I had about $7,000 in credit card debt that I'd accumulated over the last couple of years. I called the bank to see about lowering my rate and at the same time set up my bill payment to pay it off. I then asked them to lower the rate. If they said no, I was going to press the button and pay off the balance.
I'd accumulated the debt because I received several 0% interest offers and took the money and invested it in a high balance CD. Doing this was like making free money. When the 0% intro period ended in April, I decided to call the credit card company and see if I could get the interest rate back down. I've always payed my bill on time and have used less than 50% of the credit limit. I know my credit is excellent. I also received a 0% balance transfer offer from the same bank - Chase - just two weeks before. So if they were willing to offer me 0% to bring in new money, why wouldn't they offer me 0% to keep existing money?
Before I called the company, I opened up my online bill payment and typed in the balance amount. If they weren't going to lower my rate, I was going to press the 'send' button and pay it all off immediately.
So, here's what happened...
I called the bank and told them that I wanted to discuss lowering my interest rate. The rep on the phone asked me to hold. She then came back on the line and said that the company was not lowering interest rates. I said I understood and that I was prepared to pay off the entire balance. She didn't budge. I said thank you very much, ended the conversation and pressed the send button.
Two days later the $7,000 was removed from my checking account and my credit card balance went to $0. I then cut up the card, took half the pieces and put them in one trash can, and put the other half in another trash can to prevent anyone from puzzling it back together.
Now how anyone expects the banks to regain their profitability with that type of business decision is beyond me.
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