Trying to help out my elderly mom. Excellent credit score. Great debt to income. Just need advise on good ones to research. Needing to transfer some balances from on older long used account that has a higher than should be interest charge. Need to make the money work toward paying down debt.

Any luck with having a current card company reduce interest below 10% or 0%? This card has been used for decades. Or just find a new one to transfer to?

Not a member of Costco or Sams at this time.

Thanks

You could always try to call the card company but given that interest rates are going up I think it would be highly unlikely they'll reduce their rate.

Best bet is probably to find a zero percent offer and go with that, make sure to pay it off before the new rate gets applied.

Go to NerdWallet.com and search. They rank the cards out for you and highlight each card's pros and cons.

Read the terms carefully. When I was young and dumb, I bought something at Best Buy with a 0% introductory APR. After 6 months of making regular payments, I get hit with the accumulated interest at some ridiculous high rate. The terms basically said that if I didn't pay off the purchase in full by the end of the 6th month, then they get to charge me all of the interest they would have charged me from day 1. Shady AF, but I learned my lesson early.

Citi Simplicity is what I used it was 0% for 18 months.

For low interest rates, Simmons 1st is worth a look.

Nerd Wallet
Next Wallet
Wallet Hub
Points Guy
Value Penguin

all have their listings. Just make sure to read the fine print, particularly with regards to transfer and from how many accounts and their amounts are eligible for the 0%, there's usually restrictions. 12-18 months is the usual time period.

Discover has always been good to me. Should be 0% intro rate, and below 10% standard purchase.

Thanks for the info. Did a quick look on nerd wallet. Many options. I’ll check the other sites suggested and hopefully we can find one that fits and she gets on board for it.

It really doesn't matter at all who you chose.

All you need to consider are the following:

-Length of introductory rate

-Introductory rate

-Rate after initial term

-Annual fee's, if any

-Balance transfer fee

-Ability to repay the entire amount prior to end of the introductory rate (see rate after initial term)

It's pretty easy to do the math if you have all this info.

So if you are comparing let's say 18 mo/0% int, zero fee, 3% balance transfer but there is no way the debt can be paid within 36 months then the rate after introductory is a driving factor. If you are comparing the above and it can be paid in the first 12 months, than the lowest balance transfer fee is most important.

With the amount of debt, payment availiable, time horizon and card options/terms availiable, anyone who can use excel and do math can figure out what's best. I don't think you need to worry about brands, any kind of loyalty program, customer service, or even opinions about companies for this type of transaction. Just the math is all that matters.

Also look at LendingClub.com. I used them in the past to pay off a debt. At the time I got a three year loan for 5.99% APR, all though the real rate closer to 6.15% or so when factoring in the % upfront charge. Easy peasy, they auto deducted the monthly payments and were super easy to apply for. Only complaint is that many years past paying of the loan they constantly send me emails to check my rates for a new loan.