Getting the lowest possible interest rate on a credit card isn’t generally seen as being as big a deal as getting the lowest possible interest rate on a home ore car loan because for the average American the balance of a credit card will never get anywhere near as high as that of a home or car loan and for the most part this is true. Most people don’t have credit cards with limits in the ten to fifty thousand dollar range and even fewer have limits in the hundred thousand dollar range. Even though single cards may not represent the significant amounts of money that are tied up in car and home loans it is not unheard of for someone to have multiple cars, the balances of which can add up to be staggering sums. When considered on an individual basis the interest rate of a single credit card may not sound like a big deal but the interest rates on 5 or ten cards can really start to cost the card holder a significant amount of money.
Before you accept a credit card offer is the time when you really have the most bargaining power at your disposal. After you accept the offer and have a credit card with a particular company you may still have some leverage to negotiate a lower interest rate but you won’t have near as much leverage as you had before you signed up. There once was a time when credit card companies were handing out credit cards to anyone and everyone and the individual customer didn’t have much bargaining power because the credit card company had so many other people knocking on its doors asking for credit. Fortunately, those days are long gone and while it still tends to be a rather credit friendly market, even with the down economy, these days lenders pay more attention to those with good credit ratings and spend less time pursuing those with bad credit ratings. Credit card companies are looking for a guarantee and someone with good credit is the closest that they can get to a guarantee that they won’t lose money on their investment. Because of this, someone with good credit can usually find a credit card with the interest rate and the terms that they want. It may take a bit of shopping around since some credit card companies are stubborn but eventually an individual with good credit will be able to lowest possible interest rate on a credit card.
While most people tend to wait for credit card offers to be sent to them, if you are looking for the absolute lowest possible interest rate on a credit card you can always be proactive and start looking around yourself. If you are a member of a bank, especially a credit union, there are often low interest credit card offers available to most customers. The internet can also be a great tool to use because it can allow you to compare the terms and interest rates of dozens of different credit card offers in a matter of minutes.