Reducing your credit card interest rate

A key purpose of our site is to show the need to constantly shop around for the best deals available in the UK . There are times when you may either not want to apply for a new credit card because you feel that your credit score is not ready for it or you have recently applied for a low APR credit card. Another avenue to explore would involve seeking a better deal from your existing card.

To reduce the interest rate you are paying on your credit card, all you need to do is to phone your existing card-issuing company and tell them that you are thinking about leaving. It does not really matter whether you are planning on closing your accounts or not, providing you have done your research and know what sort of offers are available. Your current credit card provider will usually ask you what sort of offers you have seen. It is useful to have some current knowledge of the best deals which are available. Remember that just about every lender is offering 0% balance transfer offers, although the majority of these are only for a six month period, although Barclaycard now offer a range of cards with a balance transfer period of 9 months. If you are going to suggest that you are interested in this type of offer, make sure you know what the interest rate is on the rival card at the end of the balance transfer period. You could also quote some of the long-term balance transfer offers which are available.

We have known cases where people have phoned up their existing credit card lender, and upon threatening to go elsewhere they have been able to have their interest rate reduced from 19.9% down to as low as 10.9%. Admittedly, a reduction this large is a rare occurrence, however you should always be able to negotiate some reduction in the APR that you are paying, especially if you had adverse credit at the time of applying for the credit card and have now got a much healthier credit rating.