Ask, and you might receive a lower credit-card rate

Pick up the phone, look at the latest credit-card offers and keep repeating this: The bank needs me more than I need it.

Say it so you believe it, OK?

Odd as it might seem, it is possible to negotiate a lower rate on credit cards — even during the credit crunch, troubling credit-card delinquencies and the fallout from the mortgage mess.

Existing credit-card customers are a valuable commodity, especially if they pay on time, have a job and use their cards.

"You have to keep in mind that the market is extremely competitive right now — and they don't want to lose you as a customer," said Gerri Detweiler, credit adviser for Credit.com in San Francisco.

What you have to do is make a phone call to the issuer of the card. Maybe a few phone calls. (A phone number should be listed on the back of the card and the monthly statement.) But if you're persistent and polite, you've got at least a 50-50 shot at a lower rate.

Think it's not worth your time? Think again.

Take $10,000 in credit-card debt. If you make a payment of $250 a month, it could take you more than eight years and about $16,000 in interest to pay it off if your annual interest rate is consistently 27 percent.

But you'd save nearly $14,000 in interest if you got that rate down to 10 percent. You'd pay that $10,000 off in about four years — and pay about $2,200 in interest — if the rate remained at 10 percent.

The average variable-rate credit card is currently 11.35 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

Or, looked at another way, consumers could save $50 to $150 a month in interest if they dump an extra-high or penalty rate and lock in a lower rate.

Worth making a few calls?

Before you call, see the kinds of credit-card offers that are available to you. As you talk with the issuer, you can mention that you're getting offers for lower rates.

"You need a deal breaker, no matter what your situation is," said Scott Bilker, author of "Talk Your Way Out of Credit Card Debt" ($19.95, Press One Pub.) and creator of DebtSmart.com.

When you call, expect to talk to more than one person. You may need to request a supervisor, if the first person doesn't drop your rate far enough. Or you can calmly ask: What do I need to do to get a lower rate?

"You can't call and be put on hold and give up," Bilker said.

If he doesn't like the answer he gets, Bilker said he'll call back 20 minutes later, in some cases. Or if the situation looks more difficult, he waits a few weeks to call back. Again, always keep your cool.

The best time to shop for a lower rate is when you've still got your job and are still able to pay your bills on time. If you're worried about losing your job, Bilker suggests that you avoid making that comment to a credit-card issuer.

Bilker's book includes transcripts of 52 calls to different card issuers and outlines what worked and what didn't.

His No. 1 piece of advice: Make the call.