Credit card companies are very unforgiving even in today’s economic issues that we are all facing. Miss one payment and they will increase your rates to a very high rate , this will cause each and every payment therefore after less effective. Now that you are in this situation doesn’t mean you give up , instead you should be working hard at correcting the issue . Here are the steps I would take to get your interest rates back down to a manageable level.

First off make sure you understand how you current balance to maximum allowed balance works. To keep from effecting your credit you should never charge more then 40% of your maximum credit limit. So if you have room on other cards and can get a decent balance transfer to a card you already own this would be a good option. The reason you would do this is to lower the balance on the card with the huge rate as it takes at least 6 months of spotless payments to actually get your credit card company to budge.

Now I realize that missing payments are not usually something you do on purpose but somehow you need to sit down and track your money so you do not miss anything, as a matter of fact you should have all your bills paid by the third week if possible.  at the 6 months mark you should be calling your credit card company and asking for a reduction in your interest rate . Never take the answer of the first person ask for a manager , Mention that you have balance transfers to other companies and would rather keep your money with them but the rates and charges are giving you little options . Chances are they will fight a bit but should budge at least a little bit .

If they do not want to play ball then ask then if they have any product upgrades or transfer to a different card such as a card with rewards. It is important ti use the terms product upgrade or transfer , they will more then likely find a card that they are able to transfer your balances . Here is the benefit as you are already a customer it is an internal transfer and you will receive the default rate for that card, this will likely take from the high 20% ratio to about 12-14% . This will save you a ton of money that you would have been loosing in interest charges on the higher interest rate card.

Now that you have successfully gotten your rates back down to a reasonable rate , do not miss a payment  as you will not likely have this option available twice.

Hope this helps and good luck

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