How To Transfer Money From One Ventra Card To Another
Doing a balance transfer can be a very smart financial move---but only if you're doing it for the right reasons. It'southward a process that is longer than clicking a few buttons. Here's how to transfer a credit card balance.
Having credit card debt can feel like a weight on your shoulders that you tin can't seem to motion.
Am I right?
Trust me; I've been there. It'southward not a good feeling.
And all the books, blogs, and experts tell you to focus on paying it off. This is sound advice, simply not ever that piece of cake to do.
With average interest rates on credit cards recently hitting an all-time high, I can empathise why you may just desire to give up.
But don't.
There'southward a way to pay your debt off faster if you buckle downwards with a plan a skilful program. That plan is: Perform a balance transfer.
You've heard of them earlier—information technology'due south paying off one credit card (or multiple credit cards) with another—but few people realize there's a process involved.
In this article, I'll walk you through the necessary steps to completing a balance transfer strategically so you can become out of debt quicker.
Permit's start start with determining how much you're dealing with.
Figure out how much y'all demand to transfer
Earlier you lot do a residual transfer, you need to know how much you want to transfer. If you take multiple credit cards with balances, you might exist amend off consolidating information technology all into one remainder. Or you may have excellent rates, and so you lot may only want to move bits and pieces of your debt.
Regardless, the first stride to doing a balance transfer is figuring out exactly how much to movement. Call up, in that location are costs involved in doing this, and so you'll have to decide what'due south worth it and what isn't.
When yous're looking for which balances you want to transfer, the first affair you lot should target is the annual percentage rate (Apr) that you're paying on each of the balances, regardless of how loftier your residue is. The APR determines how much y'all pay in interest every month on the balance y'all carry over and is the chief reason most people do residuum transfers—to get a lower rate.
So for example, if yous have a $5,000 credit carte du jour balance at 15.99% APR, you might want to consider finding a better carte to transfer that remainder to. Only if you're like my friend and have a 2.99% lifetime rate on a certain credit card, odds are you won't practise much better than that, and so you're best to leave that balance where it's at.
After you've gone through all your credit cards and determined exactly how much yous would like to transfer, it's time to go more than realistic and figure out how much infinite you have to do one.
Make up one's mind how much "cap space" y'all have on each card, or employ for a new one
Now that you know how much y'all need to transfer, it'southward time to find out where you tin can move it to. There are pros and cons to opening a new card, so I'll start with that.
Opening a new carte du jour
By applying for a new credit carte du jour, it'll count as a hard pull on your credit report. A hard pull on your credit will outcome in a hitting to your credit score (unremarkably only a few points, simply it tin can vary widely based on your credit situation).
Opening a new card will also lower your boilerplate length of credit history—which factors in the historic period of all your accounts (adding a brand new carte will reduce the boilerplate age overall slightly). Both of these are negative factors to your credit score.
On the positive side, you tend to get the best offers for a residual transfer on new cards. Typically introductory offers, these cards will give yous a great rest transfer rate for a specific catamenia, then motion you to the standard rate on the card (more on this below). You lot may besides get a bonus for signing up for a new credit card.
If you become this route, you technically have the entire credit line to utilize—but you lot may not know exactly what that is until y'all become approved. I've seen customers approved for less than they want to transfer, which may put you in a bind.
For example, you may have $20,000 that you want to transfer to the new carte just are only approved for a $x,000 line. This leaves yous with about $10,000 that y'all're unable to transfer, so you'll either have to notice some other place for it, call the credit menu company and enquire for a afterthought on your credit line (which these days won't happen very often), or continue the balance where it's at.
In A Nutshell
The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is i of the best intro APR cards on the market today. New cardholders will receive a 0% intro Apr for 21 months on balance transfers (from engagement of kickoff transfer), and 12 months on purchases. And ongoing APR of 14.49% – 24.49% Variable applies after and there is no annual fee.
Read review
Poor 500-599
Fair 600-699
Good 700-749
Excellent 750-850
What We Like:
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0% intro Apr on residual transfers for 21 months subsequently date of starting time transfer and 0% intro April for 12 months on purchases (regular APR of 14.49% – 24.49% Variable)
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Go gratuitous access to your FICO® Score online.
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No annual fee
- 0% Intro Apr for 21 months on remainder transfers from engagement of first transfer and 0% Intro APR for 12 months on purchases from engagement of account opening. After that the variable Apr will exist fourteen.49% - 24.49%, based on your creditworthiness. Balance transfers must exist completed inside four months of account opening.
- There is a remainder transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the corporeality of each transfer, whichever is greater
- Go free access to your FICO® Score online.
- With Citi Entertainment®, get special access to buy tickets to thousands of events, including concerts, sporting events, dining experiences and more.
- The standard variable April for Citi Flex Plan is xiv.49% - 24.49%, based on your creditworthiness. Citi Flex Plan offers are fabricated available at Citi'southward discretion.
Regular Apr
14.49% - 24.49% (Variable)
Intro APR
Intro April Purchases 0% for 12 months on Purchases , 12 months
Intro APR Residue Transfers 0% for 21 months on Balance Transfers , 21 months
Apply Now >>
The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is a great choice because of its low intro offer on purchases and balances transfers. New cardholders can accept advantage of an introductory rate of0% for 21 months on Balance Transfers and0% for 12 months on Purchases, making information technology an attractive menu for those looking to transfer a balance and pay downward debt. Residue transfers must be completed within iv months of opening the card. Rest transfer fee applies with this offer five% of each residue transfer; $v minimum..
Using an existing card
I would recommend you use an existing credit card if you can. If you employ an existing card, yous'll already have an established history, and you tin get some pretty proficient offers. Plus, you'll already know exactly how much of your credit line yous have available. On the downside, you may not have as many options as you call back, and I would avoid using a card with an existing balance on it, as it'll just make things messy.
If you're carrying a balance on the credit card and still want to employ it for a balance transfer, there are a few things you should know.
- Get-go, the mode your payment is allocated has inverse. It used to exist that your payment would go to the balance with the lowest APR offset—which would substantially lock customers into non existence able to pay off higher balances until they paid off their promotional balance transfer rate. The Carte Act fixes this and allocates your payment to the highest April first.
- 2d, you want to make sure to read the terms very carefully when yous do this. Some credit card companies volition give you a peachy promotional rate, but then motility the remaining balance to a very high-interest rate (i.e., consider information technology a cash advance) if yous don't pay it off in full by the time the promotion ends. Read the terms and conditions carefully.
Find the best offer on each card
By at present you've figured out how much yous want to transfer and institute a few options for doing the transfer. Now it's fourth dimension to expect for the best offering.
Most new credit cards will give you a standard offer, as low as 0% when yous sign up for a new account. As I stated in a higher place, brand sure to read the terms and conditions carefully, as that may exist the best rate yous can get—but not necessarily the rate you will get. Significant, if your credit score doesn't qualify for the best rate, you may get stuck with a dissimilar promotional offer by the fourth dimension the credit card company approves you.
When using an existing card, y'all'll typically go a few offers to choose from. For example, wait at the offer I got from Discover below:
Equally y'all can run across, they're giving me two options with different rates and different lengths of time. You lot can also come across the rate that it goes dorsum to subsequently I enjoy my promotional transfer balance (20.49% —yuck!). Now it'due south time to compare your offers.
Now you've gotten to the phase of actually choosing the best offer. Go on in listen; this is the best offering for you. What may exist a great bargain for ane person may be a terrible option for someone else.
At that place are a couple of things y'all need to consider when you're taking a residual transfer:
What the promotional rate is.
This should be the commencement matter you lot look at. What is the offer, and how much will you relieve each month?
Looking at my offers above, you can meet that 1 is for 0% and the other is 4.99%.
Another matter yous need to consider is the rate compared to the length of the promotional offer.
For example, a 2.99 April (almanac pct charge per unit) on an offer that is simply good for 9 months isn't two.99%. Information technology's a bit higher when yous consider that you simply get information technology for nine months.
What the transfer fees are.
This is a common hidden price to balance transfers. Every bit y'all can encounter in the offers higher up, Offer one comes with a 3% transfer fee.
This means that if I transfer $10,000, I'll go hit with a $300 fee right off the bat—so my balance will be $10,300 at 0%.
Offer two has no transfer fee, merely the involvement rate is higher.
How much time you lot'll need to pay it back.
A balance transfer is just a promotion—it normally doesn't terminal forever.
My advice would be to think about how much time you demand to pay all (or at to the lowest degree most) of the balance back before the promotion ends.
If y'all're getting a big bonus at the end of the year and need a short-term tie-over, then you lot may be practiced with a shorter elapsing (which would typically give you a better charge per unit).
On the other hand, you may need a longer menstruum, which would typically be at a higher charge per unit.
It all depends on what your current and time to come financial needs are, then recall about that before you choose.
How much yous can afford each month.
Find out how much the minimum payment will be after you transfer your balance before you go through with the transfer.
Some banks accuse a higher percentage of your total remainder for the minimum payment, which could touch your ability to pay dorsum (or even afford) the debt.
For instance, one depository financial institution I know of calculates their minimum payment equally ane% of the full residue plus interest.
Another bank uses 2% plus involvement. That may not seem similar a lot, simply it's effectively doubling your monthly payment.
Figure this out up front end, so you don't get yourself into a financial jam.
What the rate goes to later the promotion ends.
This is disquisitional—and as yous can run into to a higher place, my promotional rate volition revert to 20.49% (an outrageously offensive rate, by the way) after the promotional period ends.
At this betoken, whatever balance is left over goes to this rate, and I can either pay it off (if I have the money) or transfer it to another card.
Keep in listen that banks pay attention to people who flip balances around constantly.
They're what's known every bit rate surfers and will eventually see no promotional offers come up their mode since they cost banks money in the long-run.
Set up the transfer and a plan for payback
Usually setting up a balance transfer requires nothing more a few clicks of a mouse when you're logged into your business relationship online. My Detect offer above requires that I pick the offer, enter my account numbers of the accounts I want to transfer (they're giving me up to four) and clicking a button to corroborate.
Discover volition take a few days to make payments to those creditors electronically, and the balance volition magically evidence up on my account in about a week. Pretty magical, right?
Once you lot're en route to a nice, new, shiny balance, you need to think about a plan to pay information technology back.
As I recommended before, I would do a balance transfer if information technology makes financial sense for you, just also only if y'all tin can afford to pay it back in time.
If I transferred $twenty,000 at 0% using Offer one above, I'd not only pay a $600 transfer fee, but I'd simply have the balance at 0% for 12 months. Later on that, it'd go to 20.4% (whatsoever balance was left). Not a good situation.
I mentioned rate surfers above—this doesn't mean y'all can't exercise a couple of transfers to pay your debt off.
You have to be strategic about it. If you lot abuse balance transfers and continuously add together to your debt, the offers will dry up. Only if yous have the right approach and apply transfers to pay your debt off (yes—that's what this is for, not to open upwardly your credit limit for more purchases), so yous can get abroad with two or three balance transfers.
The thing to consider, though, is that yous don't know what, if any, offers volition exist available for you when you're ready to practise another one.
My advice is to set upward a plan to pay off most or all of the debt by the time the promotion ends. Simply choose an offer that has a respectable charge per unit afterward. This manner, if yous can't detect another transfer option, you're not putting yourself in a horrendous financial position. For instance, if I had credit card debt to move, I would never have Discover's offer based solely on the charge per unit they're giving me afterward. Make a plan and stick to it.
Exercise an after action review—how are you changing your behaviors?
I alluded to this to a higher place, just the deeper root issue here is that y'all need to adjust your money mindset. That way you don't become into the state of affairs where yous'll need to exercise a balance transfer again. For those of you that have read my articles over the past few years, you've probably figured out by now that I'thousand very much against credit menu debt. The rates are likewise high, and it creates spending behaviors that aren't sustainable long-term.
If you've plant yourself in a position where you have then much debt that you demand to practice a balance transfer (rather than merely existence strategic virtually your payoff plan) brand your main focus paying off debt and nothing else. I would recommend something like the Snowball Method, which Dave Ramsey advocates.
Summary
Doing a remainder transfer can exist a very smart fiscal move—but only if you're doing it for the right reasons.
If you lot have tons of debt and yous're looking to add together to it by moving money from 1 card to the other (yes, people do this) and so focus instead on paying your balances downward the traditional way. There's a certain mindset you demand to have if y'all're going to use residual transfers effectively considering information technology will experience like y'all've paid your debt off when all yous've done is movement it somewhere else.
If you follow the steps above and analyze your debt, your offers, and create a paydown plan, taking advantage of a balance transfer is a smart fiscal decision, and it can assist you go out of debt quicker.
Read more than
- 5 Important Reasons Why A Balance Transfer Fee Matters
- 0% APR Residue Transfers Can Salve Thousands In Interest, Only Should Yous Really Apply?
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About the author
Chris Muller
Total Articles: 198
Chris has an MBA with a focus in advanced investments and has been writing near all things personal finance since 2015. He's also built and run a digital marketing bureau, focusing on content marketing, copywriting, and SEO, since 2016. You tin connect with Chris on Twitter.
Source: https://www.moneyunder30.com/how-to-transfer-a-credit-card-balance-to-another-card
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