With credit card interest rates at record highs, millions of Americans are trapped in debt — but some are lowering their APR with a simple phone call

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Man sitting at desk while on the phone, holding a credit card in one hand and looking at the back of it.

With credit card interest rates near record highs, you might feel like it’s impossible to pay down your debt.

Jadell Lee of Sacramento agreed to be part of an experiment to see if calling major credit card issuers and simply asking for a lower APR might actually work, hoping even a small break on interest could help him regain control. And in some cases, it did.

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CBS13 and the Call Kurtis consumer investigative team created a script that consumers could use when calling their credit card company. Lee owes $34,000 on nine credit cards, some with an APR of close to 30%. He gave the experiment a try with three of his credit cards (1).

While two of the credit card companies said there wasn’t anything they could do, another offered him an option of 0% interest for 12 months on anything he purchased during that period. “I can focus on paying down credit card debt, and not thinking that 28 percent — whatever the balance is — gets caked on each month. I’ll take it,” he told CBS13 (1).

Here’s what Americans are dealing with when it comes to credit card debt, and what you can say to your credit card issuers to try to get a lower rate.

Millions of Americans are trapped in a cycle of debt

As of January, the average APR offered with a new credit card was 23.79%, according to LendingTree (2). And while that’s trending downward from previous months, it’s still high. Forbes Advisor notes that those with a bad credit score could end up paying up to or more than 30% (3).

High interest rates can leave you trapped in a cycle of debt. That’s exactly what Lee was experiencing: watching nearly 30% interest pile onto balances each month, making it harder to make meaningful progress. On a high-interest card, more of your money goes toward paying off interest than paying down the principal. That means it takes longer to chip away at your balance. And, if you’re only able to make minimum payments, your debt keeps ballooning.

To put that into perspective, LendingTree demonstrates that, at the current rate of 23.79%, someone with a balance of $7,000 making monthly payments of $250 will spend over 3 years paying off their credit card — and they’ll spend an additional $3,314 on interest (2).

Millions of Americans carry revolving credit card balances. Collectively, Americans hold $1.23 trillion in credit card debt, according to Q3 2025 Federal Reserve data (4).

According to WalletHub’s most recent Credit Card Debt Survey, nearly two in five Americans say they’ll have more credit card debt by the end of 2026. And 42% think they’ll have credit card debt their whole life.

It’s not surprising, then, that one in five Americans say they’re “very stressed” about their credit card debt (5). Yet, many cardholders don’t realize rates can sometimes be negotiable — or they assume banks will automatically say no. But even small reductions in interest rates can translate into hundreds or thousands of dollars saved over time.

For example, someone carrying $10,000 in credit card debt at a 28% APR would pay roughly $233 in interest in the first month alone. If that rate were reduced to 20%, that monthly interest would drop to about $167. That’s a difference of roughly $66 per month, or nearly $800 per year. That’s money that could instead go toward paying down the principal balance.

How (and when) to negotiate a better credit card interest rate

CBS13 and the Call Kurtis consumer investigative team came up with a script that consumers can use when calling their credit card company. It starts by asking about your current interest rate, and then saying: “I’ve been a loyal customer. I’ve noticed other banks are offering lower interest rates. Even zero percent on balance transfers. I was curious how low you can get my interest rate” (1).

Experian, one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies alongside Equifax and TransUnion, suggests starting with the credit card issuer you’ve had the longest history with — particularly if you’ve consistently paid your bills on time. Or, start with the one that has the highest interest rate (6).

“While the issuer isn’t guaranteed to say yes, you’re most likely to find success if you have a history of on-time payments and your credit score is good or has recently increased. Sharing personal circumstances like unemployment or other financial difficulties can also help you make your case,” according to Experian (6).

You could also mention that you’ve received offers from competitors for cards with lower rates. You’ll have more leverage if you’re a long-time customer with a good payment history or if your credit score has recently gone up. If they’re not willing to lower your rate indefinitely, you may be able to get a temporary rate reduction, like the 12-month 0% offer Lee secured on one of his cards.

In other cases — say, you haven’t had the card long, or you’ve been late with payments — you might have better luck with other strategies, such as balance transfers or debt payoff strategies like the avalanche or snowball methods. For example, Lee has nine credit cards, so he may want to explore his options for consolidating his debt and getting rid of at least a few of those cards.

It’s worth calling all of your credit card issuers, even ones with lower rates — after all, every little bit helps. A survey by LendingTree found that 83% of those who asked for a lower interest rate on their credit card in the previous year got one (7).

That statistic alone suggests it’s worth making the call — even if you’re not sure what the answer will be.

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With credit card interest rates at record highs, millions of Americans are trapped in debt — but some are lowering their APR with a simple phone call

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Millions of Americans are trapped in a cycle of debt

How (and when) to negotiate a better credit card interest rate

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