Help With My Credit Card APR?

Question

I have a Capital One Platinum Crei crd. It's APR is 24.90%. Now I don't know much about credit cards or Apr's but that seems very high to me. I got this card about two years ago and i don't remember it being that high. Can anybody help me. What should I do? Can anybody tell me what percentage is best and does this mean that I have bad credit?

Answer 1

Your interest rate is very high and is probably due to you not making your payments on time. In other words, you have proven to Capital One that you are a high credit risk and they are charging you an interest rate based on that.

Yes, pay it off but don't close the account. Just don't use it. Your age tells me this is probably a "first" credit card. More importantly, it's probably the "first" such item on your credit report and has an impact on your credit score in several ways.

Make all future payments to any creditors on time and it will eventually overshadow your history with Capital One.

Answer 2

I called capital one and told them I was thinking about going with another company because I kept getting offers in the mail for 5% and 6%. They immedately dropped my rate to 9%.

Key points to tell them

1- long time customer

2- payed on time consistantly (if you missed a payment or were late, that's why it jumped)

3- if you are getting offers in the mail- tell them because they want your buisness

There are certain paragraphs that are laid out there if you just search the internet for them.  

Answer 3

It is a high apr, probably due to your payment history.  You could not have stopped them from putting it in collections, they agreed to do this because you upped your payments.  If it is not already closed by them, I would suggest keeping it open.  Closing an account can also hurt your credit score.  Good Luck!

Answer 4

First, so you know, credit companies can and will raise your APR at any given time.  It's been much more common lately with the declining economy.

Regardless of the state of the economy, when you see a change with your credit (if they lower your limit, or raise your APR) you should always check your credit reports to make sure all is well.  If you haven't already, you can get your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.  Personally, I recommend staggering them.  There are 3 agencies, and you can get 1 report from each of them once a year.  I would suggest doing 1 now, another a few months away, etc, that way you're never left guessing what's going on with your credit.

Answer 5

Yes this is a bad APR- especially if you have had credit building 2 years. You could have had a payment late for one day. You may not have bad credit but being late a day is reason for some banks to rape us in finance charges. Look for a balance transfer fee in the mail. Move the balance, leave Capital One open if no annual fee and lower the credit limit if you can't stop spending.