High credit card interest rates can really slow down your debt repayment. Here are several strategies to reduce your interest rates and your debt worries.

Good customer rates. If you consistently pay on time each and every month, you deserve a reward. Call your current credit card company and ask for a better rate. Tell them you’ve been receiving better offers in the mail and would like to know if they can compete. If you’ve truly been a good customer, they won’t want to lose your business and will usually be happy to offer you the best credit card interest rates they can.

Promotional rates. We’ve all seen them: those enticing introductory rates. Some offer no interest for a short time, others promise a locked-in rate for the life of the loan. They all sound great, but how do you make them work for you?

No-interest cards: Since no-interest cards usually come with terms of six months or a year, these offers are best used when you know you can pay off the debt within the allotted time. If you’re not sure you can, look for another offer. You’ll pay full interest on your balance as soon as the offer expires, and that rate is often steep. Before switching to a no-interest card, be sure you’ll be able to handle the monthly minimum. No interest does not mean no payment.

Locked-rate cards: One of the newest promotions is the locked-rate for life offer. The premise of this promotion is fairly simple. You accept the offered interest rate, usually substantially lower than prime, and that remains the interest rate for the life of the debt. This means you won’t have to deal with the hassle of expiring offers or an endless cycle of transferring debt between cards. As with any offer, there is still a catch: Since credit card companies typically apply your payments to the balance with the lowest interest rate, your higher-interest balances on the same card won’t be touched until the lower-interest debt drops from the card. If you already have a large balance on the card at a higher interest rate, a locked-rate offer may not provide much of a savings for you.

Hardship rates. Sometimes you reach a point where you simply can’t make the minimum payment on your cards. Reaching this point can be scary, but nonpayment is not the only option. If you find yourself unable to make your credit card payments, call the company immediately and explain your situation. Since banks live in fear of customer bankruptcies, they are usually more than willing to offer a short-term reduced rate or a payment plan to customers facing a hardship. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but it could hurt not to ask.

You should never settle for a high interest rate on your credit card. Do a little research and you’re bound to find a much lower rate.