Capital One APR reduction declined - cancelled one card and will pay the other off immediately

[c32knight]

Hello all,

Had some time today with thunderstorms going on outside. Decided to reach out to my credit card issuers and see who can offer APR reductions or really anything else. I had the capital one quicksilver with a 10k limit and 22.90 APR for 6 years, and a capital one platinum with a 275 dollar limit for about a decade. This has never gotten a CLI offer for some reason. I never have a balance on the platinum though i think it does have an annual fee. Long story short, no APR reduction offers on the QS with a 3k balance currently. No offers of any kind for the platinum. Had them transfer me to retention and same luck. Decided to finally close out the platinum. It wasn't helping me anymore and I really have moved on from capital one to better banks with better benefits and limits. I'll pay off the QS in the next 2 months and sock drawer that one. Calling Barclays and Citi next to see what kind of offers I have there. 

[Anonymous]

Capital One isn't really known for APR reductions. What you get when you're approved is permanent. Sometimes they'll give you promo APR rates for 7 months but they're nothing to write home about and obviously don't apply to existing balances. 

[kdm31091]

Capital One almost never offers permanent reductions. They will sometimes give temporary promotional reductions but they're often not substantial reductions anyway.

Years ago, a few people got permanent reductions via the EO but that avenue has long since been closed (and even then, no huge reductions, IIRC).

[UpperNwGuy]

This is not a good time to be asking any commercial bank for APR reductions.  Credit unions might grant them, but banks have become very conservative in the last three months.  Capital One never granted such requests even when times were good.  I would put your APR reduction project on the back burner for now.

[wasCB14]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

This is not a good time to be asking any commercial bank for APR reductions.  Credit unions might grant them, but banks have become very conservative in the last three months.  Capital One never granted such requests even when times were good.  I would put your APR reduction project on the back burner for now.

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Calling may lead to a good offer, but it definitely can lead to closer scrutiny from a lender. They can sort through customer profiles to try to find the riskier ones, but calling and identifying yourself as a balance carrier concerned with your current interest rate (as opposed to just paying the card off) can make you stand out.

It sounds like you're not too worried about the remaining card, though. I dumped my Savor-turned-QS last month.

[Gollum]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

This is not a good time to be asking any commercial bank for APR reductions.  Credit unions might grant them, but banks have become very conservative in the last three months.  Capital One never granted such requests even when times were good.  I would put your APR reduction project on the back burner for now.

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@UpperNwGuy, I agree with your advice in the above quote, but I have a minor quibble: Capital One lowered my interest rate to 5.9% after I asked. That was approximately 20 years ago, but never is a long time. 

I called the 800 number, someone answered, I asked for my interest rate to be lowered, she kept the phone active while she did stuff with her computer, then she said "You use the card..." in a tone that made me hopeful, then after a few more seconds, she lowered my interest rate (from 16% or so if I remember correctly) to 5.9%. That was twenty years ago, though.

Edit: At that time (2000 or so) I was running at least $800 per month through the card for veterinarian expenses and paying in full each month.

[Gollum]

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@c32knight wrote:

Hello all,

Had some time today with thunderstorms going on outside. Decided to reach out to my credit card issuers and see who can offer APR reductions or really anything else. I had the capital one quicksilver with a 10k limit and 22.90 APR for 6 years, and a capital one platinum with a 275 dollar limit for about a decade. This has never gotten a CLI offer for some reason. I never have a balance on the platinum though i think it does have an annual fee. Long story short, no APR reduction offers on the QS with a 3k balance currently. No offers of any kind for the platinum. Had them transfer me to retention and same luck. Decided to finally close out the platinum. It wasn't helping me anymore and I really have moved on from capital one to better banks with better benefits and limits. I'll pay off the QS in the next 2 months and sock drawer that one. Calling Barclays and Citi next to see what kind of offers I have there. 

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@c32knight, your Capital One Platinum card is probably "bucketed:" https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Credit-Card-Asset-Backed-Securities-ABS-and-w...

[CA4Closure]

I had a Platnium VISA from 2000. At the time, it had a rewards program but in 2011 I had a foreclosure and they took away the rewards and added a $5/month fee. I was stuck at a ridiculously low CL at $2,500. I maxed that card out in 2012 because I had no where to live so I decided to stop using that card and pay it off. In 2015 they gave me a new limit at $6,500. I have had NO CLI's since that date. 

I cancelled this card and it caused a 15 point FICO drop and my average age of account also went from 20 years to 6.7 years. I have other cards with way higher credit limits and low APRs. I use them because of the rewards. I still have a Quicksilver with a $10,000 CL. Since that has no Annual Fee, I will keep this until Capital One closes it for non-use. I haven't used that card in like 2 years.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@Gollum wrote:

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@c32knight wrote:

Hello all,

Had some time today with thunderstorms going on outside. Decided to reach out to my credit card issuers and see who can offer APR reductions or really anything else. I had the capital one quicksilver with a 10k limit and 22.90 APR for 6 years, and a capital one platinum with a 275 dollar limit for about a decade. This has never gotten a CLI offer for some reason. I never have a balance on the platinum though i think it does have an annual fee. Long story short, no APR reduction offers on the QS with a 3k balance currently. No offers of any kind for the platinum. Had them transfer me to retention and same luck. Decided to finally close out the platinum. It wasn't helping me anymore and I really have moved on from capital one to better banks with better benefits and limits. I'll pay off the QS in the next 2 months and sock drawer that one. Calling Barclays and Citi next to see what kind of offers I have there. 

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@c32knight, your Capital One Platinum card is probably "bucketed:" https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Credit-Card-Asset-Backed-Securities-ABS-and-w...

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Not  probably,  it is! kudos for Op never closing a sub $300 cc. I would have tossed it lol.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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@CA4Closure wrote:

I had a Platnium VISA from 2000. At the time, it had a rewards program but in 2011 I had a foreclosure and they took away the rewards and added a $5/month fee. I was stuck at a ridiculously low CL at $2,500. I maxed that card out in 2012 because I had no where to live so I decided to stop using that card and pay it off. In 2015 they gave me a new limit at $6,500. I have had NO CLI's since that date. 

I cancelled this card and it caused a 15 point FICO drop and my average age of account also went from 20 years to 6.7 years. I have other cards with way higher credit limits and low APRs. I use them because of the rewards. I still have a Quicksilver with a $10,000 CL. Since that has no Annual Fee, I will keep this until Capital One closes it for non-use. I haven't used that card in like 2 years.

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Im curious how closing the account  affected your aaoa? That closed account should still factor into it until it falls of your credit report ( up to 10 years or more)  plus, 2  years non usage may put a card up for candidate to be closed.