Dividend : $14K | BoA Travel Rewards : 7K | NFL Cash Rewards : $6K | Chase Freedom : $10K | Discover IT : $6.5K | AMEX BCE: $5k | Age: 26 | Occupation: Grad Student | CreditKarma: 800TU/812EQ |
Message 13 of 14
distantarray
Established Contributor

Re: Is there any benefit to getting lower interest rates?

It all depends on the card, the BEST card imo is if you can get it is Navy Federal Platinum card (military connections required) because it's the lowest APR card and comes with convience checks free of cash advance fees etc.

 

So let's say I get behind on my bills, I can use the convience check to write to myself . (which I did when I bought my house)  I cashed out a $15,000 check from my credit card to get the house, but let's say I had $15,000 in credit card debt from rewards cards, I can effectively use that to pay off all my high interest reward cards, and the balance will be moved to Navy Federal under 8% interest rates =)  

 

This would effectively save me from 15.25 - 25% interest. at 15k that's $190 - $312  in interests a month reduced to around $90 - 120 a month.

 

No matter what cards you have, it's always good to have a solid back up card incase **bleep** hits the fan.


total credit limits $108,400 Credit scores Ex 728 EQ 738 TU 758
Message 14 of 14
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