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Credit card hardship programs: can you ask for a lower interest rate?

Yes, you can ask, and you don't have to be behind to do it. Many card companies have hardship plans that lower the rate or the payment for a while. Ask what it changes before you say yes.

Checked 2026-09-28 · All guides

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Put in your usual monthly payment and what you can really pay each month for now. The script asks for a hardship plan by name, and lists the questions to ask before you agree.

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Can I ask for a lower interest rate?

Yes. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says many card companies may be willing to help in a financial emergency, and that you don't need to be behind on payments to ask. Two different requests are worth knowing apart:

A plain "lower my rate" request when nothing has gone wrong. Some issuers don't take these. Chase, for example, says it reviews qualified accounts every six months and doesn't take rate requests outside that review.
A hardship plan when your income dropped, you have medical bills, or you can't make the minimum. This is the one to ask for by name.

If your rate went up because you were more than 60 days late, federal rules require the issuer to go back to your old rate after six on-time minimum payments in a row (CFPB).

What a hardship program usually is

The CFPB describes these plans (also called forbearance or loss mitigation) as letting you skip a set number of payments, or pay a lower monthly payment at a reduced interest rate, until the balance is repaid. What's offered depends on your income, what you can afford and what you owe. What the issuers themselves say:

American Express is the only big issuer that publishes its plans. Its Financial Relief Program has a short-term plan that lasts 12 months and a long-term plan that lasts 48 months. Both come with a reduced APR (Amex doesn't publish the rate), and Amex waives late fees and annual fees while you're enrolled. On the 12-month plan you may still be able to make purchases, up to a lower spending limit. On the 48-month plan you can't use the card for purchases until you finish, and Amex tells the credit bureaus you're on a payment plan. Missing plan payments can lead to the account being cancelled.
Wells Fargo names short-term payment options and long-term payment plans, which "may offer benefits like lower interest rates, waived late fees, or reduced minimum payments for a limited time". It doesn't publish their length or rate.
Capital One: its guide says the card company may be able to work with you and move your payment due date.
Chase: its guide says to contact your issuer as soon as you know you can't pay, and warns that a card is charged off (permanently closed) around 180 days past due.

Bank of America, Citi and Discover say they have help for cardholders in hardship but publish no plan terms. Whatever the issuer, the lower rate is temporary: the CFPB notes it returns to normal when the plan ends. For every issuer except Amex, the plan's length, rate and card rules are whatever you're offered on the call, which is why the CFPB says to get written confirmation of any plan you agree to.

How to ask your credit card company: what to have ready

The CFPB suggests adding up your income and expenses first, then being clear about three things:

Why you can't pay the minimum right now (hours cut, job loss, illness).
How much you can afford to pay each month.
When you expect to go back to normal payments.

Also have your card in front of you and call the number on the back. Never give card details to someone who calls you.

What to say and ask

Say: "I'm having a financial hardship. Do you have a hardship program? I'm looking for a lower interest rate or a lower minimum payment for a few months." Then ask, before you agree:

What will my interest rate be, and for how many months?
What will my monthly payment be?
Will you waive the late fee I was charged? (See how to get a late fee waived.)
Will my card be frozen or closed? Can I use it again afterwards?
How will this show on my credit report?
What happens if I miss a payment on the plan?
Can you send me the terms in writing? (The CFPB says to get written confirmation of any plan you agree to.)

If they ask for it in writing, a short financial hardship letter does the job.

A worked example (illustrative rate, not a promise)

Maria owes $3,000 at 29.99% APR (annual percentage rate). Suppose her issuer offers a 12-month hardship rate of 9.99%. No major card issuer publishes a hardship rate (Amex says only "a reduced APR"), so 9.99% is our own example to show the math, not a figure any issuer has published.

	At 29.99%	At 9.99% (example)
Interest in the first month ($3,000 × rate ÷ 12)	about $75	about $25
Interest over 12 months, paying $150 a month	about $765	about $229
Balance left after 12 months	about $1,965	about $1,429

That's about $50 less interest in the first month and about $536 less over the year, so more of each $150 payment goes to the balance. Estimate only: card companies usually charge interest daily, so the real figures will be a little different.

What it may do to your credit

Missing payments hurts more. Chase notes that a late or missed payment can lower your score, and the CFPB says a delinquency can stay on your credit report for up to seven years.
A frozen or closed card can raise your utilization. Part of your score is the credit you use divided by the credit you have. The CFPB says closing a card can raise that ratio and lower your score.
How the plan itself is reported. No federal rule sets how a hardship plan must appear on your credit report. A special pandemic rule that made lenders report accounts in these plans as current ended in August 2023. What remains is the Fair Credit Reporting Act's general duty (§623): the issuer must report accurately, which under Regulation V means in line with the plan's terms and the payments you actually make, and must correct information it learns is wrong. American Express says that on its 48-month plan it tells the credit bureaus you're in a payment plan; that doesn't directly change your score but is visible to other lenders. That's why the "How will this show on my credit report?" question above is worth asking, with the answer in writing. If your report later doesn't match what you agreed, you can dispute it with the issuer and the credit bureaus.

Hardship plan or a debt management plan?

A hardship plan is a deal with one card company, made by you. A debt management plan goes through a nonprofit credit counseling agency: you make one monthly payment to the agency, and it pays each creditor (CFPB). The counselor sets up the plan with your creditors, which may lower or waive interest and fees, and never tells you to stop paying. Citi notes these plans can take 48 months or longer.

What a debt management plan can cost

Counselors may charge fees, but most states cap them. 36 states put a number in their law, and the usual limit is a set-up fee of $50 to $75 and a monthly fee of up to about $50. Some examples from state law, read 2026-09-28:

Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah: $50 to set up, then $10 per creditor in the plan each month, up to $50 a month. On a plan paying four card companies, that's $40 a month.
Maryland: $50, then $8 per creditor, up to $40 a month. Mississippi: $75, then $30 a month. Virginia: $75, then up to $60 a month. Florida: $50, then 15% of the monthly payment or $75, whichever is less.
Georgia caps the monthly fee at 7.5% of what you pay in each month for your creditors. On a $400 monthly payment, that's up to $30.

Some states don't allow for-profit debt management at all. 12 states make for-profit debt adjusting a crime, or allow it only for listed exceptions, which usually cover nonprofit counselors and lawyers. They include Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming (Florida's and North Carolina's fee caps apply to the counselors they allow). In Massachusetts and New York, only nonprofits (and, in Massachusetts, attorneys) may run these plans. Many states also require the agency to be licensed or registered; your state's banking regulator or attorney general can tell you whether an agency is. Some regulators adjust the dollar caps for inflation, so today's figure can be a little higher than the statute.

Whatever your state, the FTC's advice is to choose a counselor that doesn't charge before it provides services and that gives you its fees in writing before you sign up.

To choose one, read the CFPB's guide to credit counseling and the FTC's advice on choosing a counselor. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), a network of nonprofit agencies, explains how these plans work at nfcc.org.

Watch out for debt settlement companies

Debt settlement is different: a for-profit company tries to get your debt reduced, often telling you to stop paying meanwhile, so fees and damage to your credit build up (CFPB). Under the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule, a debt relief company that sells by phone can't charge you any fee until it has settled or changed at least one of your debts, you've agreed to the result, and you've made at least one payment under it. Anyone asking for money upfront is a red flag.

A note on late fees

You may have read about an $8 cap on card late fees. That CFPB rule never took effect: a federal court vacated it on April 15, 2025. The limits in force are up to $30 for a first late payment and $41 for a repeat within six billing cycles, and never more than the minimum payment that was due (details on getting a late fee waived). Your card's own fee is in your cardholder agreement, and asking for a waiver is worth it.

Sources

Sources checked 2026-09-28.

General information, not legal or financial advice. You send every message yourself; we never contact anyone on your behalf.