How to pay off your credit cards

by debtcovered via Flickr

Would you believe a simple phone call can help you get rid of that pesky credit card debt faster? It’s true. Five minutes could save you thousands.

If you have a high APR, call your credit card company and ask them to lower it. You can find the phone number on the back of your credit card.  Call them and ask what your current rate is.  Now, ask them to lower it.  No, really.  Ask them to lower your rate.

The first person you talk to may refuse or tell you they aren’t authorized to lower your rate.  Have them transfer you to their supervisor.  If they say “no”, call back.  You may have to repeat this a couple of times.

If you feel you may be uncomfortable speaking assertively, a book like Scott Bilker’s, Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt!: Phone Calls to Banks That Saved More Than $43,000 in Interest Charges and Fees may help.

His book contains transcripts of fifty-two recorded phone calls so you can be prepared for your conversation with your friendly, yet trained customer service representative.  The savings Bilker achieved were significant. In one phone call, Bilker got the bank to lower the interest rate from 13.72% to 8.75%.  On a balance of $5000, that could save you $2000 and get you out of debt 14 months earlier!

That’s worth a few phone calls, right?