Just because you’ve hit a few fiscal bumps in the road over the past few years does not mean you are destined to remain trapped in a world of high debt and no better than fair (580-669) credit.
If you are like many Americans, a substantial portion of your debt is tied up in high interest credit cards and you may find yourself stuck in cycle of making minimum monthly payments, while never making a meaningful dent in the balance thanks to high (and rising!) interest rates.
An effective tool to help you break that cycle, pay down your debt and improve your credit score is a credit card with a strong balance transfer offer. These cards allow you to transfer your existing balance from a high-interest card to your new card. The goal, of course, is to move your balance from a card with a high interest rate to one with a significantly lower or even 0% APR for a time.
Lower interest charges mean you can apply more of your monthly payment to knocking out the principal rather than paying charges. Now, 0% balance transfer offers for fair credit scores aren’t common and tend to come from credit unions and smaller banks; however, if the APR is well below what you’re paying on your existing balance, it could still save you a lot of money to move your balance.
When looking for a good balance transfer card, you will also want to consider the annual fee, the balance transfer fee, the introductory APR on purchases and the standard APR.
Take a look at a couple of options for credit cards that offer balance transfers for people with fair credit. You could also explore a personal loan to help you get your credit card debt under control.
