Citi Lowered My APR Twice!

SHORACETEAM · ‎02-15-2021

I have been reading these forums for years and though it was time that I contribute!

I have had a Citi TU card since 2011 with a 24.99% APR, last July I got on their online chat and simply asked if they would lower it.. Just like that, they lowered it to 19.99% that day!

Since I am carrying balance, this immediately saved me ~ $20/month in interest! I just did it again last week and they immediately lowered it to 16.24%, saved another $12/month in interest.

Unfortunately, none of my other 17 cards would lower the rates no matter how many managers I spoke too or number of times I called back to try different techniques.

So if you have a Citi card, it is quite easy to lower your interest rate. Give it a try!

For reference, My file is Clean/Thick/High util/ All three Fico 8’s in the 690’s

AllZero · ‎02-15-2021

Congratulations on your APR reduction!

Remedios · ‎02-15-2021

Unless I'm mistaken, reduced APR is for charges after new APR is in effect, not for the existing ones.

I could be totally wrong here

K-in-Boston · ‎02-15-2021

@Remedios wrote:
Unless I'm mistaken, reduced APR is for charges after new APR is in effect, not for the existing ones.
I could be totally wrong here

For promotional APR offers (which Citi hands out a lot) this is definitely true. It does sound like the OP actually had their purchase APR lowered (Citi is also good about doing this by request if your profile merits it), so as long as these balances were not subject to a cash advance APR they should apply immediately.

Remedios · ‎02-15-2021

@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
Unless I'm mistaken, reduced APR is for charges after new APR is in effect, not for the existing ones.
I could be totally wrong here
For promotional APR offers (which Citi hands out a lot) this is definitely true. It does sound like the OP actually had their purchase APR lowered (Citi is also good about doing this by request if your profile merits it), so as long as these balances were not subject to a cash advance APR they should apply immediately.

That's good.

When I asked Disco long time ago , they made a point of stating change wasn't retroactive, which was irrelevant since there was no balance.

Maybe it's lender specific.

Glad for OP, though.

Now I'm going to ask Citi, because boredom.

SHORACETEAM · ‎02-15-2021

The first question I asked when they agreed to lower my purchases APR was, "does this apply to existing balances?" and to my surrprise, it did! I later verified it aligned with my statement interest charges. Citi earned some respect from me by duing this when know one else would!

Hope it helps someone else too!