Americans Are Finally Paying Off Credit Card Debt — How to Join Them

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If you’ve got credit card debt, you know how painful it is. It’s the most expensive kind of debt you can have, and your credit card companies are just getting rich and fat while they gouge you with high interest rates.

Wouldn’t it be great to turn the tables on them? Well, now a lot of people are. More and more Americans are simply paying off their credit card balances, and that’s making credit card companies like Capital One, Citibank and Chase really, really nervous. That’s because their whole business model is based on gouging you.

“Americans are paying down their credit card debt at levels not seen in years. That is good news for everyone but credit card issuers,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Many card issuers rely on growing card usage and balances for their revenue, and they are wondering if the pandemic trends will turn into a long-term shift.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to get a little revenge and make your credit card companies sweat for a change? Now you can, and it’s easier than you think.

Credit cards charge you harsh interest rates that routinely rise north of 20% APR. But if you owe your credit card companies $50,000 or less, a website called AmOne will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off all your balances.

The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have significantly lower interest rates (AmOne rates start at 2.49% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster.

Plus: No credit card payments for you this month!

They’re Getting Awfully Nervous

These days, credit card companies are sweating bullets because Americans’ credit card balances are falling. They shrunk by a whopping $49 billion in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter, according to data released last week by the New York Fed,

Overall, credit card balances are down nearly 15% compared to a year before, according to the credit reporting firm Equifax.

For big credit card issuers like Capital One, Discover and Synchrony (the largest issuer of store credit cards), balances are down by 17%, 9% and 7% compared to a year ago, those companies reported.

Why is this happening?

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, banks expected delinquencies to surge, forcing borrowers to rely on their credit cards to make ends meet, The Wall Street Journal reported. But then the government stepped in with stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits. It allowed borrowers to pause payments on mortgages and student loans. So that surge of delinquencies never happened.

Now, “it appears that many households are working to reduce their revolving debt balances, and this is happening across the board,” the Fed wrote.

How to Beat Your Credit Card Company

If you’re interested in getting a personal loan to wipe out your credit card balances, it helps to have a good credit score.

A free website called Credit Sesame makes it easy to put your credit score on track to reach your goals. Within two minutes, it’ll give you access to your credit score, any debt-carrying accounts and a handful of personalized tips to improve your score. You’ll even be able to spot any errors holding you back (one in five reports have one).

Now, with AmOne, you don’t need a perfect credit score to get a loan — and comparing your options won’t affect your score at all.  Plus, AmOne keeps your information confidential and secure, which is probably why after 20 years in business, it still has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

It takes less than a minute and just 11 questions to see what loans you qualify for — you don’t even need to enter your Social Security number. You do need to give AmOne a real phone number in order to qualify, but don’t worry — they won’t spam you with phone calls.

Stop shoveling money into high-interest credit card payments. Cackle along with the rest of us as credit card companies express deep concern in earnings calls, sweating over their plummeting profits.

Revenge is sweet.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He paid off all his credit cards, and wow did it feel good.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.