The Basics of Credit Card Balance Transfers

• What a balance transfer is:
A balance transfer is when a consumer takes one of their high interest credit cards, and transfers this balance to a 0% credit card, in order to save money on interest. Credit card companies do offer these deals, but they are not for an extensive amount of time. Usually they are set to specific times, 3, 6 or 12 months.

• How to choose the right balance transfer card
There are a few things that you want to take into consideration when looking into going through this process. First off, the better your credit, the better the deal. Don’t worry though, if you have credit that is not so good, these offers still exist for you. The catch is that when your introductory period is over, your APR will more than likely be higher. This just gives you more incentive to either pay it off, or keep transferring until you can.

• Thinking long-term
Of course, the point to all this is to save money in the long run. So speaking in terms of the future, you definitely want to pay attention to all the offers that come your way. Some of the things you may never look at, such as advertisements in the paper, or junk mail, usually contain a card just like the one you are looking for. Look for the card with the longest time period for this 0% interest rate.

• When your credit is bad
So you have applied for a card and gotten turned down? That’s okay, just go ahead and try again. Of course, if you are not approved again, then just work on the credit card that you do have. Give them a call, talk to their customer support team, more than likely they will help you out, and possibly even adjust your APR down for you.

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