Thank You Sallae Mae

[TiggerDat]

So I called Barclays about my APR and they said they could reduce it, by 4 points.    

Discover also said they could reduce it too.

And Amex said the same thing.

Synchrony said no and so did PNC.  (PNC loves to say that account terms are set up at the beginning and because of the Card Act that they must do a HP to do any changes.  I find this funny, since none of the others needed to do a HP to change the terms.  I told them the card is in my SD and has been there for a few months because of their policies and would remain so for a while.)

But the reason I have to say thank you to Barclays is not just the lower APR, but also the new credit limit they gave me.  It went from $11,000 to $14,000.  I have a feeling they will make it to $20,000 before CapOne does.  I have been a card member with Barclays since 8/12 and the SM card since only 5/14.  I have been with CapOne since 8/10 and have three cards with them.  Total on three cards with CapOne $18K, total with Barclays with two cards $16K.  That makes my SM limit 28 times that of my Target Red Card.......  The Red Card has been open longer......

Thanks Sallae Mae/Barclays

[Saleen099]

Nice Congrats!!!!!! 

[Saleen099]

 Quick question what was your interest-rate before? 

[TiggerDat]

For the SM card it was 20.99, Discover was 20.24, and the BCP was 19.99 also.  This is the second time Discover has reduced my interest rate.  Discover became 17.24 and BCP became 16.99 also.

I have gotten lower rates from FNBO twice also and they are the leader for the lowest rate I have at 14.99%

PNC can eat it, because they can't beat it.

Sychrony's PayPal MC is at 23.99% which they say is standard and there is nothing they can do ever.  If I can get a good card restaurant rewards I will probably ask them to reduce my limit to $1000 instead of closing the card.  The only other APR I have at that rate is maybe my Lowe's, Home Depot, and Macy's cards.  I actually have no idea what those APRs are, even my Walmart card APR is lower.  (Not much, 22.99%.)  I do have a few which are at 22.99%; Chase, Citi, BofA, and Target.  Target and Wally World and the other store cards can't be change I believe, otherwise I would try.   Tomorrow I will ask Citi, BofA, and Chase, as well as the rest of the cards that I didn't call today and see what they will do.  I expect that BofA and Chase will say no, they also seem to be HP type lenders for anything.  CapOne loves to give me rate reductions for 6-8 months, but don't seem to want to make it permanent.  Chase has also been sitting in the SD for a long time, they don't seem to want to do anything for me, so I really don't allow myself the FREEDOM to use that card.

I make it a habit of every so often calling in and asking for APR reductions.  I get them here and there.  I figure over time I will be able to get the rates down and I suggest everyone ask and keep asking.  As you can see it can make a difference. 

[Anonymous]

Big Congrats

[barthooper]

Very nice. Congrats! I've also had the Sallie Mae since 5/14. Started at $4700 and then got a 6 month CLI to $8700. I called about an APR reduction/ soft pull CLI in March and there weren't any offers. I'll give it a try again soon.

[SOGGIE]

Congrats on all of your success!

[Anonymous]

Congrats! 

Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that if you call and ask Barclay for an APR reduction, then THAT's when you sometimes can also get a SP CLI. If I were Barclays, I'd be thinking "This person is going to be struggling to pay her bills, we better not extend any more credit to her!" or, if we think that they're out to make money off interest, then they'd be fine giving a CLI but NOT lowering the interest. Meaning that those seem to be linked in a relationship that's the inverse of what I think it should be. 

[TiggerDat]

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@barthooper wrote:

Very nice. Congrats! I've also had the Sallie Mae since 5/14. Started at $4700 and then got a 6 month CLI to $8700. I called about an APR reduction/ soft pull CLI in March and there weren't any offers. I'll give it a try again soon.

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It never hurts to try!  I will be calling a few more places either today or tomorrow.  To me it is the only responsible thing to do, to avoid paying money in the future in case I need to carry a balance.