Below is real letter that I wrote to my credit card company. I have a -$0.07 balance with them, so the 23% interest rate they have set for me does not hurt me at all, but I figured if I could get a sweet 0% balance transfer on the $10k on a different card it would help me kill $1300 that would otherwise been interest paid to the other company.
Lets talk interest rate!
Chase has my interest rate set unreasonably high at the moment, some where in the neighborhood of 23%. I am told this is due to my payment in February not being for the full amount of the minimum due, which I corrected myself before talking with customer care when I saw the error. [My payment was $9 short of the minimum amount of $209 after they raised the minimum. Yes, my own fault]
Right now I have a credit line with Chase but will not use it for anything with the interest rate at 23%. That means that Chase is making no money off of my account from interest, and should the rate stay at that level I will close my account in the near future. Considering my history of both carrying debt and also paying it consistently, this would be a loss of potential revenue for Chase.
So, how can we keep me happy with Chase and start me using my line of credit with chase again? Simple, lower my standing interest rate and open up my balance transfer options. I have a balance on my Bank of America credit card that is $10,090.47. It is steadily being paid down as my credit history will show. While it is being paid down, Bank of America is earning money, Chase is not earning anything. That balance can be yours, and the wonderful interest payments that make Chase profitable. All you need to do is set the ongoing interest rate below what BoA has for me, which is 13%, and a nice promotional balance transfer option will grease the wheels, after all, I have to see some financial benefit in transferring my balance to Chase.
Lets make this a win win business relationship. The other option is for me to open a credit card with some one else who will give me a nice interest rate and then I still win, and Chase is still left out in the cold. I have a history with Chase, and have no need for more credit, but if you are not going to play ball I will go to some one who will.
Thanks,
RD
What the heck, I have nothing to lose right?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good luck! As you will see in one of my future posts credit card companies can be very flexible and willing to negotiate in order to not lose a profitable customers. And of course the answer is always no if you don’t ask.
Hi
It will be interesting to hear how they respond. A lot of financial institutions are still in “risk-avoidance” mode which might stop them taking on seemingly profitable propositions.
As you say, you have nothing to lose.
I definitely am waiting to hear an update on this. I will be trying that with Bank of America if it works out for you. I don’t use thir card for the same reason. Sometimes I have to laugh at the ridiculousness of these interest rates!
Well I have already had an email exchange about my request. To be expected, I got some cut-and-past responses at first, gradually yielding to a token rate reduction. Down to 22.99% now, *sarcasm on* WOO HOO! *sarcasm off* I initiated round three, we’ll see how they respond.
There is a full post worth of material for me to write on the evolution of a negotiation with the credit card company. Once I have the full and final story I’ll write an update. Thanks for the encouragement guys.