@Alcibiades wrote:I currently have three cards with penalty ADRs from a few lates I had two years back
Barclays iTunes Juniper - $0 balance, 29.99% APR, CL $2,750 (recently raised from $750)
Citibank Platinum - $$1,365 balance, 29.99% APR, CL $4,050 (currently paying down using Citi Payment Parnet Program and receiving statement credit for interest charged; balance was at $4,050)
Bank of America "Gold" - $0 BALANCE, 29.99% apr, CL $500 (CL was lowered in 2009 from ~$2,000, I currently use the card for recurring bills like newspaper subscriptions and PIF)
I don't really care about the Gold card but I would like to get the Barclays and Citi APRs reduced.
1) Does asking for an APR reduction lead to a hard pull?
I don't have any specific experience with your cards, but I have asked for APR reductions for several other cards and have never had a hard pull for it.
2) For Citi, should I wait until the card comes out of payment partner (1 more month)
What is payment partner? Some sort of repayment plan? I had a Chase card that they put into a payment program and part of the program was locking the interest at 6%. So I don't think that being in a payment program is a per se bar against getting an APR reduction.
But to the overall point of waiting, you said the problem was two years ago. I would ask for APR reductions on all my cards explaining that you fell behind two years ago but you've had perfect payment history since. I'd call at least every 6 months to see if you could get a further reduction.
3) It it best to threaten a balance transfer (I can transfer the Citi balance to Discover or Chase at 0% APR)
If you can do a balance transfer, I would just do the balance transfer. They're not going to reduce your APR to 0%. If by threaten, you mean bluff, I wouldn't. I'm skeptical that they'll reduce an APR if you threaten a BT, but maybe someone with direct experience will contradict me. I think they're going to do an internal account review and you'll either qualify or you won't. You may have more luck with someone in retention if you say you want to cancel the account. But you're never going to get them to drop it to 0%. If you can do the BT, do that. Unless you can pay the balance off quickly enough that the BT fee won't make any sense.
I'm assuming I have the best chance with Barclays given they just raise my CL by $2,000. Should I also ask for a product change to something like Virgin Americas?
Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
@Alcibiades wrote:Thanks. The Citi "Payment Partner" program is an offer where you
1) Lose charging rights for 6 months
2) Get statement credits equal to 20% of the amount you pay above the minimum every month (up to the amount of interest charged on the balance)
3) Agree to a 10% credit line decrease
Since I signed up for the program, I'e paid down about 70% of the balance and received a few hundred in statement credits. The program ends next month. They were making this offer late last year / earlier this year for people with balances, look like it is gone now. Since I joined that program, I've gotten some CLIs and new cards.
So if I am understanding this correctly, by making a large enough payment, you can effectively lower the APR to 0%. I'd say they probably won't lower your APR if you are on that program then, but it never hurts to ask.
