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

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Anonymous
Not applicable

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

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.
24 REPLIES 24
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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.
Message 2 of 25
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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
Message 3 of 25
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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.

Message 4 of 25
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?


@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! 

Message 5 of 25
JR_TX
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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.

New cc TLs : 0/6 ; 0/12 ; 0/24 | HPs EX 3 EQ 3 TU 4 | AAoA 7y10m | UTIL 1% - 4% | $300K+ Total Limits

Message 6 of 25
kdm31091
Super Contributor

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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.

Message 7 of 25
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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

Message 8 of 25
kdm31091
Super Contributor

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?


@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. 

Message 9 of 25
spiritcraft1
Valued Contributor

Re: Should I accept a card with high apr?

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).


Biz |
Current F08 -
Current 2,4,5 -
Current F09 -
No PG Biz Credit in Order of Approval - Uline, Quill, Grainger, SupplyWorks, MSC, Amsterdam, Citi Tractor Supply Rev .8k, NewEgg Net 30 10k, Richelieu 2k, Wurth Supply 2k, Global Ind 2k, Sam's Club Store 11.k, Shell Fleet 19.5k, Citi Exxon 2.5k, Dell Biz Revolving $15k, B&H Photo, $5k

Message 10 of 25
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