Credit card interest rates have a wide range of variance. Depending on your past credit history, you may be eligible for lower interest rates. Maintaining good credit is a show of responsibility, so you may as well take advantage of the many rewards offered to people with good credit. One of the biggest ways in which good credit is rewarded is with lower interest rates on credit cards. You can call your credit card company to haggle over your interest rate if you have good credit. Follow these tips to get the interest rate you deserve.

1. Pay your credit card balance on time every time for at least a year. Establishing and maintaining good credit is the groundwork to every step that follows. Companies are unlikely to give people with blemishes on their credit report any leeway on their interest rates. That’s why you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. If they look back on your credit history and don’t find any late payments, then you are very likely to get what you want.

2. Call your company’s customer service center. Tell the person who answers the phone that you enjoy their business and have nothing but great things to say about their services, but you just got a new offer to switch to a new card with a very low interest rate. They will check your account history. If you’ve got a good credit history, they will offer you a slightly lower rate. This is your turn to counter with an even lower offer, just like the car-buying process. Offer a rate much lower than you know they will pay. You’ll be met with a final offer which will be much lower than your current interest rate.

3. If the initial contact with your company doesn’t help, try calling back later in the day or the next day to talk to someone else. Another person may be more willing to work with you, as most customer service representatives are told to cater to the best customers. Tell them the same thing you told the first representative and your chances of getting your way will increase.

4. If this still doesn’t work, ask to speak to a supervisor or mark the date a week later on the calendar to try again. With enough successful attempts you should be able to get the lower interest rate that you are seeking. Explain to everyone that you talk to on the phone that you are a valuable customer since you pay on time every time. Tell them that it would be greatly appreciated to get a lower rate, because you could always take another offer with another company for a much lower rate.

People with good credit shouldn’t suffer high interest rates. They should be rewarded with interest rates that are much more manageable than those people who are late on payments. Establish a solid rapport with your credit card company and you will find that you can easily get a lower credit card rate.

Andrew Bennett is a debt specialist who suggests his clients obtain a bad credit credit card in order to re-establish their credit history.