Interestingly, yes you can. In the United States, for example, people are encouraged to negotiate with their credit card company, and the reason is very simple. People who own these cards love money. Especially if they’ve borrowed it through a credit card and now see there’s no way to get it back unless they play ball to some extent with possible bankruptcies. If you file for bankruptcy, there is a very good chance that you will never see any of that money again.

In their anger, they may decide to hit you with a black mark that will severely limit the types of cards you can apply for later, when you emerge from bankruptcy. The length of time the black mark will exist can range from a few years to never being able to get a credit card from anywhere again. Scary stuff, right? And unfortunately, it’s not just the current coach who can uphold the ban. Once you’re in the system, you’re stuck there.

So it makes a lot of sense to try to work out a deal with the credit card company you have your card with. If nothing else, which is rare really, it will at least take some of the stress off you for a moment or two. These people are human, just like you. And he may also have had the same problems as you. It is wise to remember this. The nerves calm down immediately. Just don’t take the tone that you know they’ve been on your boat.

Check the back of your credit card. There you must find the information you need to contact the company. But before you do that, have some bargaining power with yourself. If you have many credit cards, you probably have offers from those companies for interest rates. Find the ones that are lower than the one that is negotiating and you have ready to quote. Then call the company and be prepared to talk.

When you arrive, ask for the credit card division supervisor. You’ll probably be fooled with a million call buttons, but stand your ground. Hit all of these buttons if you have to, but you should eventually finish off the overseer. This is not just being a huge pain in the neck. The supervisor can do much more for you than a customer service representative can. They are usually much higher up the food chain, so these are the people you really need to talk to.

Explain your problem and tell them what you are looking for, which is a reduction in the interest rate on your card. If you are very happy to discuss it, keep your other hidden offers unless you really need to produce them. If the rate they offer you is not very close to zero or zero, then make it clear that you have these interest free offers elsewhere and you will be quite prepared to switch your balances elsewhere if these offers cannot be matched. . But make it easy at first.

Of course, your generosity will be compared to your credit card debt and the payment history of your credit card. If you have a lousy payment history, you may not be able to get the interest level down to zero. But anything is better than nothing and at least the company will believe that you are playing fair with them, so they will see that they will get some of their money back.