topic Re: Should I accept a card with high APR? What card should I get next? in Credit Card Applications

Should I accept a card with high APR? What card should I get next?

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 00:35:14 GMT

I’ve been pre qualified for a couple of rewards/cash back cards but they’re putting my interest at over 23% apr, now I am planning on paying in full, but it just seems like I’ve seen a few people on the forum talk about getting approved on cards with high interest and then declining them because of that reason. Should I just continue to build up my score to qualify on a better rate? Or am I able to lower interest? I have a PayPal MC I accepted when they sent me a pre qual letter when my score was not so good and I got a 29% apr (highest I have) but I pay in full anyway. There may be a slight chance of not being paid in full every single month but not like I’m gonna carry any crazy balances. Should I accept a card with a high apr? Or continue to build credit and try and get a lower one later? My pre qual was on a discover Cashback card with 24% interest, and Amex was like 23 I believe something like that. My scores are currently around 690 utilization overall is 22% which should drop to under 10% when my Wells Fargo card goes from a 97% utilization to a <1% cause i just paid it. AAoA is 2 years with my WF card being the oldest at 4 years old. I also currently have a discover gas/restaurant card as my
Second oldest at like 3.5 yrs. they just gave me a $1000 increase from 1500-2500 about a month and a half ago when I paid that one off and also my apr on that one is about 20%. Trying to give as much info as possible to get the most accurate answers. Please let me know if I missed any info.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:25:10 GMT

APR doesn’t matter if you PIF and if you can’t PIF, you’ll want a sub-10% basic credit card from a CU or whatever rather than a 14+% cash back card.

I would never hold off on getting a card I want because of the APR.

Also Discover offers APR reductions starting when your intro APR ends. I went from 23.24% to 18.49% in June for my first request on my IT.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:27:43 GMT

Another thing, I did request a cli on disco about a week or two ago and got declined. Not sure if this matters, the $1k they gave me was random

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 14:32:17 GMT

APR is irrelevant if you are a Transactor that pays off their statement balances in full monthly. Your APR can be 99.99% and it won't matter.

If you aren't a Transactor that pays in full monthly and you do pay interest, I think the more important question/concern is why that's the case... and to such a person I'd advise against the use of CCs and just deal in cash/debit in order to promote the behavior of not spending money that you don't have.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Remedios — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 14:47:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been pre qualified for a couple of rewards/cash back cards but they’re putting my interest at over 23% apr, now I am planning on paying in full, but it just seems like I’ve seen a few people on the forum talk about getting approved on cards with high interest and then declining them because of that reason. Should I just continue to build up my score to qualify on a better rate? Or am I able to lower interest? I have a PayPal MC I accepted when they sent me a pre qual letter when my score was not so good and I got a 29% apr (highest I have) but I pay in full anyway. There may be a slight chance of not being paid in full every single month but not like I’m gonna carry any crazy balances. Should I accept a card with a high apr? Or continue to build credit and try and get a lower one later? My pre qual was on a discover Cashback card with 24% interest, and Amex was like 23 I believe something like that. My scores are currently around 690 utilization overall is 22% which should drop to under 10% when my Wells Fargo card goes from a 97% utilization to a <1% cause i just paid it. AAoA is 2 years with my WF card being the oldest at 4 years old. I also currently have a discover gas/restaurant card as my
Second oldest at like 3.5 yrs. they just gave me a $1000 increase from 1500-2500 about a month and a half ago when I paid that one off and also my apr on that one is about 20%. Trying to give as much info as possible to get the most accurate answers. Please let me know if I missed any info.

If you pay off cards with high utilization, the terms will change for the better. So, I'd wait till lower utilization is reported, then check prequals again.

Right now with maxed out card you appear as high risk customer and your terms reflect that.

Luckily utilization has no memory, so when it goes down, your offers may change for the better.

Good luck!

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

JR_TX — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 01:00:10 GMT

My C1 QS is still at 27.49%!!!!WTFico!! Lol! Doesn’t bother me as I haven’t spent a penny of interest on it. Like what they said above, if you PIF, APRs are insignificant. And if you’re gonna carry a balance on non-emergency swipes then I highly urge you to re-evaluate your need for credit cards.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

kdm31091 — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 01:41:34 GMT

Echoing the above comments. You should not, at the end of the day, care what your APR is on your rewards credit card because the cards aren't designed for carrying balances. If you're routinely overspending (and it's not an emergency), there's no advantage to using credit and paying interest for your ordinary purchases. Rewards are peanuts compared to interest payments.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 04:00:00 GMT

thank you for the info everyone, it is appreciated! and like i said i plan on paying in full except for in rare instances, I was just wondering because I've seen some of the higher credit scoring members here decline cards they could've gotten because they said the interest was very high. Then again these people are also the same people who have like 10+ cards, so that's why I asked

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

kdm31091 — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 10:28:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
thank you for the info everyone, it is appreciated! and like i said i plan on paying in full except for in rare instances, I was just wondering because I've seen some of the higher credit scoring members here decline cards they could've gotten because they said the interest was very high. Then again these people are also the same people who have like 10+ cards, so that's why I asked

Sometimes it's just a pride thing. When people have built up their credit profile and history, and have a strong score, they just feel insulted by being offered a high APR, even if it does not really matter in a financial sense. The card gives you the same benefits regardless of the APR. It doesn't matter financially because you shouldn't be paying interest anyway, but some people just won't accept a higher APR than they feel their profile merits.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

spiritcraft1 — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 13:08:28 GMT

I couldn't even tell you what my APR's are though I am sure the lowest is high teens. It does not matter as I PIF on nearly all cards but sometimes have small balances reporting due to when statements cut etc. If I could get into AMEX or another nice rewards card (and I will soon enough) I will be looking at rewards and not at APR. Don't sweat it and think of CC's like Net 30 accounts. If you really need a loan, get one of those, much cheaper (assuming you can easily service the debt of course).

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

gjean78 — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 15:33:41 GMT

APR doesn't matter if you're paying your cc in full every months.

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been pre qualified for a couple of rewards/cash back cards but they’re putting my interest at over 23% apr, now I am planning on paying in full, but it just seems like I’ve seen a few people on the forum talk about getting approved on cards with high interest and then declining them because of that reason. Should I just continue to build up my score to qualify on a better rate? Or am I able to lower interest? I have a PayPal MC I accepted when they sent me a pre qual letter when my score was not so good and I got a 29% apr (highest I have) but I pay in full anyway. There may be a slight chance of not being paid in full every single month but not like I’m gonna carry any crazy balances. Should I accept a card with a high apr? Or continue to build credit and try and get a lower one later? My pre qual was on a discover Cashback card with 24% interest, and Amex was like 23 I believe something like that. My scores are currently around 690 utilization overall is 22% which should drop to under 10% when my Wells Fargo card goes from a 97% utilization to a <1% cause i just paid it. AAoA is 2 years with my WF card being the oldest at 4 years old. I also currently have a discover gas/restaurant card as my
Second oldest at like 3.5 yrs. they just gave me a $1000 increase from 1500-2500 about a month and a half ago when I paid that one off and also my apr on that one is about 20%. Trying to give as much info as possible to get the most accurate answers. Please let me know if I missed any info.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Flex1 — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:12:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been pre qualified for a couple of rewards/cash back cards but they’re putting my interest at over 23% apr, now I am planning on paying in full, but it just seems like I’ve seen a few people on the forum talk about getting approved on cards with high interest and then declining them because of that reason. Should I just continue to build up my score to qualify on a better rate? Or am I able to lower interest? I have a PayPal MC I accepted when they sent me a pre qual letter when my score was not so good and I got a 29% apr (highest I have) but I pay in full anyway. There may be a slight chance of not being paid in full every single month but not like I’m gonna carry any crazy balances. Should I accept a card with a high apr? Or continue to build credit and try and get a lower one later? My pre qual was on a discover Cashback card with 24% interest, and Amex was like 23 I believe something like that. My scores are currently around 690 utilization overall is 22% which should drop to under 10% when my Wells Fargo card goes from a 97% utilization to a <1% cause i just paid it. AAoA is 2 years with my WF card being the oldest at 4 years old. I also currently have a discover gas/restaurant card as my
Second oldest at like 3.5 yrs. they just gave me a $1000 increase from 1500-2500 about a month and a half ago when I paid that one off and also my apr on that one is about 20%. Trying to give as much info as possible to get the most accurate answers. Please let me know if I missed any info.

Well, I'm going to disagree with pratically everyone here. As person who PIF every month and have no balances , period, except 10.00 that I allow to simply have something reporting. How many people people do you think have high interest credit cards who had great intentions on paying them off every month, to never carry a balance? All though I don't know that exact number, I'm quite confident that it's pretty high. Many suprise illnesses, deaths, mishaps, divorces, breakup etc.. have taken people out like an angry tornado. No one ever thinks they'll have a time where they just can't PIF because something unfortunate happened. In life , these things simply happen, at sometime or another. If it does, a 12% card isn't bad. Those 8% cards are perfect for that exact unfortunate scenario. So I disagree.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 21:44:15 GMT

Thank u for that reply! I didn’t think of it that way! I’m just going to go ahead and wait till this last card with high utilization to report the $0 balance in a week or two and I’m gonna apply for the cards I want! Which are the chase freedom and discover cash back card so hopefully I can get them😁😁 just for the 5% on different things every quarter. Also maybe a no annual fee travel card(cause I don’t travel a lot but the intro bonuses are always good), any other options u guys think I should have in my arsenal? My main 2 I use right now with the best rewards I have are just the PayPal with 2% back on everything and the discover gas and restaurant card which is 2% on those.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 09:12:27 GMT

@Flex1 wrote:

Well, I'm going to disagree with pratically everyone here. As person who PIF every month and have no balances , period, except 10.00 that I allow to simply have something reporting. How many people people do you think have high interest credit cards who had great intentions on paying them off every month, to never carry a balance? All though I don't know that exact number, I'm quite confident that it's pretty high. Many suprise illnesses, deaths, mishaps, divorces, breakup etc.. have taken people out like an angry tornado. No one ever thinks they'll have a time where they just can't PIF because something unfortunate happened. In life , these things simply happen, at sometime or another. If it does, a 12% card isn't bad. Those 8% cards are perfect for that exact unfortunate scenario. So I disagree.

I don't think you're disagreeing with anyone at all, as you're making a completely different argument. The thread is about whether or not someone (the OP) should accept a card with a high APR. You're making the argument that a lower APR is better (than a higher one) which I don't think anyone even a Transactor like myself would disagree with, as life does happen. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. That however has nothing to do with whether or not someone should accept a card based on APR. It's also worth noting that initial APR can be somewhat irrelevant, as APR reductions if requested happen quite often for many.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Flex1 — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:41:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank u for that reply! I didn’t think of it that way! I’m just going to go ahead and wait till this last card with high utilization to report the $0 balance in a week or two and I’m gonna apply for the cards I want! Which are the chase freedom and discover cash back card so hopefully I can get them😁😁 just for the 5% on different things every quarter. Also maybe a no annual fee travel card(cause I don’t travel a lot but the intro bonuses are always good), any other options u guys think I should have in my arsenal? My main 2 I use right now with the best rewards I have are just the PayPal with 2% back on everything and the discover gas and restaurant card which is 2% on those.

You are very welcome.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Flex1 — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:44:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Flex1 wrote:

Well, I'm going to disagree with pratically everyone here. As person who PIF every month and have no balances , period, except 10.00 that I allow to simply have something reporting. How many people people do you think have high interest credit cards who had great intentions on paying them off every month, to never carry a balance? All though I don't know that exact number, I'm quite confident that it's pretty high. Many suprise illnesses, deaths, mishaps, divorces, breakup etc.. have taken people out like an angry tornado. No one ever thinks they'll have a time where they just can't PIF because something unfortunate happened. In life , these things simply happen, at sometime or another. If it does, a 12% card isn't bad. Those 8% cards are perfect for that exact unfortunate scenario. So I disagree.

I don't think you're disagreeing with anyone at all, as you're making a completely different argument. The thread is about whether or not someone (the OP) should accept a card with a high APR. You're making the argument that a lower APR is better (than a higher one) which I don't think anyone even a Transactor like myself would disagree with, as life does happen. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. That however has nothing to do with whether or not someone should accept a card based on APR. It's also worth noting that initial APR can be somewhat irrelevant, as APR reductions if requested happen quite often for many.

I apologize if my post was unclear. I did, in fact, disagree with taking the high interest card. My reason was what you are commenting on. Nevertheless, I did disagree with taking the high interest card, period.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 16:30:10 GMT

So, you wouldn't take on a high interest card because of possible life events and having to carry a balance at some point? If that's the case, to me it sounds like you are already planning to fail, as in you're almost planning on carrying balances. I get it that life happens, but planning to fail IMO isn't the right approach. There are things like having [minimum of] 6 months of your salary in savings for an emergency that are far better plans, or even a low interest loan is an option in the event that something major comes up out of the blue. Also many higher (non CU-type) interest rate major bank cards will extend 0% offers for 12 months or whatever upon request, so not taking on such a card due to its APR could be a poor move from that standpoint as well.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Flex1 — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:12:44 GMT

Not planning to fail at all. I have no debt whatsoever and plenty of savings. Of course, every who has accepted a high interest credit is going to want to take justice on me for not doing so. Some times in life you take what you can get, until you have more options. If he's at the point where he/she (because this isn't about us) can wait it out, so be it. If your wife to be has 8 kids and you're excited about it, good for you. Most people would agree that isn't wise, except those who have done so, much like this high interest debacle.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

FinStar — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:21:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So, you wouldn't take on a high interest card because of possible life events and having to carry a balance at some point? If that's the case, to me it sounds like you are already planning to fail, as in you're almost planning on carrying balances. I get it that life happens, but planning to fail IMO isn't the right approach. There are things like having [minimum of] 6 months of your salary in savings for an emergency that are far better plans, or even a low interest loan is an option in the event that something major comes up out of the blue. Also many higher (non CU-type) interest rate major bank cards will extend 0% offers for 12 months or whatever upon request, so not taking on such a card due to its APR could be a poor move from that standpoint as well.

Clearly, the choice is up to the individual to decide whether they want a product or not. I'm not sure where the comment justifies a potential "failure" since the poster clearly stated they PIF and carry no balances. So, if a potential applicant misses out on a potential CC opportunity with a higher APR at this point, it certainly doesn't mean that said card wouldn't be available in the future at a much lower APR where the applicant may feel is justified - for them, barring their own life situations.

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:32:46 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
I'm not sure where the comment justifies a potential "failure" since the poster clearly stated they PIF and carry no balances.

Right, but he's saying that life happens and while PIF / carrying no balances is a practice now, there's a chance it could not be in the future. And, based on that, they wouldn't take on a high interest credit card now due to something that may or may not happen at some point.

Maybe my phrasing of "planning" to fail is a bit off and perhaps "preparing" to fail or "in case" of failing is more fitting.