LexChoice Finance

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Ask for credit card rate reductions

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The obvious goal in life is to be debt free. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to own nobody anything? You could just pay cash for anything you needed and not have to worry about how much interest you were going to pay or how long it will take you to pay back the bank. However, statistics will tell you that may of us owe somebody something. The worst people to owe are credit card companies.

Credit cards are convenient but often carry huge monthly interest rates. If you have credit card debt you should consider calling them and asking for a rate reduction. With so many banks and lending companies eager to lend money there is probably a better deal to be found. A simple call to your current credit card company will probably net you a few percentage points on your APR. If you have a $5,000 balance, even a 3% rate reduction saves you $150 a year.!

You probably won’t get an instant reduction with just a simple call. You will probably have to talk to a supervisor and possibly even threaten to take your business elsewhere. However, with a little persuasion you’ll probably get what you want, especially if you’ve always paid your monthly credit card bill on time and have a decent credit score.

Are credit card companies really that greedy?

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Driving to work this morning I heard a commercial on the radio for a debt solutions program. The company promises to eliminate your credit card debt or make the payments very mananagable. They scold the evil, greedy credit card companies for trying to take advantage of those poor consumers who have spent more money than they have.

First, I understand everyone has a different financial situation and I don’t know the circumstances of everyone’s debt. However, for the most part debt racked up on credit cards is pointless and there is little or no excuse for massive amounts of credit card debt. It’s not Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express that made you spend $500 for a new summer wardrobe you can’t really afford. Sure they may charge 20.99% interest on that money, but they didn’t make the initial decision to overspend.

We as adults need to have some responsibility for  our own actions. Stop blaming the finance companies for being greedy and start taking responsibility for our own out of control spending. I really hat to take up for credit card companies, but quit looking for handouts and start earning a living!