Do you find yourself carrying a lot of revolving credit card debt month after month? Do you feel like you’re barely paying down any principal and you’ll never be debt-free?
If so, you might be a good candidate for a balance transfer. You can save money on credit card interest, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing you’re finally making headway on your financial goals.
There are dozens of balance transfer credit cards out there, and Bank of America, in particular, has several cards that offer a low introductory APR for balance transfers. We’ve researched how to do a credit card balance transfer with your Bank of America card.
How to Transfer a Balance to a Bank of America Credit Card
Completing a balance transfer doesn’t take long at all, particularly if you already have a Bank of America card. Even if you don’t carry one, you can still complete the process fairly quickly. Let’s look at what you have to do.
Apply for a Bank of America Credit Card
If you don’t already have a Bank of America card, you’ll want to head to their website to begin the application process. It won’t take you long to sign up and be notified whether you’ve been accepted.
All the other steps we’re going to outline can only be completed once you have approval from Bank of America because you’ll need your card before you can transfer any balances.
Gather Your Balance Transfer Information
Before applying for your balance transfer, you’ll need a few things first. Look at the credit limit on your new card – this is the amount you’ll have to work with. But if your credit limit is $5,000, that doesn’t mean you can do a $5,000 balance transfer. You’ll need to leave room for balance transfer fees, which can vary depending upon the type of card you get.
If you have more than one credit card and you don’t have enough available credit on your new card to transfer the amount you owe, make sure you transfer the card with the highest interest rate first. That can help save you the most money.
Before you call for the balance transfer or fill it out online, you’ll need to have your account number as well as the balance amount you wish to transfer.
Contact Bank of America to Initiate Your Balance Transfer
Calling in a balance transfer is one of the easiest methods for completing the transaction. To call Bank of America for a balance transfer, dial (800) 432-1000.
If you wish to do a balance transfer online, you’ll have to sign up for an online account. After you log in with your personal information, you’ll see a section that will allow you to do balance transfers.
Finally, another option you have for doing a balance transfer is to wait for the occasional blank checks Bank of America will mail you. These will allow you to write and send a check to your other credit cards – that payment will be then marked as a balance transfer.
Complete Your Balance Transfer
Balance transfers can take a week or even two weeks to complete. If you’re close to your payment due date, make sure you keep paying on that card. You don’t want to assume it’s paid off when it actually isn’t. That could lead to late payment fees and dings on your credit score.
So keep making those payments on your old card until you can confirm the balance transfer went through without a hitch.
How to Transfer a Balance From a Bank of America Credit Card
These steps will be the same ones you would take to transfer a balance to your Bank of America card, but you’ll be using a different credit card. Here’s what you’ll do:
- Identify a 0% or low-interest APR card to use
- Have your card number and the amount you want to be transferred handy
- Call them to transfer your balance from your Bank of America card
- Keep making payments on your Bank of America card until you can confirm the transfer went through
Summary
Now that you’ve completed your balance transfer, take advantage of the low APR to start paying down that balance so you can take some serious steps toward debt freedom. Your financial situation can be better if you can manage to reduce your high-interest debt.
As you begin to clear your debt, remember to keep making timely payments to your new credit card, because otherwise you’ll run the risk of losing your low-interest balance transfer rate.