What is the highest credit card interest rate?

Yes, asking for a lower interest rate on a credit card could affect your credit score if the card’s issuer needs to do a hard inquiry into your credit history to determine whether or not you qualify for the lower rate.

A hard inquiry will typically drop your credit score by a few points, and it can only affect your score for up to 12 months. So, the potential negative impact is minimal. That said, ... read full answerreceiving a lower interest rate may indirectly help raise your credit score if the new rate allows you to pay off your balance faster.

It’s worth noting that interest rates aren’t reported to credit bureaus and have no direct impact on your credit score. A hard inquiry is the only reason your credit score would drop after requesting a lower rate, and asking your card issuer for a lower rate won’t always trigger a hard inquiry. A hard inquiry only happens if they need more detailed information about your credit history to address your request. Card issuers seem to make this decision on a case-by-case basis.

If you are thinking about calling your card issuer to ask for a lower interest rate, and you’re concerned about the impact to your credit score, make sure to ask the rep about it along with your request.

A good interest rate on a credit card is 14% and below. That is roughly the average regular interest rate on credit cards for people with excellent credit. Even a relatively good interest rate on credit cards for people with lower scores is not all that low. For example, credit card users with good or fair credit could pay interest at an annual rate of 20%+ and still have a below-average APR. Better-than-average for a credit card overall isn’t much below 20%, either. That’s why the best interest rate on a credit card is 0%.... read full answer

How to Get a Good Interest Rate on a Credit Card

There are three ways to get the best possible credit card interest rate.

For starters, lots of credit cards offer 0% APR periods as introductory perks for new customers. They can be a great help to people looking to finance a large purchase or transfer a debt to pay it off faster. But those intro periods are always temporary. Most (but not all) 0% APR credit cards require good credit or better, too.

The second way to avoid credit card interest altogether is to pay your full statement balance by the due date every billing period. Setting up automatic monthly bill payments from a bank account can be a big help with that. You can also try the “Island Approach”, which is a method of using multiple credit cards for different expenses. For example, you could use your lowest-rate card—maybe even a card with a 0% APR period—for things you’ll need to pay off over a period of time, and a rewards card for everyday purchases that you pay off every month. That way, you wouldn’t pay interest at all, no matter what rate you have on the rewards card.

Ultimately, there is also a number of things you can do to raise your credit score and, in turn, get a better shot at a good interest rate on your next credit card. Because if a low credit card APR is your objective, it truly pays to have an “excellent” credit score of 750 or higher