topic Re: Credit Card APR Reduction in Credit Cards

Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 22:49:45 GMT

Question: How do I deal with Barclays on this issue? I have 3 cards; two of them opened in 2011 and one in 1994. I went thru a significant life transition four years ago and leaned heavily on credit. (Personal life and work are stable again.) Interests rates are 23%, 20%, and 17% respectively. Let’s just say balances are roughly $25K in total. I’m now on the “debt treadmill” with these cards. I can pay minimums (plus some) but still no significant dent in principal balances. I have a stellar payment history and my credit score is very good (720+). I called Barclays today armed with this information and a good attitude. I politely asked if I could speak with someone that could authorize a reduction in the APR’s on the three credit cards. I was told, rather flatly, that Barclays Cards has put a hold on negotiating any reductions at all to current APRs. I politely asked for a supervisor. The supervisor told me the same thing. I find this appalling but it is what it is. What should I do with Barclays? And, should I consider a personal debt consolidation loan and where does one go to apply? I’m motivated to get this debt paid within 12-18 months but want to clear my debt from Barclays immediately if possible. Thanks for comments and recommendations.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 00:11:33 GMT

Welcome to the forum

Unfortunately i dont believe Barclays is big on apr reductions as of late. As for getting a debt consolifation loan you csn try many avenues such ss your local bank, big banks or Credit Unions. For best options or advice here, id recommend you give as much pertinent info or data points as you csn such as true fico scores, aaoa, hps, current credit cards you may have etc. This way people can make better suggestions based off their experiences. Best of luck

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

mikesonthemend — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 03:01:26 GMT

This^^^^

Balance Transfer may be better than consolidation loans.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:16:29 GMT

FICO is 723. Problem w debt consolidation loan is my debt to income is quite high right now ... although I do manage to make all minimum payments and stay current on two mortgages. Current cards are the 3 Barclays (Aviator/UPromise/Upromise); LLBean Visa; Chase Slate; Amex. The Chase Slate I just used for a small balance transfer of $5K w 0% APR for 6 months.

My question now is can I qualify for a debt consolidation loan w a traditional lender? If I can consolidate this debt at a lower interest rate I'm confident that I can bank out this debt in 12 months. The high IRs are killing me.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:19:07 GMT

Mike :

I don't think I can qualify for a new card with a large enough credit line to do a balance transfer on $25K. I run into the high debt to credit problem although FICO is decent. Do you know differently or any advice?

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:51:57 GMT

Have you attempted a prequal for a personal loan through sites such as Credit Karma or Nerdwallet?

I was in a similar situation a while back with almost $35k in CC debt. Basically two of the 3 cards I had at the time maxed out, and the other with only a $1k CL. Was paying more than minimums but never seemed to make a dent due to interest. Scores were in the 620's due to high util.

Got preapproved for a Marcus/GS loan for $22k and paid off one card and a big chunk of the other. Rate not phenomenal but still 10 points lower than the cards. Shortly after that I was approved for Discover and BT $4k off the remaining card at 0% for 18 months. Then within a week or two was preapproved for Amex personal loan and eliminated the remaining CC balance. Scores jumped 100+ points after the whole process was complete. Now I've got a set end date when all will be paid off and much lower payments to boot.

Keep an eye on where the loan is coming from though. I've read that some are reported as consumer finance accounts and could be viewed negatively by creditors. More knowledgeable members here would have better info on that.

Not saying you'd have the same results as everyone is different, of course. But there are options, even if it doesn't all happen at once.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 20:19:43 GMT

AlpineX:

I will look into a personal loan through Credit Karma and Nerdwallet.

How did you get preapproved for a Marcus/GS loan for $22k?

Is that Goldman Sachs? Would you recommned that route or another bank or does Credit Karma and Nerdwallet specialize in those loans?

A debt consolidation loan - combined with a balance transfer - seems to be my quickest path out of this mess.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

joltdude — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 21:32:09 GMT

Marcus can be an option, also Discover can offer good deals on consolidation loans... Also you might even get a sympathetic CU or such esp if you have an established relationship with one... Sounds like youve mostly stopped the bleed, but still might need to curtail spending a bit more at least until you get further along.... Also look around.. LC or Prosper *might* be an option, or something like Payoff (not avalible in my state however)... You have options... should be able to shuffle some of it if not all to a better option...

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 22:11:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
AlpineX:
I will look into a personal loan through Credit Karma and Nerdwallet.
How did you get preapproved for a Marcus/GS loan for $22k?
Is that Goldman Sachs? Would you recommned that route or another bank or does Credit Karma and Nerdwallet specialize in those loans?
A debt consolidation loan - combined with a balance transfer - seems to be my quickest path out of this mess.

Marcus is through Goldman Saks. I had been receiving preapproved mailers from them for probably a year, up to $30k. Believe I had done the preapproval process through Credit Karma at some time before that and Marcus is part of their process. Never did anything with it because I thought I didn't have a chance with my scores, despite the preapproval. I knew it wasn't guaranteed. Finally app'd through one of the invites out of desperation, approved with a max of $22k and I took it. Probably 48 hours from app to cash in my checking account.

Another I've heard good things about lately is Lightstream, through SunTrust bank. Minimum required score of 660. They are part of the Nerdwallet preapproval process, along with many others. If I were to go for another PL I will definitely include them in my decision process as I was unaware of them when I did Marcus.

My preference would be to have a loan backed by a bank. If you read the fine print in many offers, they are funded by investors who put up $ for a percent or all of your loan. It may work for some, and may be the best rate-wise, but that's for each person to decide for themselves.

I had app'd for Discover IT about a year prior through a preapproval and was declined. After Marcus loan I got another preapproval from them and was then approved. It wasn't until after that happened that the Amex PL was offered to me. So if you are able to get a chunk of your utilization down with a PL or BT, other offers may appear that were not an option before, thus helping your progress. But, YMMV.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Gollum — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 07:04:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
FICO is 723. Problem w debt consolidation loan is my debt to income is quite high right now ... although I do manage to make all minimum payments and stay current on two mortgages. Current cards are the 3 Barclays (Aviator/UPromise/Upromise); LLBean Visa; Chase Slate; Amex. The Chase Slate I just used for a small balance transfer of $5K w 0% APR for 6 months.
My question now is can I qualify for a debt consolidation loan w a traditional lender? If I can consolidate this debt at a lower interest rate I'm confident that I can bank out this debt in 12 months. The high IRs are killing me.

You could investigate financial terms for refinancing your two mortgages and credit card balances into one mortgage. That could be a last-ditch way to stay in your house without declaring bankruptcy if you are unable to increase your income.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 12:52:03 GMT

Really appreciate all of the great advice and suggestions. Some very smart people on these discussion boards. The transitions involved a divorce and a physical move to another state and then all of a sudden being saddled with two mortgages. So, all in all, it's amazing that my financial situation is not even worse!!

I applied for a loan through Prosper and was approved for $10,000 at 15.85% APR. Lower than my current APR but still ridiculously high and I hear that Prosper does a HP and hurts credit even though they say they do not. Any thoughts?
Question: My FICO score is currently 723 but I have not gotten my credit scores from the big 3 in quite awhile. Should I order those scores? Where do I order those 3 reports together and does that generate a hard pull on my credit? And, is there a way to get them for free?
Thanks in advance!!

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Aim_High — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 13:34:11 GMT

Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Nerd Wallet and Wallet Hub don’t specialize in the loans. They make money by referring people for loans and cards so take their referrals with a grain of salt. There may be better offers but they are a place to start.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Aim_High — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 13:55:48 GMT

@PissedandinDebt Wrote:
Really appreciate all of the great advice and suggestions. Some very smart people on these discussion boards. The transitions involved a divorce and a physical move to another state and then all of a sudden being saddled with two mortgages. So, all in all, it's amazing that my financial situation is not even worse!!
I applied for a loan through Prosper and was approved for $10,000 at 15.85% APR. Lower than my current APR but still ridiculously high and I hear that Prosper does a HP and hurts credit even though they say they do not. Any thoughts?
Question: My FICO score is currently 723 but I have not gotten my credit scores from the big 3 in quite awhile. Should I order those scores? Where do I order those 3 reports together and does that generate a hard pull on my credit? And, is there a way to get them for free?

Thanks in advance!!
————————————-

Order your three credit bureau report from ANNUAL credit report, not FREE or some other advertised sites. (www.annualcreditreport.com) That is only place to get them free. You can download or have them mailed for free once per year per bureau. Some people order one bureau every 4 months so they get fresh updates throughout the year.

No, getting your own reports doesn’t generate a hard pull. FICOs are not with the report. I get all three of mine through cards I carry. There is a credit monitoring website someone mentioned on here where you can get all three FICO scores and cancel membership within seven days to avoid a charge.

I’ve never worked with Prosper so I don’t know about them. Anything you can do to chip away at the debt, even marginally improving interest will help. Can you moonlight a second job or start a side gig to help with cash flow?

Yes, a new card or two with 0% BT offer may not help you eliminate ALL the debt but it’s worth a try. Sometimes it takes every trick sometimes to attack it in different directions. Sounds like you’re doing great so hang in there! Many of us have been there and made it through.

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 15:29:13 GMT

Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

I feel like I'm on my own personal episode of Survivor but the "elements" are the lending companies and banks!

Re: Credit Card APR Reduction

KLEXH25 — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 15:54:22 GMT

You can get your Fico scores and credit report content for $1, for a 7 day trial at: https://www.creditchecktotal.com/

What is your current DTI ratio?