Credit card advice

[Darth_Kitten]

If I asked credit card companies to lower my interest rates, would they listen? :shrug:

I was just doing some surfing on the net and thought this was interesting, but does it work? :shrug:

:)

[GOPisEvil]

1. Sure.

Tell them you're closing your account, and that you got a better deal elsewhere. They might offer to lower them for you.

[Deja Q]

3. And be assertive/aggressive and make sure your account is in good standing

They will check and see if they can call your bluff... with equal aplomb.

[Darth_Kitten]

7. I throw so much money at my credit cards...

We'll see what happens....I'm just tired of being on the credit card merry go round... :(

I still make payments every month, so I guess it is in good standing. :think:

[Darth_Kitten]

6. But I don't have a better deal elsewhere...

I just find the rates are making it very difficult to get ahead and pay off the principal. :)

I have a couple of cards so am not getting another one. :)

[jobycom]

9. You can get another card and transfer the balance

just make sure you cut up the first. A lot of companies will give you a really low intro rate to do it, and some will give you a great rate for the life of the balance you transfer. If you do that, however, don't charge any more on the new card, because they will make you pay off the higher rate charges before they will reduce the lower rate balance.

If you've never found bankrate.com, hang out there for a while. It's a great resource.

[Darth_Kitten]

11. I saw that site today....

:)

[BOSSHOG]

16. I believe its the other way around!

If you make any additional charges after you have made the transfer the higher rated charge will lanquish on your account until the lower rate is payed off. In other words you will pay 12+% interest on your new $500.00 charge month after month after month, while the only principal reduction will come from the lower rated charge balance 2-4%. The company wants to get rid of that part of your account ASAP.

Transferring for a lower rate is great, just lock the card up until the balance is paid off.

[jobycom]

24. You're right, sorry!

I knew that, I just said it backwards. :freak:

[BOSSHOG]

25. Credit Card companies are in the business of

confusing us and they do a real fine job of it. And that little known caveat is a killer for young people who don't spend much time perusing their statements.

[pitohui]

if you are not willing to get another one

your bargaining power is zero

i have many cards

i never pay interest or annual fees

but you have to be willing to rotate among the cards and play the players against themselves

[Darth_Kitten]

14. don't think I can get another one.

heh heh.

:(

[pinniped]

13. Works every time with those Capital One punks.

.

[Darth_Kitten]

20. You guys are all great!

Thanks for all this information, I'm so pathetic at money management. :(

Hoping to become better at it though. :)

[SammyWinstonJack]

26. I asked Capital One robbers to lower my interest rate once

after I had the card for several years and had paid on time and always paid way more then the minimum payment, they told me no. :grr:

[pinniped]

28. I really did want to cancel them, but they keep pulling that lower...

interest rate trick on me. Well, I'll have a trick for them after this gets paid off.

Try to cancel your card and see what those punks say.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. I'll try that and thanks. nt

[LastKnight]

2. try it

let us know how that works out.

worst that will happen is youll be laughed at, afterall.

[blueknight]

4. it worked for me!

i asked discover to lower my rate because i had a better offer from visa(i lied). and they lowered it about four points

[On the Road]

5. I've Had That Happen Spontaneously

when I was closing an account. The higher your rate now, the more it's likely to work.

[pitohui]

8. yes if you have good credit

i get offers to transfer to zero percent interest for six months or a year or longer at least once a week

if you have good credit no reason to pay any interest

read your junk mail

search the internet for zero percent interest offers

they're everywhere

many credit cards are offering you cash or frequent flyer miles or other bonuses to switch to their card

[BOSSHOG]

10. We have three cards

Several years ago, I called one of them and told them to do away with the annual fee or I'd cancel the card. No questions asked. They cancelled the fee.

[hfojvt]

12. I worked in customer service for a CCC

Sometimes I could and sometimes I could not. The closing account threat might work, it might also leave you with a closed account. If you are getting offers in the mail, that is not a problem. You can also tell them about those offers and they might match them.

Myself, I prefer the 0% rate that they all offer. All you do is pay your bill in full every thirty days.

Also, I closed one that had a rate that I did not expect (my fault for mis-reading the offer). The person I was talking to said the account was closed. Then I asked for a pay-off balance and suddenly I was transferred to someone who offered me a better deal. But I was not bluffing either.

[truthseeker1]

15. Works all the time

Just tell them you want to close your account and they transfer you to the retention department. At that point, tell them you're looking for a zero percent (or whatever amount is acceptable) and many times they'll give you what you ask (or the lowest rate they have available).

[northzax]

17. even with bad credit

I had two of my three cards agree to payment plans, one at .5%, the other at 0%. upon paying them off on schedule, the cards are reopened, if I want, and they report to the credit bureaus that I 'pay as agreed' the other one is giving me trouble though.

[Darth_Kitten]

18. How much is too much information?

If I told the credit card companies that with their interest rates I'm finding it increasing difficult to make the monthly payment would they decrease the rate or is this not the way to go? :shrug:

Just throwing things out here. :)

[pitohui]

22. banker loans umbrella when sun is shining

let them believe you are considering switching cards because you have a better offer

[Darth_Kitten]

23. I went through my junk mail.

And lo and behold! there's an offer for a much lower credit card. :evilgrin:

Now, is this what is considered a better offer? I mean, people get offers in the mail all the time?

[pitohui]

31. pretty much every day

the ideal offer will have zero percent balance transfer so you can move from old card to new

no annual fee

bonus such as a cash rebate or a significant number of frequent flyer miles or two night's hotel stay

my best cash rebate on a single card was $75

$30 might be the standard

some people do even better

always pay on time, keep your credit clean, keep the offers rolling in

rebates are gifts and not taxable income

enjoy

your life is going to change for the better

[LynneSin]

19. Best advise is this: If first you don't succeed....

...call again or better yet, ask for their boss, or their boss etc

[truthseeker1]

21. Make the credit card companies pay YOU

Once you get everything paid off, don't EVER carry a balance again. Forget about just paying the minimum. Pay the full amount every month. Once you get to this point, you will be in a position to have the cc companies pay YOU!

There are lots of great deals out there where the cc companies pay you in cash rebates, ff miles, etc. We prefer the cash over the miles b/c using ff miles can be such a HUGE pain.

We make several hundred dollars a year in cash back rebates - sometimes thousands if we have a lot of business expenses to charge.

Good luck!

[LynneSin]

27. FYI - this works fine if you're not too worried about your credit rating

I think we talked about this before or maybe it was someone else. But opening & closing too many accounts can have an affect on your credit rating especially for someone trying to rebuild their credit or make a large scale purchase like a house.

[pitohui]

30. can but it won't

been doing it for many years

credit card cos. are lemmings, one loans to you, you pay on time, they all want to loan to you

they would like you to believe if you're not loyal to your one and only, it might impact your credit

no evidence this is true

just their say so

throwing away free money for rebates and air tickets today is not good finance, and in return you get what, maybe your credit score would be marginally higher, but more likely not


they are selling brand loyalty, we don't have to buy

our loyalty should be to our own pockets

[wallwriter]

32. I once used those 0% interest checks

to put bunches of money in my savings account for a few months. I paid it all back just before the rate change. I made a couple of hundred bucks. But the most satisfying thing was profiteering from the combination of my bank and credit card co., both gigantic bandits as far as I am concerned.

[truthseeker1]

33. I agree! It is so satisfying turning the tables and making money off of

THEM! Even riskier still and what we have done is to take the money and put it into the stock market (I ABSOLUTELY don't recommend this unless you have the money set aside to pay it off when it comes due!!)

[wallwriter]

35. That's not simply risky, that's just plain foolish.

[truthseeker1]

37. Nope. Not if you know what you're doing :)

[silverpatronus]

34. as soon as i pay off my one credit card

i am cutting it up and sticking to debit cards from then on. i don't get why ANYBODY still has a credit card when debit cards are available. credit cards encourage you to spend money that you don't have. at least with a debit card, you know exactly how poor you are and can manage yourself better.

[MadHound]

36. Best thing that you can do with your cards

Is to pay off your balance and cut the damn things up. All you're doing is feeding the beast, and cheating yourself out of money.

[AtomicKitten]

38. Credit card companies bite

With Bunnypants at the helm, they have set out to totally screw people. They raise interest rates for no reason, whenever they feel like it, and pile on charges gratuitously and erroneously.

But, then again, my philosophy is it can't hurt to ask.