Citi refuses to lower my interest rate. What am I doing wrong?

[Anonymous]

I just talked to Citi a few minutes ago. They absolutely will not lower my 28% APR on my Double Cash card. The card is basically useless to me.... other than SD'ing it for AAoA purposes.

History:

Card aquired as a Diamond Preferred card in 2008 with a 7500 limit and 9.5% interest.

Limit eventually raised to 12,000ish.

2008 - mid 2012, Always paid on time.

June 2012 - Major reduction in pay and hours worked at my job. Missed one and only one payment.

July 2012 - interest rate jacked up to 28%, limit lowered to 7500.

Aug 2012 - June 2016 Paid paid paid on the card.... like clock work. Chipped away at it a little at a time.

2013 - Back to normal at work again. Everything fine, financially.

June 2016 -  card converted to Double Cash

July 2016 - Account paid to almost zero, balance just $10.59 (for my Amazon Prime membership.)

Aug 2016 - limit raised back up to 9500.

Credit score as of today..... 731, 741 and 732 (Actual Fico 8). No derogitory remarks, no collections, no missed payments, 16% total CC utilization, 4 hard inqs, nothing else bad on the report.

Wouldn't you think that after 4 years of being a "good boy" that they would let me come out of the corner and play with the other kids?

[DantGwyrdd]

I feel like in these situations both the easiest and perhaps only thing to do to lower the APR drastically is to just straight up open a new card (DC in your case) and SD/close the high APR one. You may not like it, but even if they were willing to lower the APR I feel it would take forever to get it down to something reasonable.

[Turbobuick]

Whether its 8% or 28, you won't pay it if you don't carry a balance. Yes, they can be stubborn. You can cancel the card and reapply or beat them at their game and pay in full each month. The whole purpose of a rebate card is to earn money back which is quickly negated with any interest payment. If you absolutely must carry a balance get a lower interest non-rebate card. 

[Kevin86475391]

I'm sorry to hear they won't work with you on the APR. I agree, however, that for this card at least, the best of course of action is to benefit from the 2% cashback, PIF, and if you need to carry a balance, do so on a different card. It sounds like it's one of your older cards, and it really does have a nice, simple and strong reward structure; it just isn't suited for carrying a balance. I'd definitely keep it and keep using it, I just wouldn't revolve a balance on it.

[Anonymous]

I guess I'll just sock drawer the thing. I just needed to vent. Thanks guys.

My "go to" card is an 8 year old BoA card recently PC'd to 1,2,3 Cash Rewards card with 9.49% APR, 9750 limit. 

[Anonymous]

OP.. it's nice to have somewhere vent.. that's where forums are great!

Back on topic.. Just like another poster said.. if you're PIF the APR could be 1% or 1000%, it shouldn't matter! I think we get caught up in getting CLI and low APR's here just for the sake of getting them!

[Anonymous]

I agree with others who say just use this card and pay in full so you can get your full rewards. Good luck to you!

Just an aside. I think sometimes we are "bucketed" into a certain interest rate because of various circumstances. Sometimes it is impossible to get "rebucketed," so just getting a new card with improved credit scores then transferring your credit line, if possible, might be the best solution.That has happened to me and that is what I did to "escape" the bucketing.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Wouldn't you think that after 4 years of being a "good boy" that they would let me come out of the corner and play with the other kids?

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It's never just about the passage of time.  It's not just about the account(s) you hold with a creditor either.  You entire credit profile matters for decisions like this.  For whatever reason(s) your credit profile doesn't support an APR reduction.  You have to look at your reports to see what concerns they have and see if you can address them.

If you got the DC for 1%+1% rewards then the APR shouldn't matter anyway (i.e. the card isn't useless) as you should be paying every statement balance in full making the APR irrelevant.  If you're carrying a balance then you're wipinng out any potential rewards many times over.

[kdm31091]

Unfortunately sometimes when your penalty APR gets applied, the account gets "stuck" and despite the passage of time the APR will not be lowered.

Since the point of the card is the 2% rewards and not financing purchases, just use it for the rewards and resign yourself to not pay interest. I know the 28% APR feels like an insult, but you can beat Citi at their game by just never paying them the interest. Even if the rate were 9.5% it would not make sense to regularly revolve a balance because it wipes out any gains you get.

If it really bothers you, you can close it -- you mentioned SD'ing for AAOA purposes -- keep in mind the account remains on your report for 10 years after closure so your AAOA won't be impacted either way for quite a long time.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

Unfortunately sometimes when your penalty APR gets applied, the account gets "stuck" and despite the passage of time the APR will not be lowered.

Since the point of the card is the 2% rewards and not financing purchases, just use it for the rewards and resign yourself to not pay interest. I know the 28% APR feels like an insult, but you can beat Citi at their game by just never paying them the interest. Even if the rate were 9.5% it would not make sense to regularly revolve a balance because it wipes out any gains you get.

If it really bothers you, you can close it -- you mentioned SD'ing for AAOA purposes -- keep in mind the account remains on your report for 10 years after closure so your AAOA won't be impacted either way for quite a long time.

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Not sure why Citi thinks they can get around the CARD Act. 

Penalty APR's should only be applied for a maximum six months if you're 60 days or more late.