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Some lenders of private student loans offer disabled borrowers a way to get their debt forgiven.
However, the process is difficult to learn about and to navigate, consumer advocates say.

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Rebecca Finch couldn’t think of a better gift for her 86th birthday.
She received a notice in early September from Navient that the lender would forgive the private student loan on which she was a co-signer.

“We’ve waived the remaining balance on your private student loan in the amount of $31,730.76,” the Aug. 29 letter said, in part.
Navient had determined that Rebecca qualified for its disability discharge. Rebecca received the news from the lender not long after CNBC wrote about the Finch family’s situation.

Rebecca Finch
Courtesy: Rebecca Finch

But the road to that relief was long, confusing and intensely stressful, said Rebecca’s daughter, Sabrina Finch.
“Finding out about the forgiveness option was very difficult,” said Sabrina, 53.

‘Transparency is severely lacking’

As the cost of higher education swells, the $130 billion private education loan industry has quickly grown. But private student loans come with few protections for those who run into repayment issues, including becoming disabled, consumer advocates say.

Only about half of the private lenders offer student borrowers the possibility of loan discharge if they become severely disabled and unable to work, according to an analysis by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
In comparison, all federal student loans come with that option.
Even when a private student lender provides a disability discharge, it often doesn’t make the information widely known, advocates say.
“Transparency is severely lacking,” said Carolina Rodriguez, director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program, or EDCAP, based in New York.
“It’s often difficult for borrowers to even reach a representative who is knowledgeable about the disability discharge option,” Rodriguez said.
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Anna Anderson, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, has seen that play out as well.
“Even the borrowers who allegedly have access to it, it’s still very, very difficult for them to actually seek and receive a discharge,” Anderson said.
On Sept. 9, in the course of reporting on the Finch family’s story, CNBC asked Navient if it had a link to a disability discharge application on its website.
“No,” Paul Hartwick, vice president of corporate communications at Navient, wrote in an email the same day.
He sent a link to a page on the lender’s website that encourages struggling borrowers to reach out to learn of their options. By the time of publication, that link no longer worked. Hartwick explained that that was because a different company, Mohela, or the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, began servicing the private student debt owned by Navient in October. That portfolio includes around 2.5 million borrowers.
Hartwick directed CNBC to Mohela’s website, which contained similarly limited information about loan discharge opportunities for those with disabilities.
In response to a request for comment, a Mohela spokesperson pointed CNBC back to Navient.
“MOHELA is a service provider for private loans and does not determine the benefits available by lenders,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Program attributes and terms are defined by each lender/loan holder.”
For comparison, the U.S. Department of Education has an easy-to-access disability application for federal student loan borrowers, and detailed information on its website about documentation and eligibility requirements.
Around 13% of Americans report having a disability, according to Pew Research Center. People with a disability are much less likely to be employed than those without one, and unemployment rates are far higher for those with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor found.

Disabled mother and daughter, and a $31,000 debt

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Most private student lenders require a co-signer who is equally legally and financially responsible for the debt. That’s because student borrowers tend to have a thin or nonexistent credit history.
Originally, Sabrina was the primary borrower of the Navient private student loan, and her mother, Rebecca, was the co-signer. Rebecca co-signed the loan in 2007 while Sabrina — then in her 30s — was in school to become a nurse.
In the 20 years that followed, both women developed serious health issues.
In 2023, Sabrina was approved for Social Security disability benefits due to her bipolar disorder, she said. Even though she could no longer work, she assumed she was still responsible for the Navient loan. She researched her relief options but couldn’t find any information.
Sabrina said she just kept describing her situation to multiple customer service representatives at Navient. For weeks, those conversations led nowhere — until one day, an agent mentioned the disability option.
The next headache was figuring out the proof she’d need to gather, Sabrina said.
She only learned what the requirements were a few weeks later when Navient mailed her documents outlining the needed materials. In the end, Sabrina said, she sent as much information as she could to the lender, including evidence from her doctors.
In May, Navient excused Sabrina from her private student loan.
But that news was bittersweet. Almost immediately, the lender transferred the loan to her then 85-year-old mother.
Sabrina said she had told Navient that Rebecca has serious health conditions of her own, including cardiovascular disease and constant pain from a fractured hip. Several strokes have left Rebecca with speech and cognitive issues, Sabrina said. Sabrina spoke with CNBC on her mother’s behalf, given Rebecca’s extensive medical issues.
Even so, Sabrina said, a customer service agent at Navient told her that it would be hard for Rebecca to receive a loan discharge.
“Navient said that she would probably not be excused, regardless of [the documents] submitted,” Sabrina said.
On Oct. 25, Hartwick declined to comment on that conversation, but said that the private student loan was “discharged in full for Rebecca once her disability information was processed.”
But there’s no question it’s incredibly difficult for co-signers to be forgiven from a private student loan, consumer advocates say. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found in 2015 that private student lenders rejected 90% of co-signer release applications.
Advocates say those odds haven’t improved.
“Based on my experience, co-signer release is virtually non-existent in practice,” EDCAP’s Rodriguez told CNBC in August.

Navient’s attempts earlier this year to collect the debt severely upset Rebecca, Sabrina said.
The women were most afraid the lender could sue Rebecca and get a lien on her house in Troutville, Virginia. Sabrina said one of the callers from Navient mentioned that possibility to her mother.
A spokesperson for Navient told CNBC on Aug. 8 that he couldn’t comment on whether the lender discussed the possibility of a lien on Rebecca’s house.
“But I can say, in general, private student loans do not go into collections until after a period of delinquency,” he said. “And, like other loans, there’s a process, often lengthy, to take legal action toward repayment.”
On July 26, Sabrina emailed Navient as much information as she could on her mother’s physical condition, sending copies to CNBC.
Around two weeks after CNBC published an article on the family’s experience, Navient informed Rebecca that the lender would release her from the debt.
It was a tremendous relief to her and her mother, Sabrina said.
But she remains angry at how difficult she found it to even learn about the disability discharge option.
“There has got to be great deal of people out there that are disabled and fighting to stay afloat with these loans,” Sabrina said. “And I assure you the lenders are not volunteering the options for loan forgiveness to those asking them for help.” More

A close-up of a logo for Lamb Weston printed on a Stealth Fries pack in Lafayette, California, on Jan. 22, 2021.
Smith Collection | Gado | Getty Images

Company: Lamb Weston Holdings (LW)

Business: Lamb Weston is a global producer, distributor and marketer of value-added frozen potato products. The company is a supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers around the globe. Lamb Weston’s frozen potato products are sold in North America and international markets generally to North American-based restaurant chains and international customers, comprised of global and regional quick service and full-service restaurant chains, food-service distributors and retailers. Its product portfolio includes frozen potatoes and appetizers sold under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as many customer labels.
Stock Market Value: $10.99B ($77.09 per share)

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Lamb Weston’s performance in 2024

Activist: Jana Partners

Ownership: 5.35%
Average Cost: $60.75
Activist Commentary: Jana is a very experienced activist investor founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein. The firm made its name by taking deeply researched activist positions with well-conceived plans for long term value. Barry Rosenstein called his activist strategy “V cubed.” The three “Vs” were (i) Value: buying at the right price; (ii) Votes: knowing whether you have the votes before commencing a proxy fight; and (iii) Variety of ways to win: having more than one strategy to enhance value and exit an investment. Since 2008, the firm has gradually shifted that strategy to one which we characterize as the three “Ss” (i) Stock price: buying at the right price; (ii) Strategic activism: sale of company or spinoff of a business; and (iii) Star advisors/nominees: aligning with top industry executives to advise them and take board seats if necessary.

What’s happening

Jana, along with Continental Grain, intends to have discussions with Lamb Weston regarding a slate of topics. They include Lamb Weston’s financial performance and core operating deficiencies, capital spending, share repurchase strategy and execution, investor communications, executive compensation, corporate governance and the initiation of a strategic review. Additionally, Jana has entered into nomination agreements with (i) Bradley Alford, former chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA; (ii) Diane Dietz, former president and CEO of Rodan & Fields and past CMO of Safeway; (iii) John P. Gainor Jr., former president and CEO of International Dairy Queen; (iv) Timothy R. McLevish, former executive chairman of the board of Lamb Weston and past CFO of Kraft Foods; and (v) Joseph E. Scalzo, former president and CEO of The Simply Good Foods Co.

Behind the scenes

Lamb Weston is one of the largest frozen potato suppliers in the world, ranking No. 1 in North America and No. 2 globally. For over 70 years, the company has produced and distributed frozen fries and other potato products to restaurants, food service distributors and retailers. In North America, it is one of three to four major players in an oligopolistic market and has been the beneficiary of tailwinds such as increased demand, minimal labor required and high gross margins. Lamb Weston was initially acquired by ConAgra Brands in 1988. In June 2015, Jana filed a 13D on ConAgra, at which its campaign was tripartite: (i) margin improvement; (ii) separation of its underperforming private label business, Ralcorp; and (iii) the separation of its trophy asset Lamb Weston, which the firm said was being lost and not properly valued within ConAgra. The company and Jana would enter into a cooperation agreement shortly thereafter, pursuant to which ConAgra agreed to increase the size of the board by two members and appointed Jana designees Bradley A. Alford (the former CEO of Nestlé USA) and Timothy R. McLevish (the former CFO of Kraft Foods) to the board. In November 2015, ConAgra agreed to sell Ralcorp to Treehouse Foods and announced its plans to separate Lamb Weston in the fall of 2016. 

In June 2016, it was reported that talks to conduct a transaction between cereal-maker Post Holdings and Lamb Weston collapsed, likely on the one-yard line considering how close this was to management’s fall target for the spin. Following this failure, management was forced to rush to conduct the spin-off of Lamb Weston, which was completed in November 2016. The new company would be led by CEO Tom Werner, who still serves in the role today. Werner had been somewhat of a journeyman within ConAgra, having formerly been the company’s president of commercial foods and interim president of private brands. He was an interesting choice to lead the newly spun-off Lamb Weston, considering his unknown profile to the Street at the time. To bolster the company’s oversight, Jana’s ConAgra designee and the former Kraft CFO McLevish was named executive chairman of Lamb Weston. Under the combined tenure of McLevish and Werner, the stock rose 46% to $46.58 per share by the time McLevish stepped down following the company’s annual meeting in September 2017.
The company’s performance following the spin was excellent for many years. As of Lamb Weston’s investor day in October 2023, things appeared good. From FY17 to FY23, the company had grown net sales at a 9% compound annual growth rate and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at a 10% CAGR. It also improved adjusted gross margins by 340 basis points. In addition, less than seven years after the spinoff, Lamb Weston’s shares were trading at around $115 in June 2023, a total shareholder return of over 259%, versus 98% for the S&P 500, and 63% for the S&P 500 Food & Beverage. However, things have not been going well since then. In 2024, prior to the announcement of Jana Partners’ stake, Lamb Weston’s shares were down over 30%, while the S&P 500 is up over 20%. In July 2024, the company announced its Q4 earnings, which fell way short of expectations. The company reported that net sales dropped 5% year over year and adjusted EPS fell 40% to 78 cents, well below estimates of $1.26 per share. The company cited market share losses and a slowdown in restaurant traffic due to menu price inflation that was greater than expected, as well as a voluntary product withdrawal as factors.
This poor performance of an excellent, but struggling, fry maker has opened the door for a new cook in the kitchen: Jana Partners. Now, things are beginning to heat up. The primary issues facing this company highlighted by Jana are capital misallocation, a series of operational blunders and corporate governance failings. First, on capital allocation, the company has been spending on increasing capacity in an intense pursuit of growth at any cost. At the Lamb Weston’s investor day, it registered capital expenditure as a percent of sales of nearly 14% in 2023. The company projected it would be 12% to 13% in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and 9% long term. Lamb Weston’s maintenance capex is around 3%, and the company doesn’t provide very much detail on what exactly it needs an additional 600 basis points for nor why the capex budget should automatically increase proportionally to revenue without any evaluation as to what is needed. In addition, very unusually, the company has doubled revenue since its spin, yet it has been increasing selling, general and administrative expenses as a percent of net sales for several years, and the company set an increased 10.5% to 11% long-term target. It is a little suspicious that the current executive compensation plan prioritizes revenue and EBITDA growth in dollar terms, which incentivizes management to spend as much capex as they want to grow revenue and EBITDA, even if it means a decrease in cash flow. While the expected silver lining to the enormous capex spend would be more capacity and an increase in market share, through several self-inflicted operational blunders the company has in fact lost many customers and degraded its performance. First, Lamb Weston improperly executed a rollout of a new enterprise resource planning system, which has led to difficulties tracking and supplying product to its customers. In addition, in an attempt at increasing its margins, the company cut lower-margin customers in favor of higher-margin ones, before signing up the higher-margin customers. This left Lamb Weston with usable facilities that were being shut in favor of the newer facilities that were not near capacity and product that it could not sell. This forced the company to waste nearly $100 million worth of potatoes.
Now, Jana, who knows this company very well, is back with an all-star roster of industry executives, two of whom were there with the firm almost 10 years ago when it orchestrated the spinoff of Lamb Weston. Along with strategic partner Continental Grain and former Lamb Weston executive chairman McLevish, Jana is also working with Scalzo, former CEO of Simply Good Foods; Dietz, former CMO of Safeway; Alford, former CEO of Nestlé USA; and Gainor, former CEO of International Dairy Queen. This is a team built for a board refreshment: five industry executives, Continental Grain and members of Jana, who know this industry and company well. We expect that Jana will look to get five of these individuals on to the 11-person board. If empowered to act, through either a settlement or shareholder support at the next annual meeting, Jana will work to correct Lamb Weston’s numerous operational and capital allocation missteps. Next, the firm will work to get the company’s capex and SG&A under control, boost free cash flow and ensure that management incentives are aligned with shareholder value creation. In addition, there will need to be some serious operational improvements to remedy the company’s strained relationship with many current and former customers. Management decisions would not be made until a refreshed board got an inside look at Lamb Weston, but a new management team would likely go a long way regaining the company’s credibility with customers and investors. Further, almost any one of Jana’s nominees could arguably take over as CEO: It is hard to see a scenario where CEO Werner would continue in his post if Jana were to win here.
Lastly, as always with Jana, there remains a strategic angle considering the firm’s successful track record in this form of activism. Post remains a good candidate for a potential transaction. Since Lamb Weston’s spin, Post has delivered a total return of over 120% and is widely considered to have one of the best management teams in consumer packaged goods. Extrapolating from the failed 2016 deal and adjusting for EBITDA growth, it would not be surprising to see a takeout offer north of $100 per share. If that were the case, the board would have to evaluate that value for shareholders versus the long-term prospects of an operational plan, and it would be very helpful having a partner from Jana on the board for that analysis.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. Lamb Weston is owned in the fund. More

Dominion CEO Robert Blue said the Virginia utility is discussing small modular reactors with other large data center customers.
Dominion serves the largest data center market in the world in northern Virginia.
Dominion and Amazon signed a memorandum of understanding last month to explore developing a small modular reactor.

The Dominion coal burning power plant is seen in Saint Paul, Virginia, on Feb. 7, 2023.
Mike Belleme | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Dominion Energy is talking with other tech companies about developing small modular nuclear reactors, after the Virginia utility entered into an agreement with Amazon last month to look at advancing the next-generation technology.
“It’s very encouraging to see large power users, including technology companies, express a willingness to invest, partner and collaborate to bring this exciting base load carbon free technology into fruition,” Dominion CEO Robert Blue told investors on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Friday.

Dominion and Amazon have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore developing a small modular reactor near the utility’s North Anna nuclear station in Louisa County, Virginia. The small reactor would bring 300 megawatts of power to Virginia.
Virginia is one of the most nuclear-friendly states in the nation with strong bipartisan support for next-generation nuclear initiatives, Blue said.
“It’s not surprising that our large customers would be interested as they think about us as a good operator of nuclear, to work together on maybe advancing those kinds of technologies,” the CEO told investors.
“So we’ve been talking with Amazon obviously and others,” the CEO said.
Tech companies are investing in nuclear power as they hunt for carbon-free, reliable electricity to support the growing energy needs of artificial intelligence data centers. Dominion serves the largest data center market in the world, northern Virginia.

Earlier this year, Amazon bought a data center campus from Talen Energy that will be powered by the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Microsoft has signed an agreement to purchase power from Three Mile Island as Constellation Energy aims to restart the plant in 2028. Alphabet’s Google agreed last month to purchase power from the startup Kairos Power, a developer of small modular reactors.
Small modular reactors promise to reduce capital costs and speed the deployment of nuclear plants. They have a smaller footprint than large reactors, making them easier to site in principle, and promise a simpler manufacturing process.
But the technology has struggled to reach the commercial stage. There is no operating small modular reactor in the U.S. right now.

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The Roth IRA contribution limits for 2025 are $7,000, or $8,000 if you’re 50 or older, unchanged from 2024.
The income phaseout for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA increased.

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Roth IRA income phaseouts for 2025

To contribute up to the limit in a Roth IRA, your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, must be below a certain threshold, which did change for 2025:
The income phaseout range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA increased to between $150,000 and $165,000 for single or head of household. That’s up from between $146,000 and $161,000. Those taxpayers can make partial Roth contributions.

Taxpayers using either of those filing statuses can make a full Roth contribution if their MAGI is under $150,000. They cannot contribute to a Roth at all if their MAGI is above $165,000.
For married couples filing jointly, the income phaseout range increased to between $236,000 and $246,000, up from between $230,000 and $240,000. Those taxpayers can make partial Roth contributions.
Married couples filing jointly can make a full Roth contribution if their MAGI is under $236,000. They cannot contribute to a Roth at all if their MAGI is above $246,000.
The phaseout range for married filing separately is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment, according to the IRS, and remains between $0 and $10,000.

Higher earners may be able to bypass the income limits with mega backdoor Roth conversions, which shift after-tax 401(k) contributions to a Roth account. However, not all 401(k) plans allow this strategy.
The latest IRS update comes about one week after the agency revealed dozens of inflation adjustments for 2025, including federal income tax brackets, higher capital gains brackets, a bigger estate and gift tax exemption, and changes to eligibility for the earned income tax credit, among others.      
Correction: Married couples filing jointly cannot contribute to a Roth at all if their MAGI is above $246,000. An earlier version misstated the figure. More

The IRS has announced the 401(k) catch-up contribution limits for 2025. 
In 2025, the 401(k) catch-up contribution limit will remain $7,500 in 2024.
However, investors age 60 to 63 can save $11,250 for catch-up contributions based on changes enacted via Secure 2.0.

Cecilie_Arcurs | E+ | Getty Images

The IRS has announced new 401(k) catch-up contribution limits for 2025.
In its release on Friday, the agency boosted the 401(k) contribution limit to $23,500 for 2025. But catch-up contributions for savers age 50 and older will remain unchanged at $7,500.

The limits apply to workplace plans, including 401(k)s, 403(b)s and most 457 plans, along with the federal Thrift Savings Plan. 
The IRS also unveiled individual retirement account limits and bigger income thresholds for Roth IRA contributions for 2025. 
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Starting in 2025, 401(k) catch-up contributions will be even higher for savers age 60 to 63, thanks to a change enacted via Secure 2.0. The catch-up contribution for these investors will be $11,250 in 2025 for a total of $34,750.
The IRS announcement comes roughly one week after the agency unveiled dozens of inflation adjustments for 2025, including federal income tax brackets, higher capital gains brackets, a bigger estate and gift tax exemption, changes to eligibility for the earned income tax credit, among others.

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The IRS has announced individual retirement account contribution limits for 2025. 
For 2025, investors can save a maximum of $7,000 in IRAs, which remains unchanged from 2024.
IRA catch-up contributions for investors age 50 and older will also stay the same at $1,000.

Xavierarnau | E+ | Getty Images

Some investors can deduct pretax IRA contributions, depending on their income and whether they or a spouse have access to a workplace retirement plan. The IRS announcement also increased the phase-out ranges for IRA deductibility in 2025.    

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The IRS has announced higher 401(k) contribution limits for 2025.
Starting in 2025, employees can defer $23,500 into workplace plans, up from $23,000 in 2024.
Only 14% of employees deferred the maximum amount into 401(k) plans in 2023, according to Vanguard’s 2024 How America Saves report. 

Pgiam | Istock | Getty Images

The IRS has announced new 401(k) contribution limits for 2025.
In its release Friday, the agency increased the employee deferral limit to $23,500, up from $23,000 in 2024. The change applies to workplace plans, including 401(k)s, 403(b)s and most 457 plans, along with the federal Thrift Savings Plan. The IRS also unveiled 2025 catch-up contribution limits for savers age 50 and older, individual retirement account savings limits and higher income thresholds for Roth IRA contributions.  

More from Personal Finance:IRS announces new federal income tax brackets for 2025The IRS unveils higher capital gains tax brackets for 2025IRS announces bigger estate and gift tax exemption for 2025
Starting in 2025, the 401(k) catch-up contribution limit will remain at $7,500 for savers 50 and older. But investors aged 60 to 63 can instead save an extra $11,250, based on changes enacted via Secure 2.0. Both amounts are above the $23,500 deferral limit for 2025.  

In 2023, only 14% of employees deferred the maximum amount into 401(k) plans, according to Vanguard’s 2024 How America Saves report, which included data from 1,500 qualified plans and nearly 5 million participants.
Across plans, the average 401(k) deferral rate was an estimated 7.4% in 2023, according to the same report. The combined savings rate, including employer contributions, was 11.7%, Vanguard found.  

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Credit card APRs edged lower after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a half point, but not by much.
Even with more rate cuts expected to come, consumers carrying a balance on their credit cards are unlikely to feel relief.

Collectively, Americans are having a harder time keeping up with their credit card bills. Part of the problem: Carrying a balance comes at a high cost. 
Credit card rates spiked along with the Federal Reserve’s string of 11 rate hikes starting in March 2022. The average annual percentage rate rose from 16.34% at that time to more than 20% today — near an all-time high.

Those APRs are edging lower — but not by much — now that the Fed dialed back interest rates by a half point on Sept. 18 and is expected to cut its benchmark rate again when it meets next week.
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Most credit cards have a variable rate with a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark.
Yet, a recent CardRatings.com survey found that fewer than half — 37% — of the credit cards surveyed changed their rates in response to the Fed’s September cut as of the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Altogether, the average credit card interest rate fell by just 0.13% from the previous quarter, the report found.

“When the Fed makes a rate cut, credit card rates often don’t fall by as much,” Jennifer Doss, executive editor and credit card analyst at CardRatings, said in a statement.
“One reason is that credit card companies are being cautious. After all, the Fed tends to cut rates when the economy is slowing. When that happens, lending to consumers usually gets riskier.”

Even with more rate cuts expected to come, consumers carrying a balance on their credit cards are unlikely to feel much relief, experts say.
“Interest rates took the elevator going up, they are going to take the stairs going down,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. 
Rather than wait for more small APR adjustments in the months ahead, there are other ways to tackle high-cost variable rate debt.

Make paying down credit card debt a priority

“It’s always a great time to prioritize paying down credit card debt, no matter what the Fed decides,” said Sara Rathner, credit cards expert at NerdWallet. “It’s not always possible to pay off a large balance quickly, but any extra money you can put toward your debt each month can make a difference over time.”
Regardless of the Fed’s next moves, “look at where you are,” said Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy for Experian.
Cardholders who pay their balances in full and on time every month and keep their utilization rate — or the ratio of debt to total credit — below 30% of their available credit, benefit from credit card rewards and a higher credit score. That paves the way to lower-cost loans and better terms.
Cardholders carrying debt from month to month put themselves at risk of getting trapped in an expensive debt cycle.

Renegotiating high-interest credit card debt is a good bet, Griffin said. “There are better rates available.”
“If you are not getting the rates you want, shop around,” he said. “Use your power as a consumer to move on to a different provider.”
Alternatively, borrowers can call their card issuer and ask for a lower interest rate on their current card. The average reduction is about 6 percentage points, a 2023 LendingTree survey found — and 76% of cardholders who asked for a lower APR got one.
For consumers, it’s important to speak up, according to Griffin, and say to their lender, “I can do better elsewhere, or you can do better for me.”
But ultimately, a key factor that determines the credit card interest rate that you pay is your credit score, CardRatings’ Doss said. “Credit card companies charge higher interest rates to make up for higher risk. So, customers with low credit scores tend to pay higher interest rates.”
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