BofA and other issuers give APR reductions on request

[Curious_George2]

I like to have the APRs on all my credit cards be as low as possible. I have learned from this forum that some card issuers will give APR reductions on request. Issuers basically fall into three categories on this topic. Some, such as Chase and Capital One, never give any reductions. Some, such as Amex, give only temporary reductions that they refer to as "promotional." But a few issuers will give permanent APR reductions to cardholders they deem eligible, on request. This last group includes NFCU, Citibank and Bank of America. 

In my experience, NFCU will only give reductions down to the lowest advertised rate for their cards. Citi is wackadoodle and hard to predict. I recently had a great experience with BofA. I called and asked for a permanent APR reduction on my Customized Cash Rewards card. They quickly agreed to reduce the rate and, to my surprise, the rate they gave me is a few points lower than the current lowest advertised rate for this card. The only catch is that I had to reach out and request this change. The last time they reduced the rate was three years ago, when I last asked. I encourage everyone with BofA (or NFCU, or Citi) credit cards to call in and ask for a reduction. The worst that can happen is they will say no. 

Note #1: The cards I'm talking about, like the vast majority of cards, have variable interest rates. For cards like this, the issuers usually set the APR using a formula like Prime + N% and they update the calculation every few months to reflect changes in the Prime rate. Obviously, when the Prime rate goes up or down, all such cards' APRs will go up or down. But that's like a rising tide raising all boats; I don't consider that a "real" APR change. When I talk about an APR reduction, I mean a reduction in the "N" for a particular individual's card. 

Note #2: Often, when this topic comes up, some people respond by posting: "Who cares about APR? I always pay in full!" In my opinion, posts like that are unhelpful flexes at best, and non-FSR debt-shaming at worst. I respectfully ask that people not do that in this thread. Whatever your current situation, no consumer is made worse off by lowering the interest rates on their credit cards. 

Note #3: Technically, my uses of absolute words like "never" and "only" above are exaggerations. On very rare occasions, issuers will depart from the patterns of behavior I describe. For example, it's possible to find a few reports on here of Amex giving permanent APR reductions. Despite those outliers, I think my descriptions of particular issuers' behavior are probably accurate in something like 99% of cases. But it never hurts to ask. 

[SweetCreditObsession]

@Curious_George2 , thank you for this ultra helpful post! 😀

[ptatohed]

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@Curious_George2 wrote:

I like to have the APRs on all my credit cards be as low as possible. I have learned from this forum that some card issuers will give APR reductions on request. Issuers basically fall into three categories on this topic. Some, such as Chase and Capital One, never give any reductions. Some, such as Amex, give only temporary reductions that they refer to as "promotional." But a few issuers will give permanent APR reductions to cardholders they deem eligible, on request. This last group includes NFCU, Citibank and Bank of America. 

In my experience, NFCU will only give reductions down to the lowest advertised rate for their cards. Citi is wackadoodle and hard to predict. I recently had a great experience with BofA. I called and asked for a permanent APR reduction on my Customized Cash Rewards card. They quickly agreed to reduce the rate and, to my surprise, the rate they gave me is a few points lower than the current lowest advertised rate for this card. The only catch is that I had to reach out and request this change. The last time they reduced the rate was three years ago, when I last asked. I encourage everyone with BofA (or NFCU, or Citi) credit cards to call in and ask for a reduction. The worst that can happen is they will say no. 

Note #1: The cards I'm talking about, like the vast majority of cards, have variable interest rates. For cards like this, the issuers usually set the APR using a formula like Prime + N% and they update the calculation every few months to reflect changes in the Prime rate. Obviously, when the Prime rate goes up or down, all such cards' APRs will go up or down. But that's like a rising tide raising all boats; I don't consider that a "real" APR change. When I talk about an APR reduction, I mean a reduction in the "N" for a particular individual's card. 

Note #2: Often, when this topic comes up, some people respond by posting: "Who cares about APR? I always pay in full!" In my opinion, posts like that are unhelpful flexes at best, and non-FSR debt-shaming at worst. I respectfully ask that people not do that in this thread. Whatever your current situation, no consumer is made worse off by lowering the interest rates on their credit cards. 

Note #3: Technically, my uses of absolute words like "never" and "only" above are exaggerations. On very rare occasions, issuers will depart from the patterns of behavior I describe. For example, it's possible to find a few reports on here of Amex giving permanent APR reductions. Despite those outliers, I think my descriptions of particular issuers' behavior are probably accurate in something like 99% of cases. But it never hurts to ask. 

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On your note #2, I want to be respectful, and not say that "Who cares about APR? I always pay in full!", but, I will say, if you don't mind, that if one is to carry a balance, it should probably be on low-rate card to begin with, not a 20 - 30% card negotiated down a little.  IMHO.