Do you know the right way to switch over a credit card?

March 6, 2007

If you are currently unhappy with your credit card provider and you are thinking of switching, do you know the right way to go about it? You may think that it is a simple procedure where you just tell the company you are moving and that is all that there is to it, but in fact it can be a little more complicated than that!

Firstly you need to do an assessment of your previous card. What is your current APR? What is your balance on the card? What is your grace period? Next you then need to assess the new card that you want to make a change to. What is its introductory APR rate and when does it expire? What is the annual fee? What are the fees charged for a balance transfer? It is absolutely essential to look at this information before making a switch in order to know that you are making the right choice. Ideally you should have compared various companies beforehand and the one that you are thinking of changing to should be the best one that you have found.

Once you are sure that you want to make a switch you then have to follow the correct procedure. Firstly do not forget to pay at least the minimum amount due on your old card by the deadline that it states. This way you will not be getting yourself into any more debt whilst waiting for the card to be transferred. Then sign up for a new card and complete the balance transfer form provided to you. Carry on paying what is needed on the old card for as long as the registration takes with the new one and then you should receive a balance transfer confirmation.

As soon as you receive the balance transfer confirmation then contact your old card credit company just to verify the transfer. You should then receive a statement from your old card telling you that you have zero balance with them and that is when you can write to the company and tell them to close your account with them. One important thing to remember too is to tell the company that they should tell any credit bureau that they closed your account at the customer’s request.

So that is how you properly change over your credit card. Make sure that you follow this procedure otherwise you could end up in more debt than you started with.