
Can I Transfer a Credit Card Balance with Bad Credit?
If you find yourself overwhelmed by credit card debt and struggling against high interest rates, you may consider consolidating your credit card debt by performing a balance transfer. The concept is simple enough, but it can be nerve-wracking if you have a less-than-stellar credit score. The higher your credit score, the more likely it is that you will be approved for a balance transfer.
However, you don’t have to have a great credit score in order to be approved for a balance transfer. There are many creditors who will accept balance transfers from borrowers in a wide range of credit scores. For those with bad or below average credit scores, some companies will still allow borrowers to take advantage of promotional 0% APR rates. The worse your credit score, though, the more difficult these deals become to take advantage of.
There are a few things to be aware of before transferring a debt balance from one credit card to another:
- You will most likely have to pay a fee when you make the transfer. This fee is typically going to run around 3% of the total debt that you are transferring.
- Even if you are able to take advantage of a special low APR offer, you will still owe the interest from your old credit card.
- If you do not pay off all of your debt within the promotional period, regular interest rates will most likely apply to your debt.
- You should make every effort to pay off your transferred balance as soon as possible once you have been approved.
Moving your debt from one card to another does not erase your debt, nor does it constitute paying off the debt from the original credit card. The great advantage of transferring your debt balance is that (ideally) you would be able to take advantage of better interest rates; these rates would allow you to pay off your debt more easily. While performing a balance transfer with bad credit may take a little more persistence and effort, it is possible and you should look into all your options.
