Barclaycard reducing their interest

loveandlight

I phoned Barclaycard today to find out what my annual interest rate is as they have raised it a few times over the past couple of years. It is 23.9%.:eek:

I asked them if they had any deals offering a lower interest rate and the guy said if I was thinking of closing my account down he would ask someone in another dept as he thinks they are offering lower rates to people thinking of closing down their account. I told him I would think about it. I don't know what he means by closing the account down though as I am not in a position at the moment to repay the debt in full although I have never missed a payment as its on direct debit.

What did he mean?

Buzby

Exactly that - he doesn't know you haven't got access to funds, and you might hVe a 0% card to use to pay it off and leave....

Negotiate and get the interest rate down - 20%+ is criminal.

loveandlight

How can I negotiate the interest rate when I am not able to move the debt to another card yet?

Naf

loveandlight wrote: »

How can I negotiate the interest rate when I am not able to move the debt to another card yet?

They don't know that - threaten to leave unless they give you a better rate. Worked for me and I'm in no position to pay mine off either.

CherlokHomes

Barclaycard are normally very good with lowering interest and offering customers offers.

Buzby

You are not threatening to leave (yet). You are unhappy at the APR as there are many alternatives offering rates less than you are being charged, and after Xmas, you need to make savings.

What can you offer me, or will I be forced to switch?

unphased

Do credit card companies allow you to extend existing 0% deals? Has anyone successfully asked and got?

loveandlight

I am very nervous about asking mainly because I have been so badly treated by these card companies in the past. However I will give it a go this week and come back and let you all know how I get on.

vics199

Barclays are good to negotiate with. I threatened to leave last month even though there is no way I could get a 0% deal elsewhere with my current debt level. However, the guy on the phone didn't know that. They were going to take my interest free period away as my bank had declined the direct debit as my account was £1.87 short of a £200 payment. I was furious with the bank that they didn't honour it and charge me the £6 fee, although I know they don't have to. Anyway, I told them that if they didn't restore my interest free period then I would leave. Just like that they reinstated it (obviously I also made the £200 payment over the phone at the same time so my minimum was paid for that month). Easy peasy! At the end of the day they just want to make money from you. Even if they reduce the APR they will still be making money from you rather than you leaving and them making nothing.