Its true! You can call your credit card banks to negotiate a better interest rate and have fees waived! However, it may not be as easy as picking up the phone and asking. Thats because bank representatives are trained to deter you from pursuing the deals you deserve. Overcoming their tactics can be difficult when you dont know what to expect.
Scott Bilker, author of Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt, and creator of DebtSmart.com, has spent 10+ years making banks compete for his business. Now, hes sharing his personal phone calls to banks that saved more than $43,000 for himself, his family, and friends! These 52 phone calls, out of the hundreds he has made, demonstrate exactly what worked, what didnt, and why. In each call transcript, for anonymity, banks have been renamed as dog breeds and their reps as bugs.:)
In this book you will discover proven negotiation strategies, and build your confidence, while learning how to: (1) get annual fees waived; (2) lower your current interest rates; (3) shop for the best credit card deals; (4) get late-payment, overlimit, and cash-advance fees waived; (5) compare loan options and calculate savings; (6) dispute charges and get all your refunds; (7) negotiate account settlements; and much more!
When Credit Card Companies Compete for Your Business - You Win!
If you are carrying balances at a high APR rate and your credit card company refuses to lower the rate, then take action and "spank their bottom lines" (page 222). Find a better credit card offer, transfer the balance, and wait a few months for a low-interest rate offer from the same bank to appear in your mailbox. This strategy worked for me and saved me a considerable sum in monthly interest payments.
This was the first strategy I employed after my first night reading Scott's book. The interest I saved paid for my investment in Scott's books many times over. Let me tell you how I applied Scott's strategy to win an incredible promotional offer from the very same credit card company that refused to lower the APR on my account balance.
When I called the credit card company they flatly refused to lower the 26.99% APR. I told the representative that I would find a better rate and transfer the entire balance to their competitor, at which point they would lose the cash flow from my monthly interest payments. The representative still refused as did the supervisor that I spoke with soon after, in spite of agreeing that they would be better off with some monthly interest payment rather than none at all.
I did find a better offer soon after. I transferred the entire balance to a competitor, and then maintained a $0 balance on the account, as Scott advised. Several months passed. I then received a mail offer from the same high-APR credit card company. As I read the terms of the offer, I realized that the same company that could not lower my rate was now offering me a balance transfer deal of up to $4000 at a promotional rate of 3.99% APR Fixed until the balance is paid off (page 233).
Where can you get a $4000 loan @ 3.99% interest fixed, with an unlimited amount of time to pay off the balance? As Scott suggested, credit card companies do take notice when you do take action and transfer balances to a competitor.
I used half the available credit line ($2000) to "fire a shot over the bow" of another stubborn credit card company that I had warned previously about their absurd APR rates. The remaining $2000 balance @ 3.99% percent fixed rate to financed a much-needed home repair.
Needless to say, Scott's strategies are now a part of my own financial management strategy respective of managing debt and improving cash flow. I continue to reduce my debt and reinvest money that I would have otherwise been paid to credit card companies. I have only scratched the surface respective of all of the strategies that Scott provides in his book and via his website.
I highly recommend "Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt" to consumers who carry a balance on their credit cards. It is an excellent guide for those of us that want to learn how to better negotiate with credit card providers to reduce interest rates and uncover the best offers available. If you want to save thousands of dollars over the life of your credit card loans, then this book is a must read for you.
Buy Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt!: Phone Calls to Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 in Interest Charges and Fees by Scott Bilker At The Lowest Price!
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