Prepare Before You Call Your Credit Card Company for a Better Interest Rate
A few days ago we prepared an article providing the useful tip that it only takes a little negotiation to get a rate decrease on one or more credit cards. Since then we have received several requests to elaborate on this topic more and we have prepared this article to provide a more comprehensive strategy for decreasing your credit card rates through negotiations with current and new credit card companies.
This process can be done off the cuff with a simple phone call and a request, it never hurts to ask or you will definitely receive nothing. A rate reduction can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars, which can make it very important to many people.
So we will cover are going to cover 15 steps in multi part series to prepare you for the call. Future articles will cover even more strategies and tactics that you can use. Lets face it something that can save you thousands of dollars in compound interest is worth a little more investigation!
The Test Run Option
Now, I do not recommend calling without preparation but it won’t hurt much and will give you some practical experience. If you fail come back and do the preparation we recommend and improve your odds of succeeding. Do not wait forever to make things ‘perfect.’ If they were perfect, your debt would be paid off you would be able to use cash to make your purchases and the call would not be necessary.
Getting Serious
If you tried the test run or not the first thing you need to do is a little soul searching. You are going to be negotiating to save yourself thousands of dollars. That is like trying to talk yourself into a free car. You need to understand your own position and motivation and perspective. So our first tip is to ask yourself if you want to change to a different credit card company if you do not get a better rate?
- Consider their customer service.
- Consider how often they have increased your rates in the past.
- Consider how many penalties they have charged you.
- Consider how many balance transfer fees your have been charged and if they were reasonable.
You need to understand just how serious you are about your effort before you proceed. Everything that we will cover in the future will be determine by your goals and attitude, which will come across on the phone!
