Negotiate down APR/Interest rates?

[Anonymous]

Forgive me if this is listed, i did a search and didnt find much for solutions.  I saw a thread here with an article of "5 things to do when you have a 760 credit score" and one of them was negotiate your APR down.  but not much info on it.  Another thread was "national average interest rate is now 16%).

Both of these jumped out to me since A) im closing in on 760 scores and should be close or there once balances report this month and B) every single one of my 7 cards is over 16%.  most over 21%.

Account	Balance	Limit	APR
Walmart	$0.00	$1,450.00	22.90%
Paypal	$0.00	$3,500.00	25.49%
Venture	$0.00	$7,750.00	17.99%
Amazon	$4,662.00	$8,000.00	27.49%
Amex	$5,262.00	$8,500.00	22.49%
QuickSilver	$0.00	$10,000.00	22.99%
CareCredit	$0.00	$20,000.00	21.49%

So i figured i should be able to make some headway here considering i got most of these cards when my score was in the high 500's, My interest rates are way above the average, i now have a great credit score, and ive had luck with CLI's.

Whats the best way to go about negotiating down an APR?  is there a letter template?  just call an ask?  how can i leverage my score when negotiating?

more important:  will there be a hard pull, will this piss off an underwriter in my mortgage process? (we are real early in the process, all they did was pull our scores. no pre approval letter or anything)

[CYBERSAM]

Unfortunately your Credit Cards are with Synchrony, Cap1 and AMEX! They are not known for reducing APR!

You may have best chance with AMEX and couple of people have reported APR reduction with Cap1 but normally CSR tells you to reapply for the same card to get a better APR, and Sync... yah good luck! Can be done. Never know 😁

I tried with the same banks and they said: LOL 🙄

[Anonymous]

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@CYBERSAM wrote:

Unfortunately your Credit Cards are with Synchrony, Cap1 and AMEX! They are not known for reducing APR!

You may have best chance with AMEX and couple of people have reported APR reduction with Cap1 but normally CSR tells you to reapply for the same card to get a better APR, and Sync... yah good luck! Can be done. Never know 😁

I tried with the same banks and they said: LOL 🙄

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My AMEX is thrugh Elan financial services, not sure if that matters?

how did you try and do it.  just call and ask for it?

[K-in-Boston]

Amex will definitely reduce APRs if there has been a change in credit profile.  Actually my Marriott card was originally a Starwood Preferred Guest care and when I opened it in 2017, the computer gave me 17.24% so I hopped on chat and asked them to match my Blue and the POT APR on my charge cards at the time (15.24%) and they did so before I even got the card.  Since the card in question is on the Amex network but not issued by Amex themselves, Amex has nothing to do with managing the card itself so it would be up to the actual card issuer.

If CapOne has granted a few APR reductions I have missed that.  My own previous experience and what I understand from reading here is that they do not permanently change APRs at all, but will sometimes offer a reduced APR for 6-9 months.

Some of the cards you listed are store cards which have the same APR for all cardholders regardless of credit profile, so someone with 850s, a clean history, and no recent signs of credit-seeking will get the same 26.99% as everyone else.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Scores  dont necessarily help you get better apr. Some cards like store cards always have high apr and are usually set. Even lenders like Discover Amex and Chase may not even give their best apr even with high scores. Best bet is to look for Credit Union cards like low apr cards. 

[kdm31091]

Not all lenders are willing to negotiate on APR. Many store cards regardless of lender have a fixed APR for all applicants and there is no flexibility with it. Even on non-store cards some banks still do not honor APR reduction requests. Capital One will only grant temporary reductions. I'm not sure Synchrony does them at all, even temporarily. Chase does not honor requests, but will very rarely reduce APR on their own. I have no clue what Berkshire Bank would or wouldn't do. Banks do not usually do hard pulls for these requests when they do honor them.

Amex, Citi, Discover, and BoA are the most flexible on APR at least in my experience. Still no guarantees though. I've been turned down just as often as I've been given a reduction.

If APR is of major importance your best bet is to apply for a low APR card from a credit union honestly. The big banks rarely have rates as low, even with reductions.

[FlaDude]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

Chase does not honor requests, but will very rarely reduce APR on their own.

Amex, Citi, Discover, and BoA are the most flexible on APR at least in my experience.

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It's been a few years now, but I've called and gotten decreases from both Chase and Amex. As I understand it, each card has a range of interest rates so if you are already at the lowest, it can't go any lower. The Venture card might be close already.

Unless you expect to carry a balance on the PIF cards, the interest rate really doesn't matter. I've reached a point where I can PIF all my cards every month so I don't worry about interest rates any more.

[recoveringfrombk7]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CYBERSAM wrote:

Unfortunately your Credit Cards are with Synchrony, Cap1 and AMEX! They are not known for reducing APR!

You may have best chance with AMEX and couple of people have reported APR reduction with Cap1 but normally CSR tells you to reapply for the same card to get a better APR, and Sync... yah good luck! Can be done. Never know 😁

I tried with the same banks and they said: LOL 🙄

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My AMEX is thrugh Elan financial services, not sure if that matters?

how did you try and do it.  just call and ask for it?

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I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure your AMEX is not an AMEX.  It's just another bank using their network.   So AMEX would have nothing to do with reducing the APR on that card.

[kdm31091]

If you achieved an APR reduction on request with Chase, that's extremely unusual...they normally do not budge. But, apparently once in awhile, maybe!

[Remedios]

The article you're talking about is somewhat silly 

• Negotiate for Better Terms on Your Credit Cards

Lender specific, and they do not negotiate. They either allow practice of adjusting APR or not. 760000 score wouldn't change that. 

• Apply for a Better Credit Card

You dont need 760 for better card, but you may need to garden depending on your profile. Also, what exactly is "better" card. You might have a perfect one rewards wise, but the terms may not be so perfect.

"Perfect" card for BT might be useless afterwards. See Slate for more info.

• Refinance Your Mortgage and Reduce Your Monthly Payment

That will always depend on your current rate. If you were approved with 620, go for it. If you were approved with 750, you're not going to be gaining much, if anything. 

• Pay Off Credit Card Debt Without Paying Interest

You do not need 760 for good BT card. You just dont. 

• Revisit Your Car Insurance Premiums

As far as CBIS goes, 760 on FICO 8 may not translate into a great CBIS, as different factors are assigned different "weight". Inquiries and new accounts hurt there, too. The logic is, if you are chasing new credit, you must be broke. If you're broke, you will get into more accidents and are more likely to file lawsuits.