How To Freeze Credit Cards

Credit cards help us through emergencies, some have reward programs, they can help our credit score, and they offer protection against fraud and misfortune. But with the lack of financial education and personal control in our country, it’s no wonder that many people are looking for ways to freeze their credit card interest, payments, or the whole card completely because of their mounting credit card debt.

To avoid severe credit card delinquency or if you suspect suspicious activity in your credit card account, you may want to freeze your credit card. And no, I’m not talking about putting your card in a mug of water and freezing it in the freezer. There are other ways to deal with your credit card than to store it in a block of ice.

How to Freeze Credit Card Interest

Freezing interest on your credit card is, in most cases, something that you will not be able to do on your own. Most credit card companies will not negotiate with their clients and expect you to pay on time, each and every time. However, it is possible to freeze the interest by contacting a debt consolidation or debt elimination company.

Debt elimination companies are able to negotiate directly with the credit card company on your behalf. This is great news, right? It is, but your card will be on lock down and you won’t be able to use it even though you see credit remaining. Typically, the interest will be frozen and you will be required to make payments to pay off the remaining balance. The payments are made to the debt elimination company, they take a small portion of the payment, and they forward the remaining payment to the credit card company. Another problem is that when you finish paying off the credit card, the credit card company usually terminates the card for good. You only get one chance with most credit card companies. Once they get their money back, they don’t want to do business with you again. So it is always best to get as much information from the debt elimination company before you make a decision, so that you know exactly what is going to happen before, during, and after the credit card debt has been paid off.

Can I Freeze My Credit Card Payments?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could freeze our credit card payments for even just 1 month? The truth of the matter is, you can’t. You may be able to contact a debt elimination or consolidation company to put all of your debts together in to one lower monthly bill. Instead of trying to meet the minimum pays of all of your bills, for example $1000/month, they might make it so that you only need to pay $700/month to meet the new minimum requirements. But as I mentioned before, there are consequences to that that you need to consider.

How To Freeze Your Credit Limit

A lot of credit card companies will increase your credit limit if you are paying your bills on time every month. Many people suddenly find themselves with thousands of dollars in credit to their name。This can lead to excessive spending, bad debt, and bad credit when minimum payments aren’t made. In this case, you can call the credit card company to reduce your credit limit and freeze your account to protect it from further unauthorized credit increases.

What Is A Credit Security Freeze?

There is also something known as a credit security freeze. This protects your account from unauthorized openings of new credit card accounts and extra cards in your name. This can help protect you against identify theft and other fraudulent activities because it also prevents people from starting accounts with cell phones, insurance, employment, utilities, and other types of transactions that require credit checks. There are many companies, such as Experian, who can help place a security freeze on your overall credit report. Of course, they do charge a fee and have other stipulations that you will need to carefully read over.

You should always take the initiative when it comes to your finances. The last thing you want to have happen is to have the creditor put a freeze on your credit card when you least expect it or need it in an emergency.