How To Lower Your Credit Card Interest Rates

Credit cards have become a huge issue in the credit crisis that America is facing right now.  Not only were people borrowing too much money for too long, but the credit card interest rates are not easy to tolerate.  The credit card fees can be excessive and the expenses can keep adding up, which is why I think its important for people to understand how to use a credit card responsibly, as with any other form of credit.  It is also important to know how you can lower your credit card interest rates, because that can save you a lot of money in the long run.

It can be tricky to find the lowest credit card available, especially if you have bad credit. Unfortunately, poor credit can increase your interest rates and as penalties add up, so do the credit card fees. Those fees can make it harder to pay off the balance that you owe, but there are way that you can find debt relief without filing for bankruptcy or defaulting on your credit card payments.

I was once experiencing the problems associated with a poor credit rating. I faced penalties and higher interest rates because I had a few late payments and my credit score got worse.  Soon after, I improved by making all my payments on time but my interest rate remained higher than normal for quite some time.  But here are some ways that I learned to lower your credit card interest rate either with your existing credit card company or by switching to a new credit card company.

• Call your credit card company and tell them you'd like to apply for a lower interest rate.  Sometimes they may make this sound difficult, such as sending a fax or two.  But it can help you lower your interest rate if it gets approved. 
  
• You can also tell your credit card company that you are getting much better offers from other companies and they can take a look into your records to see what credit card deals you qualify for.
• If you cannot lower your interest rate and make things more reasonable.  Consider looking into balance transfers and keep an eye out for balance transfer offers that other banks, credit unions and credit card companies are offering.  If you qualify, sometimes you can get 0% interest on balance transfers.  But you do need to pay a certain percentage of the balance transfer.  But many times this fee is much better than paying extremely high interest rates.
• Talk to your local banker, explain your situation and relate with them.  Maybe there is something they can to help you, or perhaps they can give you financial advice that could help relieve your financial crisis.