HELP!! How can I lower my cash advances APR!?

Is there anyway I can get the Discover card rep to lower the cash advances APR? They claim they can't lower it. I have been able to get the Purchases APR lowered, but my full balance is from the cash advances. I need to ammunition for leverage so that I can get my 25.99% cash advances rate lowered to a decent APR.

Furthermore, my balance is at $3600 for cash advances. I remember about 5 years ago, I took out $1500 in cash advance to purchase a used truck. Somehow, this balance has grown to $3600. How can this be? If I am paying the finance charge each month, why does my cash advance balance grow each month?

I need help!

They can lower them. Call the credit card company again, and be prepared to state all the good things you have been doing; for example, making payments on time, or early payments...etc. Tell them why you feel they should lower the apr of the cash advances. If this fails, then your option is to get a credit card with a 0% APR or Low Interest Credit Card that you can transfer that debt to. I hope this helps you.

Good Luck!

Tell them you are going to do a balance transfer and close your account,

A lot of times when they hear that they will want to keep you as a customer and will work with you more!

From time-to-time, we hear of ways to lower your credit card’s APR. “Just pick up the phone and call your bank,” they say. If you’ve tried to do lower your cards APR, you may find that it’s not that easy. You do have to do the work to get your annual percentage rate lowered. The upside: you can get your rate lowered. The downside: It may not happen for a few months.

1. Maintain an excellent payment history. Make sure your payments are on time. On time payments, in my opinion, reflect positively on your ability to get your APR lowered. When talking to the customer service representative, stress the fact that you have not been late with your payments for X amount of time. Also, stress how long you’ve been with the company. Talk up your sense of customer loyalty.

2. Do your research. If you APR is too high and you want to take your business somewhere else, be sure you’ve done your research. When you’re on the phone with the representative, have the most attractive offers in front of you so you can cite the reasons why you’re thinking of a balance transfer.

3. Be polite. This one can not be overstated: Be polite, be polite, be polite. These men and women work hard at their jobs for hours on end. Clearly they’ll respond more positively to someone who treats them with respect than they will with someone who is demanding and rude. (Plus, you have to figure that they deal with angry and irate customers all day long.)

4. Keep climbing up the ladder. Remember, these men and women are trained professionals. Be courteous and calm when they deny your request the first time (because they will). Ask for the supervisor. Often times, they’re the only ones able to approve such questions.

5. Be persistent. Sometimes you’ll be denied and there’s nothing you can do about it. It frustrates me when this happens as I often think of myself as the customer service king. But even for those of you who don’t take “no” for an answer, sometimes there’s nothing else you can do. Work on getting your finances under control and make the call a few weeks or a few months down the road.

The financial gurus paint a rosy picture about lowering your APR. It’s not as easy as it looks. Often times, people hang up feeling more frustrated and helpless than they did when they made the call. Be mindful of the process and the work involved.

As an ex-Capital One agent I can verify that trying to "climb the ladder" is a waste of time; we're all on the same page and everybody will give you the same answer. So, get to the point. Call in to customer relations, tell the first agent you get "Close my account". When asked why, say "The cash APR is too high.". That's it. If that agent transfers you to another department (Retention) that means we want to keep your business and they'll negotiate terms (but don't push your luck, the first offer he gives you may be the only one). If the first agent starts to read the legalese about how to close an account, then realize/understand that the COMPANY doesn't want you and it doesn't matter who "at the top" you whine to. You don't qualify for special treatment, get over yourself and move on.

This applies to anybody. Get to the point and threaten to leave. You'll get your answer fast. Might not be the one you wanted but it's a final answer.

Well if your credit score is good call them and then c do one thing remind them all the good works u do like paying payments on time no loan is taken....against ur property ..

In my experience the CC companies do care about the good customers and try to do their best to keep them. I recently called my credit card companies for LOWER MY APR requests, and all of them have responded very fairly and immediately reduced the rates to very comfortable level. Most of the CSRs were very friendly and reduced the APRs to a very comfortable level immediately without any fuss or drama.

One thing you must understand that the CC companies heavily rely on computer model of how big of a risk you are for them. A single glitch in your credit behavior increases the risk factor tremendously.

I have seen public on these forums bad mouthing about CC companies but the reality is that people do not realize that they have a questionable credit behavior which the real cause of their troubles.

So guys the bottom line to the Credit Card Fun is the strict financial discipline, otherwise you will keep on blaming the world and nothing is really going to happen.

To build on what Plastic-Lover said, what's important to get the best treatment from the card issuer is to 1-have impeccable credit 2-be profitable to the company 3-not be a pest. Let's elaborate on those three. #1 is obvious. No past dues or overlimits, ever. If it can affect your credit score it means you have no bargaining power, because we know you can threaten to leave but our competitor will see your bad credit rating with us and not give you a better deal. #2 isn't so obvious. This is for those wiseguys who always pay in full on time and never pay interest and never buy any upsells like insurance or balance transfers. So you are borrowing money for nothing. Guess what happens the first time you're late and ask for a fee waiver? We'll decline you. Threaten to close your account? We'll say, bye, and you still owe us that fee, and the interest on it. You can't get something for nothing. Go annoy our competitor. As for #3, that's an easy one. If you get a favor once (like a fee waiver or a lower APR), don't push your luck trying to call back 2 months later asking for more. We will decline you. If you keep calling in and wasting the company's time/money with BS and whining, we're keeping track and we will be glad to be rid of you. Don't do this. Use the IVR or website for such things as checking balances and filing disputes against merchants. Only time you need an agent is if your card was lost or stolen. You should only have to call a live agent at most once a year.

Remember, the customer is NOT always right. You're borrowing our money, we decide the terms. If you don't agree, pay us off. If you can't afford to pay us off, quit whining, nobody can force you to borrow our money.

Getting an issuer to lower the APR on a cash advance is tough. You can always try.

Your best bet is to walk into your local bank and apply for a personal loan. It will work wonders. Not only will you see the light at the end of the tunnel, your CS will increase because your UT will go down. Personal loans are not part of the UT equation.

You've been offered good suggestions here. I'm not sure how good your credit is but a balance transfer would be your next option if they do not lower your APR. Another option that was given to you here was a personal loan at a bank.

Since the sum isn't too large, you may want to consider one of the online peer to peer lending sites which will help you out tremendously. That $3,600 even at the going rates will cost you about $150 to $180 per month. The piece of mind here is the debt will be done in 3 years.


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