Negotiate

• If you've ever been hit with a sudden increase in your credit card rate, then you realize that interest rates are not static. If you want a rate reduction, call your card issuer and ask for one. Credit card companies engage in intense competition with one another, and if you tell your company you've received an offer for a card with a lower rate from another card issuer if you're willing to transfer your balance, the company may be willing to work with you.
  
  

Capitalize on Good Credit

• If you have a favorable credit history, you're probably getting plenty of offers in the mail from credit card companies offering low-interest teaser rates to entice you to make a switch. If your current company won't work with you or you're no longer happy with it, take advantage of the lower rate offers by transferring your balance. Before you switch, read the offer carefully to determine how long the teaser rate remains in effect and how much the rate can increase at the end of the introductory period.
  
  

Reach a Settlement

• If you've fallen on hard times due to a job loss or large medical expenses and haven't been able to keep up with even the minimum monthly payments on your credit cards, ask for relief from the card issuer. Prepare a basic financial statement listing your assets and liabilities and mail it to the company. Once the company recognizes the gravity of your situation, it may be willing to work out a settlement where it reduces or even eliminates your interest rate and sets you up on a payment plan to retire the debt for less than what you owe.
  
  

Seek Professional Help

• If you don' want to deal with the credit card company on your own, seek help from a nonprofit credit counseling service. A counselor will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf in an attempt to get the companies to lower your interest rates and monthly payments. Be sure you are using a nonprofit counseling service and not a debt settlement company that charges an exorbitant fee and claims to be able to reduce your debt by 50 percent or more, as many of these companies are ineffective and, in some cases, illegitimate.