Barclaycard no longer does APR Reduction ?

[Anonymous]

Update on all of this

First though, thank you guys for being an awesome community and responding quickly.

So i called back, a new CSR said she didnt know of a freeze but she see's i was denied an APR lowering.

Being confused i called a backdoor i found on these forums, the guy directed me to what seemed like another CSR but way friendler.

I told him my situation and he said he didn't here of a freeze but he will check. after a 5 minute hold he was surprised to say that they did freeze all APR lowering across all accounts.

I have a backup card i never use with CapitalOne. I called them and they were able to lower it 4% and told me to call back in 6months to check again. In one last ditch effort i decied to not have to move all my Auto payments etc. I called and talked with a Supervisor at Barclay card, told him my situation and the fact i did over 50k of business through them is there any else they could do. A Big Fat no.

So now i am moving all my automatic payments to the capital one card and will only use the jetblue barclay card to purchase flights on jetblue.

thanks again for your support in the forum

[Anonymous]

Several CSRs told me the same thing. No longer being offered. 

[CreditInspired]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Greetings All.

               So i just called up Barclaycard (Jetblue Mastercard) to try to get a reducation on my APR. When i talked with the customer support she told me that as of the beginning of this year they have suspending APR reduction for any account. Is this legit ? has anyone been able to get APR reduciton from Barclay Card in 2019 ?

Thanks

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Hi OP

I never knew that they had to give an APR reduction, much less if it is legal. Honestly, I though it was a privilege when I asked and received one. 

[zerofire]

They do not have to unless they exceed the legal max where everything higher is loan shark territory. They can lower an APR by changing their spread. The spread is the difference between prime and their posted APR. By lowering the spread they make less money but keep you happy and paying as a customer. Banks use it as a hardship assistance tactic but there are some banks that will let you drown in interest due. Getting an APR reduction is a privilege as most people never ask. It shows you know a little extra while at the same time being nice to the CSR. No sane CSR will do the reduction if you are being rude.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Update on all of this

First though, thank you guys for being an awesome community and responding quickly.

So i called back, a new CSR said she didnt know of a freeze but she see's i was denied an APR lowering.

Being confused i called a backdoor i found on these forums, the guy directed me to what seemed like another CSR but way friendler.

I told him my situation and he said he didn't here of a freeze but he will check. after a 5 minute hold he was surprised to say that they did freeze all APR lowering across all accounts.

I have a backup card i never use with CapitalOne. I called them and they were able to lower it 4% and told me to call back in 6months to check again. In one last ditch effort i decied to not have to move all my Auto payments etc. I called and talked with a Supervisor at Barclay card, told him my situation and the fact i did over 50k of business through them is there any else they could do. A Big Fat no.

So now i am moving all my automatic payments to the capital one card and will only use the jetblue barclay card to purchase flights on jetblue.

thanks again for your support in the forum

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Hi @Anonymous, just to clarify, was the Capital One APR reduction temporary? 

If not this is new info, since Capital One isn't know for permanent reductions, either.  Usually six months is what they can do; I'm assuming that's likely what you meant.

[gdale6]

Must need money to pay this latest settlement   https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/16/eu-regulators-fine-five-banks-for-forex-rigging.html

I exited everything with Barclays in January ahead of the first scheduled Brexit date and with no deal back on the table it makes sense they are not allowing much of anything to change until they get some clarity.

[Anonymous]

Well, it seems that I dodged a bullet when denied for their Aviator card. lol

As for APR reductions, it's alwasy been a "courtesy" for memebers in good standing. Generally if you PIF, then the APR is moot. And they'll typically lower it because it's obviously not factoring into anything. For People who carry a balance though, there's not much incetive for them to lower it. So it could seem like a tug of war situation, especially if you're only paying minimums. 

With Discover, I tend to carry BT's but pay much more than the miniums. And I was able to get an APR reduction. Haven't yet tried Citi as I 've been on their 0% promo since account openeing on the DP. And recently was offered 1.99% for 12 months on the AAdvantage MC, so no need there. All other card are PIF, so no real need to ask. 

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous  as other posters have already said, lenders do not have to lower Aprs. US Bank, Chase and USAA come to mind as lenders that will not reduce Aprs. Whatever your credit file generates at the time of the account opening is the general card Apr. Now some people find they can apply to the same lender when their credit profile improves and get a better rate on a new card. Looking at JP Morgan Chase, they have been slowly raising the Aprs on many of their older accounts to the higher rates such as the 17% to 18% plus. In my case, the Apr on my Chase Freedom Card product went up from 10.24% to 17.24% over the last few years. Other posters on this Forum experienced the same actions from Chase (nothing to do with my credit profile - scores in the signature). Other lenders are also slowly raising their Aprs (guess the low rate Aprs free ride is over). Motto: "Don't carry balances"!

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the responses ! 

i never suggested they were required to change it, i was just getting clarity if what they were saying to me about "no one can get a APR reduction" was real or just bs. 

In a interesting turn of event , 3 days later i got an letter saying they raised the amount i can borrow on the card.. 

But yea this is my journey to pay off all my cards and not carry balences. taking control of my finacial future while reading " I WIll Teach You To Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi