Can A Balance Transfer Credit Card Help You With Debt Consolidation?

It is not hard to have credit cards maxed out before you know it. Balance transfer credit cards enable you to transfer debt that you already have on one card to another one. As an introductory offer, many credit card companies that offer this type of credit card provide special deals on this type of transaction. Good balance transfer credit cards will offer you 0% APR interest for up to 15 months. Instead of continuing to pay a high interest on your credit cards, which actually reduces your payment toward the principal, a new card saves you money. You pay no interest for awhile, so all of your payment goes to reduce the principal on your old bill – unless you have added other purchases to the credit card.

Debt consolidation on this kind of credit card makes a lot of sense – especially if you take care not to max out your credit cards again. A balance transfer credit card is great for consolidating smaller debts onto one card. Look over the offers carefully, however, because some of these cards have fees for the transfers – up to 4%. The introductory offer will vary too, in some situations, so you need to pay careful attention. Debt consolidation with one of these credit cards gives you some time to catch up on your bills. Be careful, however, to make sure you pay your bills on this new card on time. Needless to say – that won’t help you reduce your debt!

Can a Prepaid Debit Card Help Your Credit Score

Executive summary by Crystal


If you are approved, you are issued a credit card with a predetermined limit, based on your credit history. Prepaid Mastercard or Visa’s are an alternative for those who cannot obtain a traditional credit card to build credit. Also known as a debit card, prepaid credit cards allow you to build credit without the risk of falling deeper into debt.

Prepaid cards are like credit cards because they are backed by one of the major credit card companies. The difference between a traditional credit card and prepaid card is that the latter is completely controlled by the cardholder. Prepaid cards limit spending since the consumer can only spend the amount of money available on the card.

Using a prepaid credit card can help boost your credit score while positively affecting your credit history. Prepaid cards carry no interest charges and they help build credit because some companies actually report the payments made directly to the credit bureaus. However, card companies charge fees for adding money to prepaid cards and will even charge you for not adding money within a certain amount of time. Some prepaid card companies don’t report payments to the credit bureaus so if your goal is to build credit then make sure you apply for a card that does report to the bureaus.