How to lower APR on Chase Amazon Card?

[Anonymous]

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@cakkd wrote:

On the other hand, as much as I like the Amazon rewards, a bigger part of me says screw Chase. They obviously aren't all that interested in keeping my business. (Even if I didn't care a balance.) Plus, I like to fly as much as I like books. 

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Shame about that 5.24% APR card...

[kdm31091]

I'm not gonna keep the Amazon card forever or have another Chase card. I'm not interested in a lender who refuses to ever lower an APR or offer a CLI without a HP. They don't care about growing with you. its just a fact. They have excellent travel cards. For the rest of us they are completely avoidable IMO. Nothing exciting.

[Anonymous]

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@wacdenney wrote:

I see this over and over and I'm not sure why...

Amazon is a co-branded rewards card.  You get the card and you place your Amazon shopping on it for 3% CB and gas at 2% CB isn't too bad either.  You place your spend on it and you PIF and earn rewards.  The APR on this type of card is irrelevant.  The card is simply not designed to carry a balance on.

If you need to park a balance, that's fine and dandy.  I have a couple of balances sitting right now myself.  I have a 2.5k balance parked on Discover which is still in its intro APR rate of 0%.  I also have a 2.1k balance parked on my DCU Visa because I got a 0% APR offer on it. 

These are the kinds of places where you let balances sit.  Intro 0% APR cards...  low APR credit union cards...  Barclay Ring...  etc...

Everyone needs a card in there profile for carrying a balance.  Don't have one?  Get one!!

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+1

[cakkd]

They are supposed to compete for your business. What I'm hearing is Chase is refusing to compete on a key factor. It's the too-big-to-faily kind of hubris.

[wacdenney]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

It's fine to say "this card isn't designed for carrying a balance!" and "always PIF" and all that, and it's true, BUT,

There is nothing wrong with seeking better terms and a lower APR. I don't plan to carry a balance on the card, but suppose I rack up my dining on it during the month and something crazy happens and I can't PIF. Would I not rather have the lower APR?

There's no downside to having a lower APR. There's no upside to having a high one. So I don't see why it bothers you so much when people are simply trying to improve their accounts. We aren't all "ideal and perfect" with a 8% APR card in our profiles, so sometimes we are going to seek out lower APRs on existing cards, and that's fine.

I do want a low APR card in the future, but it doesn't stop me from trying to improve the accounts I have. Again, why not do it? The same reason I don't get why people obsess over "upgrading to WEMC" or some such, I guess is why you don't understand people wanting lower APRs. To each their own.

The APR is not "irrelevant" because it could happen that you have a balance on it someday that you  cannot PIF that month or whatever. I consider all my APRs "relevant" because life isn't perfect and stuff happens.

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yes, stuff happens so get yourself a card for that.  Call it your "stuff happens" card and when stuff happens use it. 

Do a balance transfer if all else fails.  NEVER pay interest and if you must 10% TOPS. 

I actually had stuff happen recently.  My taxes got all screwed up because I forgot to change my withholdings last year and I wound up owing 1.3k.  I have room to park that on a 0% card but then there's the processing fee and the turbo tax charges.  Even a 0% APR couldn't handle this stuff.  I decided to go with a signup bonus.  AMEX HHonors is brand new and I will earn 40k points in a single transaction.  That's at least a $400 value and I'll transfer that balance off of the card before I pay any interest on it. 

Yes, stuff happens so have a plan.

You are correct about Visa Signature and World Mastercard btw, also a total waste of time and effort.

[kdm31091]

Also you have to remember that most consumers don't PIF so even though us credit people are all about it, that's not the average person. APR is always relevant. Every credit card is designed to carry a balance in that that's part of the definition of a credit card.

[gdale6]

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@cakkd wrote:

On the other hand, as much as I like the Amazon rewards, a bigger part of me says screw Chase. They obviously aren't all that interested in keeping my business. (Even if I didn't care a balance.) Plus, I like to fly as much as I like books. 

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IMO the Sallie Mae is a much better rewards card than the Chase Amazon, really depends on your monthly spend at Amazon..

[kdm31091]

Glad we agree on totally not understanding the obsession with WEMC and such though.

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Glad we agree on totally not understanding the obsession with WEMC and such though.

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Shiny logo.

[kdm31091]

Shiny logo is fine but the amount of time and effort people put into what amounts to a logo and benefits they are 98 percent of the time not going to use is mind boggling

Marketing convinces people they need the elite version without them understanding or caring what the benefits are or how it would even be useful IMO