How To Do A Balance Transfer With Chase
Balance transfers with Chase can be completed by logging into your Chase account and doing the following:
Create A Debt Payoff Plan
Now its time to put that 0 percent APR introductory offer to good use. Having some time to pay down your debt without any interest being charged puts you in a great position to eliminate your debt at a brisk rate. The more money you can put toward your transferred balance each month, the faster youll get out of debt. Remember that each dollar you pay during your 0 percent APR period has a bigger impact since 100 percent of it goes toward the balance you owe, not interest payments.
Take a look at your monthly budget in comparison to your salarymoney going out versus money going inand identify any areas where you can reduce spending, at least temporarily. Controlling your spending will enable you to get a handle on your current debt, all while developing healthy money habits to help you avoid getting into debt again in the future.
Will You Transfer Debt To An Existing Or New Credit Card
You have two balance transfer options: Open a new credit card with a limited-time 0% APR, or transfer a cards balance to an existing card with a lower interest rate.
Most issuers prevent balance transfers to a new card from the same issuer. Figure out any restrictions such as these before applying for a new card.
The first option will save you the most money on interest. For the second option, determine whether your existing lower-interest card can support the transfer without getting maxed out. If not, youll need to either request a credit limit increase or decide whether to apply for a new card.
Heres a simple example of potential balance transfer cost savings:
| Comparing Cards |
|---|
To transfer debt to a card you own, skip to Step 5 below.
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What Is The Difference Between Joint
The difference can impact your balance transfer options and your legal rights when transferring or sharing debt.
| Joint-primary cardholder accounts | Primary cardholder accounts with secondary cardholders |
|---|---|
| Two people applied for a credit card under both cardholders names and have complete access to the account. | One person applied for a credit card in their name but wants to share the account with a partner but without joint account status. |
| Both have the ability to change credit limits, request account freezes or close the account. | Only the primary cardholder has control over credit limit changes, account freezes or account closure. |
| Both partners have regular sources of income and good credit histories. | Only the primary cardholder has to have a regular source of income and a good credit history. |
| Both parties remain liable for all transactions and payments made on the card. | Primary cardholder remains liable for all transactions and payments made on the card even if a balance has been transferred from an account held by the secondary cardholder. |
| If the closure of an account is the result of a divorce or a separation, both partners might have to pay half of the debt each, no matter who made which purchases. | In the event of a separation or a divorce, only the primary cardholder is liable for any balances on the entire account. |
Good Balance Transfer Cards
The goal of a balance transfer is saving money, so you want to choose a card that helps you minimize your costs. The ideal balance transfer credit card comes with three big zeroes:
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A 0% introductory APR offer for balance transfers.
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A $0 annual fee.
With such a card, you could potentially pay off your debt without spending a penny on interest and fees. Cards without transfer fees are rare nowadays, however, so you’re likely to find only two out of three. Still, a card with no annual fee and a 0% introductory offer on balance transfers is quite valuable. Interest charges add up quickly and are often far more costly than a one-time 3% to 5% fee.
An important note: Some 0% APR offers apply only to purchases. To save money when moving over debt, you’ll need one with an introductory 0% APR promotion on balance transfers. Make sure the card you apply for offers this.
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Pay Off The Debt As Fast As Possible
The transfers themselves take time to complete. According to the credit experts at Experian, transfers may be completed in a week for some cards but could take up to a few weeks. You will need to plan accordingly once you finish consolidating your debt, since this may reduce the amount of time available to pay off the balance interest-free.
Your focus should on the fastest repayment possible. Review your budget to cut any unnecessary expenses. If there are expenses you can cut back or any luxuries you can do without, scale back as much as possible.
This will maximize the cash flow available in your budget for debt repayment. Make the biggest payments possible each month. Your goal is to pay off the total consolidated balance before the 0% APR teaser rate ends.
If you dont pay off the balance in-full before the 0% APR period ends, then the credit card company will apply the standard balance transfer APR to any balance remaining.
Get Approved Based On Your Credit Score
Once you apply for the card you want, the credit card company will tell you exactly what theyre willing to offer, including:
The higher your credit score, the more favorable all of these terms will be. If you have a FICO over 800, then balance transfer terms should be in your favor. If not, then you may need to choose which debts you transfer. Our expert Laura Adams explains how to do this below.
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Should I Transfer My Credit Card Balance
This is a common question that people ask. Even knowing how balance transfers work, you may be wondering if its the right solution for you. You want to know that it will work and that youll be able to become debt-free.
You also want to avoid the risk of making a challenging situation with debt worse, which can happen if you run up new balances on your other cards or start making regular purchases on the balance transfer card. All of this can mean you wind up with more debt instead of less.
Here is just one example of a balance transfer question that Debt.com has received:
Question: I have around $5,000 on, I think, five or six credit cards. Ive been seeing these offers for other credit cards that say I can transfer my balance to them and they wont charge me interest. I dont see how this isnt a scam. How can they make money if I move thousands of dollars to them and then pay it all off without a dime in interest?
Are these things legit? If they are, whats the catch? Theres got to be a catch.
Richard in Delaware
When Does It Make Sense To Transfer A Balance Multiple Times
Transferring a balance multiple times can make a lot of sense if you do so as part of a solid plan to pay down debt that you can’t afford to repay in one balance transfer cycle.
Balance transfers offer promotional APRs for limited amounts of time. Sometimes it’s as long as 15 months. If you have $10,000 in credit card debt and can only afford to make payments of $400 per month, you won’t be able to pay off the full $10,000 in a 15-month period. You’ll be $4,000 short.
It can still make sense in this situation to transfer your $10,000 balance to a card with a 15-month promotional 0% intro APR. If you do, you won’t pay any interest on the full balance for more than a year.
Then, when your promotional rate expires, you can transfer the outstanding amount to a new balance transfer card to keep the remaining debt at 0%. If you can get a new balance transfer card with a promotional APR of 0% for at least 10 months, you’d be able to successfully pay the remaining $4,000 without incurring any additional interest.
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Will Transferring Money From My Credit Card To My Bank Account Hurt My Credit
Thankfully, there is no direct impact on your credit score when you transfer money from your credit card to your bank account. However, there can be an indirect impact if youre not careful. A cash advance transaction can impact your credit score if you exceed your credit limit or your becomes too high. If you keep an eye on your credit card balance and avoid maxing out all of your credit cards, the cash advance wont hurt your credit.
What Else Should You Know
Transferring a balance to reduce your interest charges can be a smart move, but its only one of several strategies for reducing your debt.
Even if you dont qualify for a low promotional or lower contract APR, a balance transfer still can help. Combining debts can simplify your life by giving you fewer bills to pay and fewer creditors to deal with. Depending on your debt size and whether you will need more time than a promotional period to pay it off, consolidating with a personal loan might be a better solution for your needs.
And remember: Paying down high-interest debt is smart. Balance transfers are a good step down that path, but its important not to incur more debt in the meantime.
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Transfer A Balance To The New Credit Card
Once your application for your balance transfer credit card is approved, its time to transfer the balance. While each credit card issuers balance transfer process is slightly different, in most cases youll be able to transfer your balances either over the phone or online.
The process of transferring a balance is typically straightforward and simple. All youll need to do is provide basic information about the credit cards you plan to transfer the balances from, including the card numbers and the amounts youd like to transfer to your new credit card. If you need additional help learning how to transfer a credit card balance, you can review your credit issuers online resources or for assistance.
Keep in mind that balance transfers take time. It can take anywhere from a week to a month for your balance to transfer. Its important to keep making payments on your old cards until your balances have been fully moved over to your new 0 percent APR credit card or else you risk running up new interest charges and fees on your old cards for missed payments. Once your balance transfer is complete, follow up with your old credit card issuers to make sure the accounts show a $0 balance. Once you confirm the $0 balance, then you can stop making payments.
Balance transfer guides by credit card issuer
How Do You Transfer Balances Onto A Credit Card
Once you have selected either an existing credit card or a new credit card to transfer your existing debt to, you will need to arrange the transfer with your balance transfer credit card issuer, who will need details about the account you are transferring funds from.
Some balance transfer credit cards will allow you to complete this transaction online.
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What The Transfer Fees Are
This is a common hidden cost to balance transfers. As you can see in the offers above, Offer one comes with a 3% transfer fee.
This means that if I transfer $10,000, Ill get hit with a $300 fee right off the batso my balance will be $10,300 at 0%.
Offer two has no transfer fee, but the interest rate is higher.
How To Make A Credit Card Balance Transfer
To initiate balance transfer, you’ll need to get approved for a balance transfer credit card. You will typically need good to excellent credit to qualify, though criteria varies by issuer.
It’s wise to compare options across multiple issuers in order to choose the right card to transfer balances since terms and fees can differ. As you shop around, compare these features:
- The issuer: Credit card companies generally don’t allow you to transfer balances from one of their cards to another. This means you’ll likely need to find a credit card with a different issuer than the one with the existing balance.
- The introductory period: When viewing balance transfer offers, pay attention to how long the introductory 0% APR period lasts. While 12 to 18 months is most common, you may find offers anywhere from six months to 20 months.
- Balance transfer fee: This is a fee issuers charge for the luxury of transferring a balance, and it’s usually 3% or 5% of the transferred amount .
- The credit limit: Try to find out the card’s potential credit limit, since this can rule out cards that won’t offer high enough limits to transfer your entire balance.
Shopping around can help you score the best deal on fees, terms and interest rates on credit cards. Experian’s free CreditMatch tool allows you to compare balance transfer card offers that are personalized to your credit score.
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How To Pick The Right Balance Transfer
Michael Micheletti, director of corporate communications at Tempe, Arizona-based Freedom Debt Relief, said consumers should always look for a balance transfer option that provides the greatest number of months to pay back your debt before the promotional interest rate ends.
Transferring your balance to a credit card that gives you 18 months before the 0% offer expires is a better move than moving your balance to a card that gives you just six months before the new interest rate kicks in, Micheletti said.
Dont look at the debt on one credit card in a vacuum, Micheletti said. Look at a balance transfer in relation to all the other debt burdens you have.
Micheletti said a balance transfer can be an effective way to tackle high-interest-rate credit card debt, if you commit to paying off that transfer before the promotional interest rate expires.
But if you dont do this and you keep spending? Using one credit card to pay off another wont bring you any financial relief.
Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and founder of Debt.com, said theres a reason credit card companies offer 0% balance transfers: They want to make money, and they know that most consumers wont pay off their debt before that promotional interest rate expires.
Instead of using those months to pay off their debts, more likely to run up their balances, Dvorkin said. Debt is a disease thats simple to diagnose but hard to cure.
How The Credit Card Act Affects Balance Transfer Cards
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act was passed in 2009 to provide additional consumer protections to credit users. Part of the act requires credit card companies to apply payments to a balance in order of highest to lowest APR.
For example, if you use your card to take out a cash advance, this balance will be paid off first as you make payments because cash advance APR is generally much higher than the APR applied to regular purchases.
For balance transfers, this can be both good and bad for card users.
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Unpaid Debts Can Fray Family Ties
But many personal finance experts draw the line at taking responsibility for a friend or relatives debt. Research shows those kinds of arrangements often dont turn out well. A 2016 CreditCards.com poll revealed 4 in 10 U.S. adults who co-signed loans or credit cards for their loved ones ended up paying some or all of the bill.
Its critical to weigh your desire to help someone you care about against potentially putting yourself in financial jeopardy.
Part of the reason why people do it is emotional, said Sugato Chakravarty, professor of consumer economics at Purdue University. Emotions are exactly the wrong things to have where finances are concerned. Its great to think about bailing out a friend or a loved one, but then if something goes wrong, you are in it big time. Its not sensible.
Jacob of Consumer Credit of Des Moines noted that a debt transfer between two family members or friends can also be toxic to the relationship, particularly if the indebted person isnt holding up his end of the bargain.
The person who owes you money is going to be uncomfortable if theyre not paying, she said. Imagine having to hang out with someone you owe money to. Its weighing on your brain the entire time youre with them.