If you’re carrying high-interest credit card balances at the end of every month, you may want to consider the potential savings benefits of a balance transfer.
1. What is a credit card balance transfer?
A balance transfer is when you shift debt from one (or many) cards to another card. Typically, you would transfer to a credit card with a lower interest rate, better benefits like rewards, and/or less fees.
2. Is a balance transfer a safe way to consolidate debt?
Balance transfers can work to your financial advantage. After all, the less interest you are charged, the more of your payment is going toward the principal, allowing you to repay the debt efficiently.
Balance transfers also eliminate the hassle of making multiple monthly credit card payments by consolidating your balance onto fewer cards.
3. Is a balance transfer right for you?
A balance transfer can be right for you if you are carrying high-interest balances on your credit card monthly or if you have multiple cards with balances.
If you want to learn how opening a new card or paying off balances impacts your credit score, try our Credit Score Simulator powered by SavvyMoney in Online Banking. Once you log in, you will have access to this free credit score tool.
4. What should I look out for in choosing to transfer a balance?
Good items to look for when choosing where to transfer your balance are; rate (APR), are there any fees associated with your transfer (some cards have balance transfer fees), any promotional offers, and the rewards and benefits on the card itself.
5. Does SDFCU do balance transfers?
Yes, we have competitively low rates on our cards and no balance transfer or annual fees. Compare our credit card options and view our rates
If you already have one of our cards and you want to consolidate your other card balances to your SDFCU credit card, you can do so through Online Banking.
Topics:
