Negotiating For Better Credit Card Rates
Are you unsatisifed with your credit card? Do you find your current rates too high? If they are, they could be bringing the overall cost of maintaining it to pretty unacceptable levels. If you feel you’ve been a good cardholder - using your card responsibly and paying on time - you might be able to negotiate a better rate.
Calling up the issuer and bargaining your card’s fees down can sound like an intimidating process. We’ll be honest - it is. However, it’s not as complicated as you may think.
Check Your Numbers
Before picking up the phone, check if you actually have a shot at talking your rates down. If you have bad credit ratings from the bureaus, getting approved for a lower rate is unlikely, even if you’ve taken care of your credit card pretty well. If you’ve over-extended your limit a few times and have incurred more than one late payment in the last 24 months, your chances are significantly diminished - you likely won’t get it.
If you’ve checked and feel confident about your chances based on those two factors, its time to arm yourself with appropriate information. Run through some credit card sites to find similar cards such as yours and compare the rates. Make sure to take note of low-rate offerings - you can use them later in your negotiations.
Negotiating Tips
When you call the issuer and speak to a service rep, always be courteous and polite. Keep a professional tone. Let them know you’ve done your homework and found credit cards with better offerings - give them names and numbers, the more details, the better. If your credit score is good, be sure to make a point of it. Similarly, mention your track record of timely payments and responsible spending over the last 12 months.
In case the customer service rep denies your request, don’t threaten to stop using the card…yet. Ask for a supervisor, instead. Once they pass the call over to their superior, repeat the pitch. The supervisor should have more power to make the rate change happen. In case you still get a denial, it’s time to pull out the threat. You’ll likely be transferred to the account retention department, where you can repeat the same spiel, hopefully, for better results.
November 27th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
[...] Credit cards can cost you an arm and a leg when you miss a payment. Even skipping your due date by a day can tack on $100s in fees in the blink of an eye. Whether the late settling of the bill is your fault or not, the same penalties will apply. Once you see the charges it incurs on your next bill, you’re never going to want to pay late again. [...]