As a student you will realize that most credit cards you apply for will have really high interest rates. Don’t worry about this because if you follow the simple steps below, you can be lowing your credit card interest rate in no time.

As stated in our older articles, it’s important to build up your credit card history before trying to increase your interest rate. The reason your interest rate is so high when you apply for your first credit card is because the credit card companies basically don’t know who you are and how you work with your money.

We stated before and gave an example. If you were to loan a stranger on the sidewalk a few bucks, would you charge them a higher interest rate than your close and personal friend? If you answered yes, this is how the companies think. Once you start paying off your bills, the credit card companies will trust you more. Therefore, you interest rate will lower.

Below, we list how you can lower your interest rate.

Build up your credit history

Make sure you have had your credit card for at least a year before even thinking about getting a better interest rate. Make sure you use this credit card at least two to three times a month. You won’t need to charge a whole bunch of money to the card. Just make it known that you are using it and you can pay off your bill on time.

Call the credit card company

Once you have your credit card history built up to a decent credit card score, call up the credit card company. You can usually find the credit card companies information on the back of your credit card. Simply tell the customer service representative that you would like to have a lower credit card rate. Most of the time, they may do this or they may recommend another credit card.

Threaten to quit

If option number one fails, hang up with the customer service rep and call back to get another person. Tell this person that you want to cancel you card. When they ask why, tell them that you found a credit card that has a lower rate. Almost 100% of the time, they will lower your rate on the spot just to keep you as a customer!

Find a new credit card

If none of the above works out, I would highly suggest that you shop for a new credit card. There are millions of credit cards out there. Once you build up your credit history, you will be able to eligible for a lot more credit cards with better interest rates.

If you follow these simple guidelines, you shouldn’t have a problem with getting a lower interest rate. If you do enough research, you can play the 0% finance game where you would jump card-to-card but that’s a whole another ballgame. We just highly suggest you stick to one credit card with a decent interest rate.