How to Lower Credit Card Interest Rates - YouTube

If you want to get a better rate on your credit  card the best thing that you can always do is just  

to pay off that statement balance in full every  single month because that's going to bring your  

interest rate down to zero from whatever it was  at and that's always the best case scenario but  

if you can't do that i've got some tips that can  help you lower your interest rate without paying  

off that credit card balance in full so watch  this video hopefully it can help you guys out now  

the first thing you need to understand is that  most credit cards use a variable interest rate  

meaning that it can vary so for instance  your credit card might be 11 to 22 percent  

and they'll never actually tell you where you're  gonna fall into that range but the first tip that  

i can give you to keep you on the lower end of  that range is to make sure that you always pay  

off your credit card bill on time that's the big  thing here even if you make the minimum payment  

just pay it off on time and then also make sure  that you're keeping up with your other bills  

as well because as long as your credit score is  healthy and growing then typically you're going  

to end up in that lower tier which is exactly what  you want with your credit card because if it is 11  

to 22 you'd much rather prefer to be an 11 rather  than 22 just because your credit score is more  

risky to them so just make sure that you keep up  with your bills keep your credit score healthy  

and of course when it comes to your credit card  don't make any late payments on that specifically  

because if you do they can actually bump you into  a penalty apr which is generally higher than even  

the highest rate so definitely make sure that  you're making those minimum payments at least  

on time and then you are good to go because at the  end of the day if you don't show any late payments  

and you've got a pretty healthy credit score  then generally speaking you're less risk to the  

credit card company and therefore you're going  to be on the lower tier of their interest rate  

if you do happen to be paying interest now the  next tip that i have for you guys if you want to  

lower your interest rate on your credit card is  my number one tip because everybody can do this  

all you have to do is literally just call up the  credit card company and ask them for a lower rate  

because a lot of the time they want to keep your  business because they want to stay competitive  

and they can actually lock you in at a better rate  for a short period of time maybe six to 12 months  

but it never hurts to ask now the phone number  the easiest way to find it is just to check the  

back of your credit card the phone number's always  going to be there call that number get the right  

representative and ask them because it doesn't  hurt and everybody can always try to get a better  

interest rate because it's always worth trying  and it's like they always say the squeaky wheel  

gets the grease so just be the squeaky wheel ask  because it's never going to hurt and everybody  

can at least try to get a better rate by talking  to the right person now the next thing you can do  

to lower your interest rate if you're willing to  get a new credit card is to look for zero percent  

balanced transfer credit cards because these ones  typically will have a zero percent apr for about  

a year sometimes i've even seen two years so what  you can do is you can take the balance from your  

previous credit card and you can move that into  the new credit card at zero percent interest  

now keep in mind a lot of them are going to  have a balanced transfer fee that's different  

than the zero percent apr now the transfer fee is  typically going to be about three to five percent  

so if you had a thousand dollar balance you're  going to have to pay about 30 to 50 dollars just  

to make that transaction now it doesn't sound like  much when it's only a thousand bucks but if it's  

ten thousand that would be three hundred to five  hundred dollars instantly that you're losing just  

by making that balance transfer so it's not always  worth it when you run the numbers but if you have  

a low balance it might be something to consider  just be wise here if you are looking into new  

credit cards because the last thing you want to do  is just to open up a new credit card only to get  

back into the exact same problems that you were in  and then you'll just end up with a whole bunch of  

credit cards and a big mess that you don't need to  be in so just be wise and only do this as a last  

resort if the math is working out and you really  do want to get another credit card and eventually  

maybe cancel the old one and just remember the  best case here is that you can pay zero percent  

interest on your credit cards as long as you pay  off that statement balance in full every single  

month because as long as you just focus on the  statement balance get it paid off by the due date  

then you are paying zero percent interest and that  is the best case scenario for any credit card that  

you have now if you do happen to be in the market  for a new credit card like for instance you are  

looking for one with a good balance transfer offer  then definitely check out creditcards.com i've got  

an affiliate link in the description below if  you guys are interested because they do have a  

large selection of different categories like for  instance if you're looking for balance transfer  

cash back travel they've got a lot of different  categories of competitive credit cards  

and competitive introductory offers so definitely  check them out if you have an interest and if you  

just found this channel i'm jason with honest  finance and i make a lot of videos on different  

topics that will give your life and your finances  more value so feel free to subscribe if you guys  

are into these types of videos but thank  you for watching this one have a great day