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Can you pay off a credit card with another credit card?

The short answer is: Yes, you can pay off your credit card using any other card.

You can use one of your other cards to cover the payment on your current account. This may not be an option if you don’t think that you’ll be able to afford both balances – but it will take some time for the new balance on the second card to be paid down, so make sure that this is something that you want before proceeding

To pay off your credit card with another credit card, you’ll need to have another credit card in your name and enough money on that account to cover the payment. It will also take some time for the new balance on the second card to be paid down, so if you don’t think you can afford both balances then this may not be an option for you.

If you decide that paying off your debt will require more than two cards, then consider using a balance transfer or personal loan as well as a second credit card. That way you can consolidate all of your debts onto one account and only make one payment each month.

How to pay off your credit card using another card

OK, so let’s get down to brass tax: how do I pay off my credit card debt with another card? It’s actually a fairly straight forward process.

Step 1: Find another card that will accept balance transfers and meet the minimum transfer amount

The first step is to find a credit card you can use to pay off your debt that won’t charge a fee for balance transfers. Some banks and issuers only allow balance transfers from other accounts issued by them, so make sure to check with all of your cards before applying.

Step 2: Choose an amount to transfer

You’ll need to choose how much of your debt you want to pay off using this method. Ideally, you should aim for enough in one month’s payment so that after it goes through, there is still at least $100 left on the new account for additional payments — or more if possible as a cushion! You can do $100 per month, or even less.

Step 3: Pay your minimum on the outstanding balance until your transfer is processed

If you’re like most people, there will be a small amount ($5-$10) for minimum payment on that card and you’ll want to pay it off completely so there are no fees later on in case something happens and you can’t pay the full thing. After paying your monthly minimum payment (or however much you have left to cover; remember not to use up all of your “bump” at once), transfer as much money as possible from another card onto this one.

Make sure they allow transfers into their accounts — sometimes they don’t — or just call them before applying and make sure to let them know what you’re doing so they don’t decline your application.

Step 4: Transfer the balance

Once you have paid as much into the new account as you can, call them back and ask to transfer the entire balance from the other card onto this one. The reason for doing this is that once you have transferred, the balance on the old card will be zero (because it was paid off by the transfer), and now all your new debt is on one card.

Step 5: Pay off your credit card completely

To pay off your debt in full, pay every month’s minimum payment on the original card until it is paid off (and don’t use the other card anymore).

If you make enough on payments, you can use this method to pay off a credit card debt completely without having to get into trouble with the law or pay out of pocket for expensive debt consolidation services that never work.

What if I have multiple cards?

While one is sufficient, many people will ask: how many cards do I need to pay off my debt? Most people will answer one, because they’re scared of using more and getting in trouble. The truth is, if you can afford the payments that come with additional cards (alongside the payment from your initial card), then by all means use them!

If not, don’t stress about it. This strategy provides you a cushion so that if something unexpected happens or you lose your job or whatever crazy thing happens, you still have a small amount leftover on another card for those times when life throws us curveballs.

What are the drawbacks of paying off my credit card with another card?

There are some common reasons why the outlined method above doesn’t work:

1) You’re out of available credit — most likely what happened here was you maxed out one or more cards already, and those limits are now engaged. It may be that you’re missing a few hundred bucks for the transfer, but rather than use another card to cover it (and not have enough left over) just leave about $100-$200 for flexibility on this card as well — then make sure you don’t use any more credit at all until you pay off the balance;

2) You miss a payment — if you miss one or even two payments during this process, your interest rates will skyrocket and stay that way, so really buckle down and do your best to keep up with payments!

3) Interest rates are too high to make it worthwhile — if you can’t get a decent interest rate on the card, this won’t work. You’ll probably be better off with a debt consolidation service for credit card debts if this is the case, or just bite the bullet and pay it all out of pocket.

4) You don’t know your credit limits — If you try to transfer too much money from one card and it gets declined, make sure to check your credit report so that you can find out exactly how many cards you have and their limits. You should also find out the balance on each card.

By Moneypilot

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