Lower Credit Card Interest Rates
November 7th, 2008 by Kenneth Long
If you are currently paying more than 12% interest on credit card debt, then you are paying too much. The cost of credit is simply too high to justify carrying debt at such a high rate. Averting eventual financial ruin means that you need to obtain lower credit card interest rates.
Identify your Options
Debt consolidation loans require excellent credit and open-minded lenders. They are frequently requiring collateral to secure the loan.
If you have excellent credit and extra money to work with, then you can ask for lower interest rates. The key to gaining creditor approval for lower interest rate requests is to prove your financial strength. Overpaying by a couple hundred dollars each month for several consecutive months can show that creditor you mean business. If you cannot do that, then you might be in more dire financial straits.
A poor financial situation could be remedied by requesting a hardship. This may be possible IF:
- you only have 1 or 2 cards
- you experienced a temporary life-changing event, such as job loss or hospitalization
Hardships are difficult to prove and very difficult to gain acceptance for if you have multiple accounts. Additionally, you must prove how you can remedy the situation within less than 6 months.
High interest rates on multiple credit card accounts may require the assistance of a credit counseling organization. Enrollment in a debt management program may give you substantial interest rate reductions on most or all of your credit card accounts.
Major credit card issuers have participation guidelines that dictate how much they are willing to lower your interest rates. Credit counseling organizations can discuss what steps you need to take in order to maximize your benefits under a debt management program.
Get Started Today
It is essential that you get started immediately so that you can reduce the money you are throwing away in extra finance charges. What a credit counselor will do is review your unique situation with you and develop an action plan. This action plan will consider your available options and focus on the one that is most feasible for you.
To get started, call an Accredited Financial Counselor at 1-866-832-2826 or enroll now.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 6:47 am and is filed under Budgeting, Credit Cards, Debt Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Debt management programs are often the best choice for getting out of credit card debt. Before you go that route, it might be worth it to call your credit cards to ask for a lower rate. I have one client who owes over $20,000 on a Visa that was at 18%. He spoke with a ‘rate specialist’, touting his rising credit score and declining balance and got his rate cut in half, from 18% to 9%! His monthly interest charge was instantly reduced by $150, which will help him pay off his debt even sooner. If the credit card company says ‘no’, well, at least you tried and now you can tackle your debt in a different way.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Yes, credit card issuers are frequently willing to lower your interest rate, if you show financial strength. A rising credit score as well as frequent and substantial extra payments on credit cards can improve your chances.
If you have extra money available, we encourage that you try asking for lower rates as a part of your self-guided strategy for debt repayment. If you do not have extra money or are having trouble with your current payments, you should speak with an Accredited Financial Counselor to see how credit counseling can make a difference.