Why is my B of A Credit Card APR so low?

[GatorGuy]

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@cardguy wrote:

Only credit card, limit is $10,000.   All different reasons, sometimes for larger amounts of money being charged (but under 1k), charging in places other than my local city, sometimes online.  Sometimes they call me, usually not.  9/10 times I need to call them to see why the card didn't go through.

It's also kind of embarrassing having it declined in front of other people?   I've been dealing with this for years with them but I'm at the point where I just think it's silly keeping a credit card that I can't even count on working when I need it to.  I've had it since 2007 and don't want it to affect my score if I cancel though.

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Honestly I don't blame you. I have an issue like this a couple of times with Capital One which is my everyday card. I have never been embarassed by it being declined but it is super frustrating. If I had as many problems as it sounds like you have, I would ditch it, atleast as my goto card. There is no need to close it. Keep it open and you still have acccess to the nice APR if you ever want to use it.

[enharu]

it's just common fraud prevention systems.

For example if you usually charge only $1-50 in the city you are in most of the time, the system might detect an anomaly when you suddenly try to make a couple thousand dollar purchase outside where you usually shop.

you can just call bank of america to have them give you a little more leeway, or just call the fraud department and have them notate your account that this is what you will be shopping at from then on.

[hutchj]

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@enharu wrote:

it's just common fraud prevention systems.

For example if you usually charge only $1-50 in the city you are in most of the time, the system might detect an anomaly when you suddenly try to make a couple thousand dollar purchase outside where you usually shop.

you can just call bank of america to have them give you a little more leeway, or just call the fraud department and have them notate your account that this is what you will be shopping at from then on.

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+1

I know it's annoying, but I'd rather get declined than have someone charge a couple thousand to my account. My sister's card number was just stolen and charged; thankfully, she has alerts set up on the account so she was able to see the charge once it happened.

[sdotlow]

My BofA card was the Visa Platinum.  Throughout the years of using it my APR dropped down to 7.24%.

I just recently product changed to BankAmericard Cash Rewards and kept my APR.  I attempted to get my annual fee waived with no luck via phones.  Someone on these forums suggested I tweet them via twitter, and I was contacted by a rep who kindly waived my annual fee, AND credited me the annual fee I incurred the month prior.

I've never had an issue with BofA or my card in the 7 years I've had it.  It's hands down my most reliable card.  I now use my brand new AMEX BCE for everyday stuff, and Discover IT for gas, but they don't have the 10k limit and low APR my BofA card has for holding balances.

[revvystoke]

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@sdotlow wrote:

My BofA card was the Visa Platinum.  Throughout the years of using it my APR dropped down to 7.24%.

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My boa card has never been flagged for fraud purchases, definately not as often as yours. My AMEX does it all the time however, 3-4 times since I have had it and I sd'd it because its not worth getting a decline and dealing with their csr's when I am out eating or at work.

Did you do a product change from another boa product? My APR got "grandfathered" in to my new card, its a rewards card but has the lowest apr out of any of my cards, it sits at 12%, lower then what is advertised as the lowest rate of 14.24%.

[sdotlow]

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@revvystoke wrote:

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@sdotlow wrote:

My BofA card was the Visa Platinum.  Throughout the years of using it my APR dropped down to 7.24%.

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Did you do a product change from another boa product? My APR got "grandfathered" in to my new card, its a rewards card but has the lowest apr out of any of my cards, it sits at 12%, lower then what is advertised as the lowest rate of 14.24%.

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I got the card as a Visa Platinum 7 years ago.  It was originally a much higher APR (I can't recall what).  Throughout the years of VERY heavy use on my previous 7k CL, the APR has gone down to 7.24%.  I just recently went on an app spree after getting my auto loan, and picked up an Amex BCE / Discover IT / Chase Freedom and a card through my CU.  I requested a PC from my BofA Visa Platinum to the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card and was approved.  APR stayed the same.  I tried to get the annual fee knocked off, and was told I either have an AF or low APR by reps.  I contacted BofA via twitter and got a really nice rep that thought I was bouncing my limits around (I had recently cleared up 14k in credit card debt).  He informed me that if my balance was the same or lower in 60 days to call back and they'd look into dropping my annual fee.  I asked him to look at payment history and he'd see the same checking account making payments since I've had the card, which he did, and subsequently waived my annual fee - essentially giving me a BankAmericard Cash Rewards card with a 7.24% APR

Edit:  on top of the product change I got a CLI to 10k total.  BofA has been very good to me.  I've paid for it with plenty of interest payments though