A credit card balance transfer is the act of moving debt from one credit card to another. Transferring a balance doesn’t eliminate your debt, but it creates a strategy that can help you save money by paying your debt down faster.
Save money on interest
By moving existing balances on one or more high-interest credit cards to a single credit card with a lower interest rate, you may be able to save money on interest and get your total balance paid off quicker.
Making purchases
Before transferring a balance, be sure to research whether or not your transfer rate also applies to purchases. Some cards will apply their normal rate to purchases, despite your transfer rate.
Read the terms and conditions
Balance transfers shouldn’t be treated like a “get out of debt free” card. Most balance transfers come with terms and conditions that could include paying a balance transfer fee. Other transfer offers may include introductory rates that require the transferred balance to be paid in full within a certain time period.
If your full balance hasn’t been paid off within the allotted time period, you could be responsible for paying the non-introductory rate on the entire transferred balance.
A balance transfer can be a great way to get your credit card debt paid off quickly and at a lower rate, but pay close attention to the terms before you accept any offers.
If you want a low-rate card, with no balance transfer fee, check out TFCU’s Visa Platinum card and compare its features with other cards.