<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > APR Increase?!

APR Increase?!

January 8th, 2007 at 06:28 pm

As I was checking my Chase card account balance online - as I do to make sure it hasnt been used or anything, I noticed something interesting.

In December, I checked the APR, and it was 27.24%.

Today when I checked, it had been RAISED to 29.99%.

I pay ON TIME. I no longer use the card, and havent since September. Why on EARTH would my APR be going UP? Especially as I am paying the card DOWN?

*frustrated*

Ill be calling them today to see if they will be willing to reduce it. If not, USAA told me i was preapproved for a new card, which isnt something I want to do. But, if it will get me a much better interest rate, Im willing to do it so I can get this thing paid off faster.

This is the one card that is just KILLING the budget.

Any advice is highly appreciated!

Posted in Retail Hell | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “APR Increase?!”

  1. boomeyers Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 06:41 pm 1168281662
    1168281662

    You HAVE GOT to get rid of that card! First, call and see if they can reduce it to stop the bleeding on it, then look around for the cheapest APR you can get!!

  2. nance Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 06:43 pm 1168281794
    1168281794

    I just read an article on the dollarstretcher.com, about the five worst credit card "gotcha's". They can pretty much do whatever they want to do, for just about any reason, it seems. If you apply for another card, if your debt to income ratio isn't great, all kinds of reasons to rip off credit card users, and all legal.
    On an Opera debt reduction site, there is a written script of what to say when you call to get your interest rate reduced. You have to be very assertive, and ask for a supervisor, if you don't get anywhere with the person who you talk to. Good luck.

  3. living_in_oz Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 06:50 pm 1168282211
    1168282211

    nance,
    Yep, I just read that this morning too. Kinda scary that the credit card companies can do whatever they want, when they want.
    I guess it just goes to show that people HAVE to keep their cc use as low as possible.

  4. Broken Arrow Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 07:08 pm 1168283295
    1168283295

    Wow, that APR is ridiculously high.

  5. LdyFaile Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 07:17 pm 1168283851
    1168283851

    I know my APR's on my citi cards are 'Prime plus' a certain amount so if Prime goes up my APR automatically goes up. Definately call and ask if they can lower it.

  6. LuxLiving Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 07:47 pm 1168285655
    1168285655

    Be careful making transfers - many offers claim a 3% fee on all transfers. Read the fine print of the offer you got and think it all thru carefully if you do decide to switch. It may be worth the 3% - just do the math and figure it out for yourself!

    Good luck - let us know how it goes!

  7. Lau Says:
    January 8th, 2007 at 09:41 pm 1168292462
    1168292462

    Your APR might have gotten up if Prime Rate went up as LdyFaile said. Another reason might be that you made a late payment on another loan/debt you have?? CC companies will raise your APR if you default on any other debt you carry, which is totally unfair, but they do it!

    What you can do is call them and ask them to lower your rate back to what it was or even better, lower than it was before. Just tell them company XYZ offers you a card with a great interest rate and you will transfer the balance over there if they can't match that rate.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]