Amex won't reduce the APR on my ED card. Advice?

[LionLaw]

Hi all.  In my never-ending quest to improve my CC portfolio, I call all of my providers once or twice a year to see if they can reduce the permanent purchase APR on my cards.  It's been a long process, but I now have all of my cards at or below thier best advertised rates.  Well, all of them, except one: my Amex Everyday card, which has never given me a single APR reduction, despite many requests over the years.  So, while all my other cards have great rates, my Amex ED is stuck at 19.99%.

Has anyone else had this problem?  Is there anything I could do to make them move?

Here's a little more background on me:

FICOs are all 800+.  DTI is around 30% (mortgage and student loans; currently no auto loan).

I started my rebuild in early 2012 (right here on the myFico forums).  When I started out, my only surviving card had been jacked to a 29.99% APR, and the early cards I got approved for all had relatively high rates.

Over the following years, I seldom carried a balance on anything, and when I did, I made sure I had a temporary 0% offer that I could take advantage of, so I wasn't impacted by the high rates on my cards.  But, as a credit junky (like everyone else here!), I wanted the best terms possible on all my cards, so I kept chipping away at those rates, requesting a reduction once or twice a year.  I could usually get a reduction of 1% or 2% with each request, but Amex has never budged.

My current portfolio:

I have an Amex Gold (opened in 2012; backdated to 2006) that gets most of my monthly spend.

I have an Amex Platinum (opened in 2013; backdated to 2006) that gets a few hundred a month in monthly spend.

My Amex ED (opened 2014; backdated to 2006) has a $35k limit and a 19.99% APR (currently, their advertised rates are 12.99% to 23.99%).  I don't run much through this card (a few thousand a year max).

I also have a Discover (2001, $20k limit), a CSP (2018, $32k limit) a BOA (2013, $17k limit), a Citi Double Cash (2012, $17k limit), and a Citi Rewards+ (2014, $20k limit).  On all of these, I have either the lowest APR they advertise, or in a couple cases, a few points below their lowest advertised.  My spending on all these is pretty minimal, and most months they all report $0 balances.

[Remedios]

Can you please clarify why is this "a problem" if you aren't carrying balances?

[LionLaw]

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@Remedios wrote:

Can you please clarify why is this "a problem" if you aren't carrying balances?

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In the event I ever do need to carry a balance in the future, I want to make sure I have the best possible options available to me.

If any other card were this stubborn, I would probably just cancel it and apply for a new card, as I can now qualify for the best rates pretty much everywhere.  But backdated Amexes are a rare breed these days, so I want to keep this one open.  And if I'm going to keep it open, I want to get the best terms I can on it.

[Curious_George2]

Congrats on getting APR reductions on all your other cards! Maybe you are like many of us, who didn't even know that was a thing before learning about it on MF. Now that we know it's possible, some of us try for it everwhere. I've been where you are, feeling miffed when the answer is no.

But here's another way to look at it: you said you want options. If you have other cards with lower rates, then you have exactly that: options, in case you ever need to carry a balance. That's not something that goes in the "pro" column for this card, but it's also not a big "con" because you control whether you ever pay interest on it. This card has another "pro" -- age -- so it's helping you. If/when the cons of any card outweigh the pros, it's time to cancel. 

Philosophizing aside, I have read on here that Amex has almost entirely stopped giving permanent APR reductions. Instead, they sometimes give temporary reductions. I think I got something like 2 points shaved off for like 10 months. Some people report success with getting several of those, one after the other. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@LionLaw wrote:

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@Remedios wrote:

Can you please clarify why is this "a problem" if you aren't carrying balances?

---

In the event I ever do need to carry a balance in the future, I want to make sure I have the best possible options available to me.

If any other card were this stubborn, I would probably just cancel it and apply for a new card, as I can now qualify for the best rates pretty much everywhere.  But backdated Amexes are a rare breed these days, so I want to keep this one open.  And if I'm going to keep it open, I want to get the best terms I can on it.

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I've never been an APR reduction chaser, but I can see the point for one or two low rate cards for time of crisis.  But getting them all as low as possible?  I think of that more as a "credit cards are fun" goal rather than a real need.  In your case, you have about $100K of credit at lowered APR rates.   So, by the time you carried a balance on this card, you would already been in quite a bit of debt.  IMO, having that extra at 15% rather than 20% wouldn't make any practical difference to your finances.

Of course, if you feel it is worth your time to keep asking, fine, but I wouldn't think of it as something important to do.

[JR_TX]

You said you don't usually carry a balance. So just in case you must, isn't a 3% one time BT fee a much better proposition than say a 11.99% APR? 

Don't fret about it so much as you'll have plenty of options down the road. 

[LionLaw]

I'm just mystified by the fact that all my other banks have lowered my APR over the years, yet Amex hasn't budged.  So, if there's some quirk with Amex that I'm missing, I figured this forum would have the advice I needed.

Of course I agree it's not a pressing need to get this particular APR reduced, but since I'm going to keep the account open, I'm going to keep trying--after all, it just takes a 5-minute phone call once or twice a year.  Any insight would be most appreciated!

[FinStar]

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@LionLaw wrote:

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@Remedios wrote:

Can you please clarify why is this "a problem" if you aren't carrying balances?

---

In the event I ever do need to carry a balance in the future, I want to make sure I have the best possible options available to me.

If any other card were this stubborn, I would probably just cancel it and apply for a new card, as I can now qualify for the best rates pretty much everywhere.  But backdated Amexes are a rare breed these days, so I want to keep this one open.  And if I'm going to keep it open, I want to get the best terms I can on it.

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Since you value its "comodity" for the backdating benefit, it's not hurting having that current APR honestly - unless you're periodically carrying balances, which in such case you'd look for alternatives to save $$.  That said, while it's rare for AmEx to lower standard APRs these days, you can try at some point in the future.  If they don't budge, then that's their policy.  I mean, for comparisons' sake, take Chase, for instance.  The CSP isn't going to have that standard APR lowered if you contacted them.

[NRB525]

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@LionLaw wrote:

I'm just mystified by the fact that all my other banks have lowered my APR over the years, yet Amex hasn't budged.  So, if there's some quirk with Amex that I'm missing, I figured this forum would have the advice I needed.

Of course I agree it's not a pressing need to get this particular APR reduced, but since I'm going to keep the account open, I'm going to keep trying--after all, it just takes a 5-minute phone call once or twice a year.  Any insight would be most appreciated!

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Congrats on getting the other banks to reduce your APR. If I recall correctly, I got my SPG card ( now Bonvoy Brilliant with the $450 AF ) APR lowered, and I think they bumped it up to be more in line with marketed rates. 

So AMEX is not likely to lower an APR.

However, is your EveryDay card signed up for / eligible for the Plan It feature? With Plan It, you select charges over $100 and they offer you three payment term options, each with a monthly fee amount that you pay during the term. Term can be 3 months, 6 months, up to 18 months in some cases. The monthly fee, if you compare that on a simple interest method for a short term borrow, typically is significantly less than my Revolver APR's. 

So I would explore whether your card has Plan It. If not, you may request it. If so, then you can test charges over $100, without obligating you to actually start a plan, and see what the effective short term interest rate is for you. For a minor charge, of $100 to $300 say, I'd suggest going through a simple actual Plan It program, just to see how it works on your monthly statement and payment requirements. It's unique, no other bank has a comparable product. (Chase's version is usurious so don't get me started).

With the Plan It, if you pay it off quicker, you only pay montly Plan fees while the Plan It amount is not fully paid.

[Remedios]

@NRB525  what's different about Chase version?

I've never used it, I've only used Amex Plan it since they offered $0.00 fee on 10 plans last fall.