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Good APR % for 714 FICO

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moneynerd
Member

Good APR % for 714 FICO

Hi all,

The APR for my CapOne QuickSilver cash rewards card is currently 25.42%. Website states range is 16.24% to 26.24%. 

I called to negotiate the rate since I've missed 0 payments and my FICO is 714. They said they can't lower the rate because I signed up for 25.42%, but they could give me a 7-month promotional rate of 20 something% (I tuned out at this point). I said, "not good enough" and I would no longer use the card and find another company.

Any advice on how to get a lower rate? I have very few cards (2 cap ones, 2 retail) and would like to find a good non-Cap one card. I know 714 is good but not excellent, but I expect a much better rate and CO seems unwilling to negotiate. 

 

Thanks.

 

Fico goals: 750


Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
dlister70
Frequent Contributor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

Are you currently carrying a balance on the card? 

 

If yes, then what incentive would they have to lower the rate of money that they are making off of you? 

 

If no, then why does the interest rate matter?

 

If you don't currently carry a balance but plan to make a large purchase and carry a balance soon, you could always just get a new card with a zero % introductory rate.  If you do currently have a balance, you could try to get a balance transfer card to move away from CO.

 

To answer your question, the APR % will vary based on more statistics than just your FICO score.  But when I got my Discover card a couple years ago, I had a 698 FICO, and a 21 or 22% interest rate.  



Message 2 of 13
moneynerd
Member

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

@dlister70,

 

The bottom line is that the APR% should reflect the credit score. I want a better rate. 


Message 3 of 13
dlister70
Frequent Contributor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

You got me curious and I checked on what the current rates were on my cards. 

 

I usually hover around your goal score of 750.  My last Transunion score on the Discover statement was 744, my current Experian FICO 8 is 763.

 

PNC Cash Rewards:  24.24%

AMEX Everyday: 23.99%
AMEX BCE: 23.24%
Discover: 20.24%
NRA Visa: 21.24%
US Bank Cash+: 17.99%
Amazon Visa: 24.24%

 

But there is no way I'd even carry a balance on the US Bank card.  17.99% is still nuts.  I'm sure that there are people with worse scores than you or me but better interest rates due to other factors like income, history with the lending bank, and probably other things that I'm not thinking of.

 

As an example, I was late on my car payment a TON of times with PNC several years ago.  I doubt that I'll ever get a good credit card rate out of them even if my FICO scores exceed 800.  Even once the late payments drop from consideration on my FICO, they'll still know about it at PNC.



Message 4 of 13
CramEiko
Established Contributor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

Welcome to MyFico.

 

I just closed my Cap1 QS card because I also had a locked in rate. My rate was over 27% and never missed one payment and 95% of the past 4+ years I was 0% UTI. Always tried to PIF before my statement dates. For 4+ years I tried to do the same as you. All they could ever offer me was a 7 month long temp APR reduction. I no longer needed that card so I decided to close it. There were no attempts to keep me as a customer. Not one. So, I just said thanks for the ride and moved on.

 

As far as your other question about finding cards with better rates, the group would need more information. Such as how long have you had your credit cards and any other credit types? what are current CL's? the more information you can provide about your credit profile the more others can help you learn more. commonly referred to as data points (DP).

 

Good Luck!





Updated Feb 2023:
Citi Double Cash: $26,300
Citi Costco: $33,800
PenFed Power Cash: $50,000
Chase Freedom Unlimited: $33,400
NFCU Cash Rewards: $29,000
BoA Unlimited Cash: $99,900
Wells Fargo Active Cash: $50,000
Citi AAdvantage Executive: $30,500
Wells Fargo Mortgage 30yr fixed 3.625%

Business Cards:
BoA Business Advantage Unlimited Cash: $8,000
Chase Ink Business Unlimited: $75,000
Chase Ink Business Unlimited: $75,000

RIP: EECU PLOC | BBVA PLOC | Chase SP | Chase Amazon | Chase Freedom | WF Propel | Cap1 QS | AMEX Gold | BoA Custom Cash | Lowes | Barclays Aviator Red
Message 5 of 13
dlister70
Frequent Contributor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO


@moneynerd wrote:

@dlister70,

 

The bottom line is that the APR% should reflect the credit score. I want a better rate. 


I'm sure that the FICO score plays a large role in determing the APR %, but I doubt that one number is the entire deciding factor.  You can have a good FICO score with no real credit history of your own from being an authorized user on someone elses credit card even if you don't actually use the card.  I've read that they take that sort of thing into consideration.

 

I've also read that many companies have their own internal score on you that is seperate from your FICO and is based on their institutions experiences with you.  It stands to reason that this internal score would also play a role in determining your credit limit and interest rate.

 

Do you have a prior history with Capitol One that they might be wary of?  I'm sure that you've heard of people "burning" a financial institution  via bankrupcy, and then it's difficult or impossible to ever get a card from them again even when you've turned your finances around.  I know that I had several Capitol One cards in the past that I maxed out and then closed.  Although I did eventually pay them off through a hardship program (where they lowered the interest rate and made very little money off of me, but at least got paid back), I doubt that I have a very good internal score with them.


There is also the possibility that they just lock your rate when you get the card and don't ever consider changing it.  I would also like to see them change things (rates or limits) as your finances improve, but that doesn't always happen.  There's been plenty of threads on these forums with people who were locked into a tiny credit limit that never seemed to grow, or a bad interest rate that never seemed to change no matter how much they improved their FICO. 

 

If you ask and they refuse to change, then all you can do is either accept that, or leave and find another lender who does give you the rate that you want.  Many times, a local credit union will be your best bet for the lowest interest rate for a credit card.



Message 6 of 13
Isacking97
Regular Contributor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

It depends on the bank, with Discover you can ask every 6 months, AMEX you have to fight and even sometime carry a balance for a month to get a offer.

 

my current APR are:

AMEX Everyday: 15.99% (lowered from 19.49%)

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred : 22.49%

Discover It Chrome (Students): 15.49% (lowered from 18.49%)

CITI Costco Visa: 17.24% (Can't be lowered) 

BBPR Visa Icon: 24.49% (First Card, can't be upgraded without HP)

 

With AMEX and Discover I been a customer for over 3 years and almost every few months I call and chat to see if there any offers.



Starting Score:EX: 713 EQ: 698
Message 7 of 13
moneynerd
Member

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

@Isacking97,

 

Those are decent APR% below.  Glad to know that asking for a lower % has worked for you. I'm sure your 750 or so credit scores helped too. 

Thanks for sharing. 


Message 8 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

Personal cards always seem to have higher apr than business cards. Im not sure there are many lenders out there willing to lower apr for you.

Message 9 of 13
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: Good APR % for 714 FICO

I'll second that there are so many other factors that go into an APR than credit scores, even with the same lender!  My reports are spotless.  Citi approved me for Diamond Preferred at 12.24% a few years ago when my scores were around 730ish, then approved me for ThankYou Premier at 25.24% when my scores were much higher.  While life happens, I would never close a card simply because of the APR since I won't again get caught in the trap of carrying balances at high APRs when there are so many better low- or no-APR balance transfer or introductory offers on cards to do that with.  The best rewards credit cards that generally require the highest scores to be approved for often have their lowest APRs listed near 20%.  If you really need a credit card with a lower purchase APR, credit unions are where it's at since they're not allowed to have credit card APRs higher than 18%, and many great cards are available with APRs around 10% like NFCU Flagship and PenFed Power Cash Rewards.

Message 10 of 13
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