TULSA, Okla. — The average credit card debt for Oklahomans is just under $5,000, according to Credit Card Local. That’s far less than the national average of over $6,500, according to Capital One.
With the average annual percentage rate for carrying a credit card balance sitting at about 24%, paying off a balance remains a challenge.
A simple phone call to your card issuer may be all it takes to catch a break.
“We found that about 84% of people who asked for a lower interest rate on one of their credit cards in the past year got one,” LendingTree’s Matt Schulz said.
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That is the highest success rate since LendingTree began tracking the data six years ago. The study found the average APR was lowered by more than 6 percentage points.
“It’s like going from a 25% interest rate on your credit card to below 19%. It’s real savings,” Schulz said.
Depending on how much you owe and how long it takes to pay off, that reduction can translate to hundreds of dollars in savings on interest.
Schulz said he learned firsthand that a call can also get late fees waived.
“I called, and as part of the phone tree, they said, ‘are you calling about your late payment? ‘and then I said yes, and then the next thing they were like, would you want us to waive that fee for you? And I was like, sure,” Schulz said.
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Getting a late fee waived saves cardholders about $30. LendingTree’s study found 92% of those who asked their card issuer to waive late fees in 2025 had the fee waived, up from 89% the previous year. Additionally, 22% were able to get late fees waived more than once.
If your credit score is reasonably good and you need to carry a credit card balance, you can save a significant amount by switching to a zero-interest balance transfer credit card. Be sure to read the terms carefully so you know what can trigger interest charges on that card.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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