Should you refinance or
transfer high interest rate balances?
Not exact matches
There are
balance transfer cards for people with fair credit, but they may have shorter introductory periods and
higher interest rates.
Balance transfer cards are often used to move
high interest balances to a card with a low
interest rate.
Also known as debt consolidation, borrowers with multiple
high interest cards often
transfer their
balances elsewhere to benefit from a zero or low
interest introductory
rate.
The credit card company will then charge a percentage of the amount you
transfer, usually 1 - 5 %, which may still be a better option than leaving the
balance on your current card with its
high interest rate.
Use a home equity line of credit or
balance transfer checks to try and consolidate as much
high -
interest rate debt as possible into a single low
interest rate and monthly payment.
If you
transfer balances on a regular basis, that's more money you can save in the long run (if the
interest rates on your
transferred debt are
higher than the APR on the Ring card.
If the default
rate on your new credit card is
higher than the
interest rate you were paying on your old one, a
balance transfer may not be a wise financial decision.
If you have a credit card with a
high interest rate, you may be able to
transfer the
balance onto one of your other cards for a lower
interest rate.
For example, if you have a $ 5,000 credit card
balance with a
high annual
interest rate, consider opening a new credit card account that lets you
transfer the
balance interest - free for 12 months or longer or at a much lower
rate.
Just because you
transferred your
balance to a credit card that offers a zero percent
interest rate for six months, that doesn't mean that you won't pay a much
higher interest rate for purchases you make during the introductory period.
The concept of a credit card
balance transfer seems simple enough, but there are a number of steps involved that are critical to successfully moving money owed from a
high interest credit card to one that offers a lower annual percentage
rate.
Credit card debt consolidation
Balance transfer cards allow you to combine the
high -
interest debt from several credit cards onto one card, at a lower
interest rate.
Unlike a few other loans, the
interest rates on credit cards a extremely
high, to ensure the bank acquires a new customer they provide a lower
interest rate for the
balance transfer that occurs.
If you have $ 20,000 in outstanding
balances on several
high interest rate credit cards, it is highly unlikely you will be able to move all of this onto a single low -
rate balance transfer credit card.
Much like using a
balance transfer credit card to
transfer high interest credit card debt to a card with a low introductory
rate, you can use the same process to pay off student loans with a credit card.
Even if you get approved for a lesser credit line than you hoped,
transferring any amount of a
high -
interest balance will help you save money with this special 0 %
rate.
If you have a credit card not in use you can use
balance transfers to consolidate
high interest rate credit cards down to a lower
interest rate card for 6 to 12 months.
For many borrowers with
high interest rate student loans, refinancing the loans with a private lender is often a better alternative and a safer way to reduce
interest rates without the risks of
balance transfer cards.
Transfer higher interest -
rate credit card or installment loan balances from other financial institutions to your HELOC — and then set up a Fixed - Rate Loan Option to pay off the bala
rate credit card or installment loan
balances from other financial institutions to your HELOC — and then set up a Fixed -
Rate Loan Option to pay off the bala
Rate Loan Option to pay off the
balances
The smaller banks that see customers
transferring their
balances with them, give them
higher rates of
interest.
Some credit cards offer 0 % intro APR on
balance transfers, so if you have a
balance on a credit card with
high interest rates, you can
transfer it to this new card and pay no
interest, giving you up to 21 months to pay down the
balance.
I think — I think strategy number one for people with
high interest rate credit card debt, is to shop around for a
balance transfer offer.
They usually come with fees and
higher interest rates than your purchase or
balance transfer APR's.
You could still make this work, though, by
transferring the debt with the
highest interest rate, even if it's just a portion of the
balance.
Understand that although, for instance, 13.99 % may be your base
interest rate, if the account has become delinquent, or you made any cash advances or
balance transfers,
higher or lower
interest rates may be charged on a portion of the
balance or the entire
balance, depending on what's going on with your account; a
balance transfer may get 0 %
interest for a year, then 19.99 %
interest after that if not paid off.
If you have other credit cards with
balances and a
high interest rate, the Citi Double Cash card's attractive 0 % intro APR on
balance transfers for 18 months is a good incentive to
transfer your
balance.
For example, if you have an existing
balance of $ 4,000 on a
high -
interest credit card (like 26.49 %), you may be able to move the
balance owed to a
balance transfer credit card offering low or zero
interest rate for a specified period.
Consumers are advised to thoroughly investigate their
balance transfer cards, because although the zero percent introductory
rate can be appealing, once that's over, the
interest rate could jump as
high as 25 to 30 percent.
Keeping in mind your credit limit, you may
transfer balances from your other credit cards with
higher interest rates to the Citi Simplicity ® account and pay down the total debt at no cost and at your own pace within 18 months.
Prospective participants are encouraged to
transfer their
high interest credit card
balances to new cards with a zero percent introductory
interest rate, saving them substantial amounts of money.
If you can find a credit card with low -
interest rates offered for a period of time in which you could pay your
balance, little to no
balance transfers fees, and a credit limit
high enough to accommodate your
balances, then a
balance transfer may be beneficial.
Experts predict that banks will send more low
interest rate offers, phasing out zero -
interest balance transfers for everyone except those Americans with the
highest credit scores
But if for some reason you really can't get a big enough credit limit on the card to
transfer your whole
high -
interest balance, there are other ways to bring down the
rate on your debt.
Transfer your high - rate credit card balances to a Tower Mastercard ® and pay 0 % interest through March 31, 2019, with just a low 3 % balance trans
Transfer your
high -
rate credit card
balances to a Tower Mastercard ® and pay 0 %
interest through March 31, 2019, with just a low 3 %
balance transfertransfer fee.
However, those cards usually go to customers with very
high credit scores, charge a 3 % -5 %
balance transfer fee and have an introductory period lasting 12 - 18 months before regular
interest rates apply.
Cash advance
rates are typically much
higher than
balance transfer or purchase go - to
rates so it's important to have a quick payment plan as the
interest will accrue at a much
higher clip.
Under normal market conditions, it might not make sense for you to
transfer the
balance of a HELOC to a credit card, especially if the
interest rate on the credit card is
higher.
Consumers pay
balances quickly, often
transferring balances to cards with
higher credit lines and lower
interest rates.
Not only might the post-introductory APR be
higher than your current
rate, many
balance transfer cards will retroactively charge
interest on the amount that you already paid.
Credit card
balance transfers can be a good way to move some of your
high interest debt to a lower
interest card in order to take advantage of low
rates.
The most common use of
balance transfers it to consolidate debt from multiple
high -
interest rate credit cards to a single credit card with a low or 0 %
interest rate for 12 to 18 months.
This means that should the credit card holder make a late payment, miss a payment or go over the credit limit the
balance transfer amount could go from the promotional
rate to a
higher standard or even punitive
interest rate.
While the
higher minimum payment Chase probably can justify since the
balance transfer offer didn't specify it would be different than the card's overall terms (although if they aren't applying it uniform to all cardholders, that could be a problem for them), changing the
interest rate on the promotional offer by imposing this new «service fee» on exactly the same accounts still benefiting from such an offer is outright fraudulent if you ask me.
However, if you are currently paying
high rates of
interest with other cards, but a new card offers you a
balance transfer at a great
rate, why wouldn't you want to take advantage of the lower
rate and possibly paying off your debt faster?
In such a scenario, the customer can opt for taking a top - up over & above the
balance transfer amount which can serve a dual purpose in terms of shifting
high interest rate loan as well as getting additional funds.
Debt consolidation using
balance transfer checks to combine multiple
high interest rate credit card debt into a single payment will also benefit your credit report.
If you have three or four
balance transfer checks available at 0 %
interest for 12 months it can sometimes be wise to consolidate multiple
high interest rate credit card
balances to a single credit card and make principal only payments for 12 months to get excessive debt back under control.
If you have a credit card with a
high interest rate, you may want to consider a
balance transfer.
Your payments will be applied toward your low -
interest balance transfer first, while the purchases you made at a
higher -
rate APR accrue
interest.