3 Ways to Improve Your Credit Card Interest
Rates
These days credit card companies can be "sneaky":
they often hike up consumer's interest rates in a somewhat stealthy fashion,
letting you discover the higher rate on your credit card statement. Here
are two reasons credit card companies use to raise your interest rate:
· They check your credit report
regularly and use what they find on your credit report to justify raising
your interest rate
· They use late payments, even
those just slightly late (like 10 days, or less) to raise your interest
rate.
When you inquire about your higher interest
rate on your statement with your credit card company, they cite the credit
card agreement you signed when you first applied for your card. (Does anybody
actually read those)?
I have found three things you can do to
keep your credit card interest rate low:
1. Sign up for Autopay.
Ask your credit card company for an Autopay
application and pay your credit card bill automatically from your bank
account. MBNA, for instance has an autopay application, which offers you
the chance to either take the minimum payment out automatically, or a payment
that you set every month, say $250. Autopay can be invaluable in keeping
your payment history, and credit, spotless-keeping you at a low interest
rate.
2. Raise your Credit Score.
You may know that each of us have a "credit
score" that predicts our ability to pay back credit on time. Credit Card
Companies check your credit score on an average of every 60-90 days or
so. Cleaning your credit report can include paying any outstanding collections
that can compromise your score. Even a small $50 collection can compromise
your credit score. Although clearing a credit report can be a 4 to 8 month
process, there is a book on my site called "Improve your Credit
Score in 24 Hours that can give you tips to raise your credit score faster.
3. Ask for a Lower Rate.
Sometimes simply asking for a lower rate
results in a lower rate. But, you must ask in a shrewd businesslike manner,
and sometimes you need to be firm. The conversation would go something
like this a 15% rate is unacceptable to me. I need you to lower my rate
to 9% for me to keep my account, or I will close my account".
Of course, it helps to really mean it. But I have gotten my rate lowered
at least three times this way, and you can too.
Noelani Rodriguez
Editor, TheBestEver.Net
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