Lower Interest Rates on Credit Cards
One of the simplest ways you can save money on your credit card and get a higher credit card interest rate is to transfer your balances from higher rate cards to your lower rate cards. This may seem like a hassle and may take a little time, but if you stick with it it can save you quite a bit of money in the long run.
You may have to look through your credit card application and sign the credit card branch sheet of paper to double check how much the balance transfer fee is, but it’s worth it because that fee is when the credit card company pays off your lower interest rate card and you’re given a higher credit card interest rate. You may even have to pay that fee back in a few months’ time.
Before you run down to anybody for a promotional rate card, consider the six ways to lower interest rates on credit cards instead. If you are anywhere from a few months to a year behind on a balance, do it to the lowest interest rate cards, and then continue making payments on your monthly balance. If you have about six months to a year to pay off a balance it’s a good idea and if you are not yet behind, put it on your highest interest credit card, also pay more than the amount due because you will be paying that balance down. If you do bad with this in the time period you are unemployed or have a lower income don’t be tempted to switch to one of those cards with lower rates, save your money and don’t ever switch. You must only pay the minimum amount for at least six months before paying off a balance to have a good credit score because it takes that long to turn a late payment or payoff from a higher interest card into an on-time payment.
The first couple of things you can do is make sure none of your cards have an annual fee and then for every other card percentage rate reduction apply the amount you are saving to this card or that card, but never spend that certificate of deposit (or any other high interest savings account) until you pay off that balance and have a good credit score. It’s a good idea to only keep one store card and one major credit card but only one primary card.
Take the balance of all three of your credit cards and put them on the lowest interest credit card, give it address and phone number from your credit card company to their ‘Apply For’ section. Then call them and start inquiring. A lot of times they will’ve got no problem granting you an application and if you get rejected to apply again in future in the future (which you probably will) simply call their back again. So if you’ve got a few different cards from different banks, loans, and cards just have a few different conversation with these companies. You’ll find they’re more willing to grant credit when you look like you’ve ‘written it’ before. They want to know you have ‘reserved’ credit established and they can trust you. You can really improve your score themselves by doing this.
Cut up your high interest credit cards then take advantage of one of their many balance transfer introductory offers to save money and platform one for life. If you start this process at 9 months to one year, that’s when they’ll be glad to have your account with them and that will be the time your credit goes up and they start reinvesting their earnings back into your account. They may even pay you a referral bonus that you did not know about.
As always, pay every bill on time because this will raise your credit score and your low interest credit cards will make themselves worth the small expense to transferring balances from other cards. Keep your cards active but make sure you aren’t spending more and just using them like ‘ires’ in the bank as a backup only.
