topic Re: Negotiating a better APR % in Credit Cards

Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:20:32 GMT

All,

I opended 3 credit cards between late January to late February. They are the following:

Citi Double Cash

$11,000 CL

16.99% APR

Opened 1/22/2020

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select

$8,500 CL

22.99% APR

Opened 2/18/2020

Chase Sapphire Preferred
$5,000 CL

22.99% APR
Opened 2/25/2020

What's the best way to neogiate a lower APR on these cards? Can the CC company do it without a hardpull? Also, if I do get a lower APR on these cards, what rate can I expect? I'm surprised with the disparity in APR between the 2 Citi cards BTW. Fico 8/9 is currently @ 756, which is up 60 points since Jan 1st. Vantage scores are about 10 pts lower, however the trajectory is similar to that of the Fico 8/9 scores. I'm about to make some larger purchases for my condo, but they should be paid off in 30-45 days and assume a decrease in the principal on my mortgage and car loan. I actually plan on paying off the car in about 2 months. Hopefully I can reach a Fico score 760-780 by the time 6 month anniversary of these cards, which is late August or early September. Thank you in advance.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:28:24 GMT

Citi you just get on chat and ask for a lower APR. If one is available, they'll give it to you. Then you hop back on chat the next day and ask again - keep doing that until they tell you no.

Chase doesn't offer APR reductions by request.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:30:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Citi you just get on chat and ask for a lower APR. If one is available, they'll give it to you. Then you hop back on chat the next day and ask again - keep doing that until they tell you no.

Chase doesn't offer APR reductions by request.

Thanks Saeren. Does Chase offer APR reductions at all? Or will it require a hardpull?

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Physh1 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:30:57 GMT

Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:33:47 GMT

@Physh1 wrote:
Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.

Thanks Physh. Why is Chase so....Draconian? Good lord.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Physh1 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:38:39 GMT

The only way to a better APR is applying for a card later down the line with a better profile. APR only matters if you carry a balance anyhow...

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:40:15 GMT

@joeyv1985 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Citi you just get on chat and ask for a lower APR. If one is available, they'll give it to you. Then you hop back on chat the next day and ask again - keep doing that until they tell you no.

Chase doesn't offer APR reductions by request.
Thanks Saeren. Does Chase offer APR reductions at all? Or will it require a hardpull?

Chase is like Capital One with the APRs. What you're approved for is what you keep unless you get a unicorn automatic reduction from them. They may be offering promo reductions with COVID-19 though. Doesn't hurt to ask but they are known to not be flexible with APR at all normally (where Capital One will usually offer a 7 month reduction).

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

kdm31091 — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:56:53 GMT

Chase does not honor APR reduction requests, although I'm not sure if they're offering anything temporary due to COVID. But in normal times they definitely do not reduce APR upon request.

Citi will honor requests. I am not sure there is any requirement as to how long the account has to have been open, etc. People report just asking on chat. Can't hurt to ask. I believe the minimum APR for a Double Cash is around 14% so I wouldn't be expecting to ever get lower than that but who knows. As for the Aadvantage, you will probably need to do several requests before you got it to anything worth using to borrow money. Neither account is likely to ever serve you the purpose of using to finance, unless you get a promotional offer.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 18:03:53 GMT

ok. Thanks.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

CreditCuriosity — Thu, 14 May 2020 18:19:55 GMT

As echoed citi is pretty easy chat or call... Chase doesnt offer although i did manage to get the lowest from higest on my freedom without asking.. granted card was close to 6 years old when it finally happened and was a nice suprise, but still bad at whatever the lowest apr is at 15.x which one would never want to carry a balance on anyways

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

CYBERSAM — Thu, 14 May 2020 18:28:19 GMT

I tried APR reduction on Home Depot card and they said no way! And to get a lower APR I could apply for a new card! But they reduced the APR on Citi DC. Maybe Store cards are different!

While we are on the subject, any idea as BOA reduces APR at all?

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

kdm31091 — Thu, 14 May 2020 19:21:51 GMT

@CYBERSAM wrote:
I tried APR reduction on Home Depot card and they said no way! And to get a lower APR I could apply for a new card! But they reduced the APR on Citi DC. Maybe Store cards are different!
While we are on the subject, any idea as BOA reduces APR at all?

BoA has lowered the APR on my Cash Rewards upon request in the past. I have not tried anytime recently though.

I think you are right with Citi. They are willing to reduce APRs on their "core" cards, but maybe not on the retail cards.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:03:03 GMT

@Physh1 wrote:
Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.

Physh1,

Do I have to wait 6 months to request a lower APR?

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Remedios — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:06:42 GMT

@joeyv1985 wrote:
@Physh1 wrote:
Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.
Thanks Physh. Why is Chase so....Draconian? Good lord.

Not with everyone.

They have no problem issuing me high SLs, but with payday loan APR, which is a reflection on my credit seeking ways.

In your case, your SL is "I barely got in", so there was some concern on their end when you were approved.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:12:08 GMT

@CYBERSAM wrote:
I tried APR reduction on Home Depot card and they said no way! And to get a lower APR I could apply for a new card! But they reduced the APR on Citi DC. Maybe Store cards are different!
While we are on the subject, any idea as BOA reduces APR at all?

Store cards generally have a single APR for every person who holds that card so they're not flexible.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:12:47 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
@joeyv1985 wrote:
@Physh1 wrote:
Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.
Thanks Physh. Why is Chase so....Draconian? Good lord.
Not with everyone.
They have no problem issuing me high SLs, but with payday loan APR, which is a reflection on my credit seeking ways.

In your case, your SL is "I barely got in", so there was some concern on their end when you were approved.

Hello Remedios,

You're right about "I barely got in". I was initially rejected by Chase on an application back in February and 2 days later I got approved on their recon line. It looks like I had an older Chase CC that went into collections more than 10 years ago and that was the sticking point. Makes me wonder if they're going to give me a CLI down the road.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Remedios — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:20:15 GMT

@joeyv1985 wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
@joeyv1985 wrote:
@Physh1 wrote:
Good news...Citi is pretty liberal with their APR reductions...call & ask or use their chat feature if available. Some data points say you could try & ask multiple times over a few days. I think you can ask anytime...no need to wait. A rejection on an APR reduction request doesn't hurt you.

Bad new...Chase doesn't budge on their APRs...period.
Thanks Physh. Why is Chase so....Draconian? Good lord.
Not with everyone.
They have no problem issuing me high SLs, but with payday loan APR, which is a reflection on my credit seeking ways.

In your case, your SL is "I barely got in", so there was some concern on their end when you were approved.
Hello Remedios,

You're right about "I barely got in". I was initially rejected by Chase on an application back in February and 2 days later I got approved on their recon line. It looks like I had an older Chase CC that went into collections more than 10 years ago and that was the sticking point. Makes me wonder if they're going to give me a CLI down the road.

They might. While Chase will typically front load SLs, sometimes there is a bit left in "reserve", so it's not impossible to get one with regular and heavy use.

Additionally, you can request one after you've had a card for a while. They are very unpredictable, some get nothing, some get a lil bit, and some get large increases.

In any case, waiting longer and using card improves your odds, but some patience is required.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

joeyv1985 — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:21:33 GMT

Gotcha

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

K-in-Boston — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:24:45 GMT

I do believe that The Home Depot card is one of many store cards that has a single APR for all cardholders regardless of credit profile, as mentioned.

I tried to chat with Citi last week about my Premier card (it's at 23.49% while my Rewards+ is at 11.99%, even though my credit score was significantly higher when approved for Premier), but after about 15 minutes the chat agent couldn't get in touch with the department that handles APR reductions and he advised me to call. (He actually was trying to put in a request for both cards without me asking!) They are likely seeing a LOT of APR reduction requests right now.

Definitely agree on Chase not changing. I've been fortunate to get the lowest advertised APR each time with them. One time when they will change the APR is when they decide to restructure the APR range for their products! Myself and a few others here got letters from Chase a few years ago that our APRs were being increased to better match other cardholders since our APRs were too low. Went from 11.99% to somewhere in the 14s on Freedom.

Re: Negotiating a better APR %

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2020 21:37:41 GMT

I have gotten it down to 6.15% APR from 11.49% on my Citi Dividend card.

Although the product is not in market anymore.

I did not have same luck with Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo.

They refused to lower it.