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@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I don't press for my APRs to be low, because like you, I PIF. You might be giving up something by pressing them down, such as a 0% promo, or some other promo they might offer down the road.
I think this is a fair assessment and one that I agree with. While there may be examples out there of people having their cake and eating it too, I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that getting more in one area could result in getting less elsewhere. It's like a compensation package offered by a potential employer. The salary may leave a little to be desired, but that can be made up for with other perks like stellar family insurance coverage, extra time off, top-notch retirement plan etc. Go super hard for the extra salary though and a perk or two could be lost along the way. I'd let Discover raise my APR to 99.99% if it meant I could get 6% back on rotating categories instead of 5%.
That would be awesome if you could negotiate with lenders like that to put together the "package" you could both agree on! However, for only an additional 1% with the current cap that works out to only $60 per year ... and that's IF you max out each quarter. I don't think I would take that deal because the risk of ever having to pay that high rate isn't worth the low reward. I've often said it, but life happens even for those who "always" PIF before due date. Recently @Loquat posted about a situation where he appreciated minimum autopay when he had a car accident.
(See: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Citi-Double-Cash-closed/m-p/6145731#M1746916)
But back to the "compensation package" analogy. I've been with some of my lenders for decades and these aren't cards I just opened last year. Things change. My four oldest cards (over 20 years each) have all been product-changed in some manner as the lender's offerings have changed. They didn't have to do that, but allowing me to evolve with them is just part of maintaining a good customer relationship. So even in employment compensation, those benefits and conditions get renegotiated regularly. Employers just don't shower most employees with high pay and benefits without a discussion. And a lender is happy to leave you with a higher APR, a lower credit limit, or an inferior rewards card just like an employer is happy to leave you with a low salary and crappy benefits relative to your peers unless you negotiate for more.
Some people can get more than others, just like the employer example, depending on what you offer back to them. As for Discover, I got 10.99% and I still get the rotating categories (of course). Some cardholders have a permanent 6.99%, with the rest of the standard card perks. I can't get that. Maybe their profile is better than mine, they spend more than me on the card, or maybe they are liked better than me lol (like employers sometimes give less qualified employees a higher salary).
Never thought much about APR's since I don't carry balances, but...17.99%. Tadow, how you like me now?
@LP007 wrote:Never thought much about APR's since I don't carry balances, but...17.99%. Tadow, how you like me now?
SPRINT
I actually 'poked' Discover back in August, fishing around for a reset of the 0% for 12 month deal.
Long story short, I initiated the chat on my laptop instead of my phone, and I got confused about how I was supposed to follow-up on the CSR's reply (there's an initial delay to get a rep). By the time I figured things out a couple of days had passed, so I went ahead and took the offer that was showing in the chat transcript (thankully it was still available), which was a reduction from 16.24% to 13.24%.
This is my second reduction since I got the card back in 2015 (original rate was 20%+). I probably would have an even lower rate by now had I been persistent, but I just didn't bother. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I only have 1 Discover card (DiscoverIt) that I got during my rebuilding phase. Started at 24.99% back in 2017
I called once and had it lowered to 22.99% and I just called again to further reduce it now that my Ficoo8 scores are at the 800 range.
The rep offered to lower it another couple of points or I could have 0% APR for 12 months. I never carry balances unless it's 0% anyways so I opted for the 0% promo...
I just had it reduced earlier this week from 13.24% to 11.24% (Prime+7.99%), they also gave me option of 0% for 12 mos on purchases but I already have a card that is running for a year at 0% so the permanent reduction was a better bet for me.
@gdale6 wrote:I just had it reduced earlier this week from 13.24% to 11.24% (Prime+7.99%), they also gave me option of 0% for 12 mos on purchases but I already have a card that is running for a year at 0% so the permanent reduction was a better bet for me.
@gdale6, Congrats on your permanent APR reduction
Current rate on my Discover IT (formerly Discover More) card: 9.99% V.
Lowest rate my Discover card has ever had historically: 5.24% V (before being rate jacked during CARD Act).
My latest Discover More statement shows a purchase APR of 11.99%V. I have not carried a balance in over 20 years.
@NoHardLimits wrote:My latest Discover More statement shows a purchase APR of 11.99%V. I have not carried a balance in over 20 years.
I like how you put in a bank card score to make it look like you broke the 850 mark for fico8 Noice