If you’re in debt right now, the best thing to do is simply lower your credit card rates.  Even if you’re not in debt, it never hurts to call up the credit card company to see if you can simply get a lower rate than what you currently have.  If you pay your bill off in full each month then good for you, you don’t have to worry about your rate. 

I came up with a few steps that you can take in order to lower your credit card rate –

Start doing research- Look at what kind of rates you’re paying now.  If you have a lot of credit cards or you simply have one.  Write down your rate on a piece of paper.  If you want a credit card similar to yours, start looking online to see what the competition is offering compared to your rate.  If it’s lower, use this as evidence when you call.  If most of the rates are higher or the same then you might already have a decent credit card rate.

Call the company- Once you do your research, you’ll have some evidence right in front of you.  The next thing you’ll want to do is call up the credit card company and simply tell them that you would like a lower rate.  Depending on the issuer, they may say no or they may say yes.  If they say no, start using your evidence.  Say things like “Well, company X has this rate” or “You can get it lower elsewhere.”  If they still don’t budge, you’ll probably want to go elsewhere but 99% of the time you will get a lower rate.

Move on – Since you already did your research, you may want to actually go to that company.  Sometimes you may find that the card will actually give you a nice balance transfer rate such as 0%.  This is a rate you should take advantage of.  Be careful of this though and read the fine print because after the 0%, you may be paying a higher rate than expected.

If you do by chance get a lower rate through the credit card company you currently have, you’re going to want to make sure you ask for it in writing.  That way, if you still get your statement and it has the same rate, you can consult with them and use the letter as evidence.  Remember to be aggressive on the phone.  If they won’t budge, simply move on.  There are so many cards out there that you can transfer too.