What have you done lately to lower the interest rates on your credit cards? If you carry a monthly balance, this is an important question.
Consider that a 5% reduction in rate on a balance of $10,000 will save you just over $40 a month in interest.
The bigger the rate reduction and the larger the loan balance, the more significant the savings you'll experience.
If you're like most folks, you've either applied for a new card with a lower introductory rate or you called customer service for your existing credit card and were told there was nothing they could do.
There are problems with both of these paths.
First, applying for new credit can have a negative impact to your credit standing.
As a result, for many, it makes more sense to first exhaust all paths with your current credit card company.
If applying for new credit, to lower your interest rate, may result in a lower credit score and higher payments on other debt, then this might not accomplish your goal.
Accepting a typical "nothing we can do" line from a front line customer service agent is also a problem.
Did you ask to speak with their supervisor? What about the supervisor's supervisor? If you didn't get anywhere with the customer service department, did you contact the corporate office and ask to speak with the President of the company? Yes, you heard me right! A recent article published in the Washington Post, talks of a consumer who managed to lower the interest rates he was paying on 3 separate credit cards by following this path.
Naturally, he doesn't get the President on the phone, however, he does get someone who promises to look into the situation and get back to him.
He claims they always call back to offer a lower rate.
Of course, it does help to have a strong payment history with the company as well as a track record that extends past a couple of years.
Are you being persistent enough?