Hsbc apr

rward69

hi

for some time now i have been having my statements online and not by post.

i haven't opened them before as i just make the minimum payment.

at the weekend i did take a look at my january statement and was shocked to find me APR was 29.9%

is this the standard rate now?

or is there any point in me complaining about it?

thanks

Richard

CLAPTON

I assume you are talking about a credit card?

why not apply for another one with a better rate?

making minimum payments on a CC is a very bad idea and you really be addressing the reason for that

CannyJock

According to their website, the typical rate is still 16.9%.

It won't do any harm to query it. You might get an offer for them to keep your previous rate if they close the card to prevent any further spending on it? (you'll still owe the balance!)

If I were you I'd be looking to maybe transfer the balance elsewhere to help you repay without paying as much in interest.

milliemonster

We have just paid our HSBC card off, there was balance on there of £5300 against a credit limit of £7000 and the APR was 20.9% (we always made overpayments), but they were going to increase it to 21.9%, they told us that even 21.9% was a good rate for the balance we had on it as anything over £5k normally attracts an APR of 29.9%

So I guess it depends on what amount you have owing on there and probably the fact you have just been paying the minimum all the time. HSBC in my experience will not be prepared to lower the rate, only offer you a loan instead, so your best bet it is to try to balance transfer to a lower rate, or overpay like mad until you have it cleared

whatmichaelsays

My HSBC card started out at around 15.9% but the APR has been steadily increasing on what seems to be a monthly basis. It's currently at 20.9 and will be going to 21.9%.

It's not often I pay interest and the most that I think I've ever had outstanding in the 5-6 years I've had the card is around £780 - I try and pay off as much as possible as quickly as possible.

Still, clearly time for a change.

rward69

thanks for the advice... have sent a complaint letter in.... just in case!

ILW

I would ask them nicely if they can reduce your rate. Sending a letter of complaint will not help as they have done nothing wrong.

BudgetBlonde

I've had mine for about 10 years and at one point it was maxed out and I was only paying the min balance (on about £4k), I have since sorted my finances out and always pay off in full and the rate has been 13.9 since I started doing that (not sure if it's always been that or if it reduced when I got better at managing my money?)

rward69

received a letter saying hard luck... credit crunch etc but if i want to revert to my previous rate then i can but they'll close the card so i can't add it.

**Upsy_Daisy**

rward69 wrote: »

received a letter saying hard luck... credit crunch etc but if i want to revert to my previous rate then i can but they'll close the card so i can't add it.

That's good news then- doing you a favour there

_Andy_

As stated above, a complaint is not appropriate as the company have not done anything wrong whatsoever.