Credit News and Advice

How to negotiate with your credit cards

It’s a fact: your credit cards need you more than you need your credit cards. They spend a lot of money on advertising to make you think that it’s the other way around, but without customers paying fees and finance charges, credit card companies would go broke.

If you are motivated and savvy, you can use this to your advantage and negotiate with your credit card issuer on everything, including your interest rate, annual fee, credit line, even your rewards.

Credit cards want your business. Whether you carry a balance (and you are a profitable customer), or you pay-in-full each month (but could someday change and become a profitable customer), your credit card doesn’t want to lose you. Here’s how to negotiate with your credit card on some of the most common terms:

Late Payments and Missed Payments

Making a credit card payment even one day late will cost you – up to $50 in fees and, if you carry a balance, your interest rate will also go up.

How to negotiate: Unless you are repeatedly late, call your credit card and explain that you simply made a mistake, and would appreciate their help. Most cards will refund both your late fee and increased finance charges.

Lowering Your Interest Rate

Credit card interest rates are 100% negotiable. Again, simply call them up and tell them you have better interest rates on other cards and will stop using their card unless they help you out. They will almost always comply. Note: They may only lower your interest rate by 1% or so, but if you call every few months you can get further rate cuts.

Increasing Your Credit Line

As long as your account is in good standing credit cards are usually happy to increase your credit line. Just ask. Some credit cards even allow credit line increases on their website. Just don’t ask too often; once every six months should suffice.