How to Transfer High Balances on Credit Cards

Many credit card companies are now offering balance transfer programs that allow their cardholders to move their balances from one card to another. Most of these programs allow the cardholder to benefit from a significantly lower rate on the transferred balances for a period of time. Some companies ever offer increased credit limits to accommodate the transferred balances and to ensure that the cardholder still has credit available to purchase on the new card. If you have high-rate credit card balances, you should definitely consider transferring them to one of these cards.

Instructions

Credit Card Balance Transfers

1

Do some research on the Internet to find the credit-card issuers that are offering the best balance transfer programs. Most card issuers who accept balance transfers will offer a low APR, or even a 0 percent APR, on balance transfers for a period of time. Identify two or three issuers with the best balance transfer programs and read their terms and conditions. Submit an online application for these cards.

2

When you receive your new card, see if the issuer has included a form to allow you to make balance transfers. If not, check their website to see if they accept balance transfers electronically. Also, determine whether you can use the "convenience checks" provided by the credit card company to make a balance transfer.

3

Select your existing credit card balances with the highest interest rates to transfer. Enter your existing account information online or use the form or convenience checks supplied by your new card issuer to transfer these balances to your new credit card. Be sure that the account number is accurate for the account that you wish to transfer balances from.

4

Continue to make payments on your existing accounts until you have have verified that the balance transfers have been processed. This may take a few weeks, and it is important to protect your credit and avoid any delinquency on your existing accounts in the meantime. When you receive your credit card statements, verify that the balance transfers you requested have been processed.

5

Try to pay off any transferred balance before the introductory or promotional rate period has expired. If you fail to do this, the card issuer will raise the interest rate at the end of the introductory period and be back in the same position you were before and end up paying a much higher rate on your balances than you intended.