Finance, Forex and Investments

How do you get interest rates on credit cards lowered?

From the books that I have read and advice I have seen on tv, they always tell you to call your credit card compaines and ask them to reduce the rates. We have a few store credit cards and I called and asked and all of them said no. Is there a certain place to call? I know that I can do a balance transfer but I don't want to get into that trap. I don't want to consolidate them and get into it any deeper. Any thoughts. We don't use our cards we have cut them all up but the interest rates are killing us on the balances we owe. Compaines don't bother to send me offers! My credit score is 742 which is on the higher range. That is why I want to get this taken care of to keep it that way.

Public Comments

1. ask them again. and again. until they work out a deal with you.
2. How is a balance transfer a trap? A consolidation via balance transfer may be the better option. However, you may fare even better by paying off those credit cards with the equity in your home. That will save you a tremendous amount in finance charges. If you are not receiving offers, it's probably because your credit scores are deteriorating. Lewis lstretch@mortgagestar.com
3. Believe me, the credit companies would rather get you to pay less interest then send the debt to a collector. I recommend that you continue to call the companies, and when you get a no answer, ask to talk to their supervisor. Explain to the supervisor that you are having trouble paying the card and ask what they can do to help. If the answer remains no, continue to pay the card as required, and try again in a month or two. Also, I highly recommend that you avoid the debt counseling places you see on TV. They take your money, and they do nothing that you cannot do yourself.
4. Tell them you want to cancel your card, when they ask you why tell the interest rate is to high and you got a better deal somewhere else. Credit card companies don't want to lose your business, they want you to be in debt to them so if you tell them you are going to cancel usually they will come up with a deal for you to stay.
5. Writing a letter always beats a phone call! Adress your letter to the president of the company (You don't need his name just say 'The presidents office'), tell him that you called his credit department on numerous occassions and couln't get a satisfactory answer. Tell him that you sincerely want to clear up your debt with his company but inspite of your best efforts you are falling further behind. Tell him that presently your're in a dead end situation and if he doesn't meet you half way by giving you a serious break on the interest rate you'll have to consider your options.If he doen't cooperate you might look into sending his stuff back and consider your debt closed. (I don't know how this would work) Your credit score is probably already low so you why not consider bankrupcy. You should read up on it on the internet so you'll know what your options are and how to go about it. I
6. You don't have to actually do a balance transfer, just tell your credit card company that you're going to when you call them. Also, I'm not sure how a balance transfer is a "trap" - I'm in the middle of doing one for my $1500 balance at 17% interest, and it's going to save me about $125 for the six months that I won't be charged interest. If I can manage to pay it all off during the 6 months, it will save me even more, not having to pay interest on that balance ever again.
7. Credit card balance transfer is a process by which we can transfer our outstanding balances on a credit card (which are generally at high interest rates) to a low interest rate credit card. Balance transfer has some good advantages let us look at a few of them. Balance transfer is one of the best methods to get rid of that credit card debt. When you transfer balances all your outstanding balances are wiped out and transferred to new credit card. Depending on what deal you get on the balance transfers the new interest rates on transferred balances could be 0% or a low rate for a particular period. The ideal situation should be to get all the balances cleared within this low interest rate period. The repayment terms will also relax considerably as you transfer your balances. Credit card companies bundle a lot of exiting features with the balance transfer program, this could be a no annual fee offer and your favorite reward program. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-gallery.com/article/374,Credit_card_balance_transfer_A_really_good_option_for_those_with_huge_credit_card_debt