All You Need to Know About Balance Transfers With Discover

If you get a Discover it® balance transfer credit card with a 0% APR offer, you pay no interest on transferred balances for a fixed time period. While transferring debt from cards issued by other creditors is possible, you may also be able to transfer outstanding balances from loans if you are issued balance transfer checks that can be mailed to your creditors.

You can submit your Discover balance transfer request online or over the phone. There is no guarantee of approval because Discover takes several different factors into account. If you don’t find success with your request, you may look at other options, such as personal loans and debt management plans.

Carrying out a Discover balance transfer can help you consolidate debt from multiple cards so that you have fewer payments to make each month. While a balance transfer may positively impact your credit score, it also has the potential to do the opposite.

• How Does a Discover Balance Transfer Work?
• Discover’s Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards
• How Much You Can Save With a Balance Transfer
• What to Know Before Requesting a Balance Transfer
• Pros and Cons of Doing a Balance Transfer
• What if My Balance Transfer Request Is Denied?

First, you need to choose from the different Discover it® balance transfer credit cards on offer. Discover lets you transfer any amount up to your card’s available limit for transfers. But keep in mind that this amount must include any balance transfer fees you incur. Submitting a balance transfer request — online or over the phone — requires you to provide the account number you wish to transfer a balance from, the creditor’s name, and the desired transfer amount.

Discover processes most balance transfers within four days. New cardholders must wait an additional 14 days before the process can begin.

Knowing how much you owe toward different credit cards and other forms of debt is important because it helps determine which debts to pay off first. Ideally, you should prioritize transferring and paying off debt with high interest charges. Discover does not have any preset guidelines surrounding how much money you may transfer. Still, it mentions that your total balance transfer limit might be lower than your total credit limit.

If you don’t have a Discover balance transfer card, you may consider applying for one. Choosing a suitable card requires you to look at different factors. Discover’s intro APR offers on balance transfers are largely the same across the different cards.

Since the 0% APR balance transfer offers that come with different Discover it® credit cards are largely the same, select a card after accounting for other factors such as rewards and benefits. You may also consider getting a balance transfer card with a 0% APR offer on purchases.

You may submit your balance transfer request via Discover’s website or mobile app. To submit your request over the phone, you need to call the Discover card contact number on the back of your card. If you’re eligible, you might benefit through your card’s 0% or low APR offer on balance transfers.

Whether you submit your request online or over the phone, the details you must provide are the same. These include the account numbers you want to transfer balances from, the name of the creditors in question and the amounts you wish to transfer. In most cases, Discover processes balance transfers within four days.

Requesting a balance transfer might work well for you if you wish to save on interest charges or if you want to consolidate debt from multiple credit cards or other forms of credit.

Preparing a payment schedule if you use a 0% APR balance transfer offer increases the likelihood of you being able to pay off the balance you transfer in a timely manner. Ideally, you should pay off the entire balance before the promo period ends to avoid paying interest charges. If this is not possible, you should aim to pay off as much as possible because any outstanding balance at the end of the promo period will start accruing interest charges at the card’s regular APR for balance transfers.

>>More: How to Transfer a Credit Card Balance to Another Card

You get to do more with your Discover it® balance transfer credit card than transfer money from other cards. For instance, the card you get might come with cash back or reward miles.

Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card

The no-annual-fee card Discover it® Cash Back Credit Card lets you earn up to 5% cash back through different bonus categories that you must activate each quarter, on up to a quarterly maximum. At the end of the first year, Discover matches the cash back you earn during the preceding 12 months. Some of the bonus categories include grocery stores, gym memberships, gas stations and restaurants. Purchases that don’t fall into any bonus category earn 1% cash back.

Discover it® Miles Credit Card

The Discover it® Miles Credit Card comes with no annual fees. You earn 1.5X miles per dollar on all purchases. Discover automatically matches all the miles you’ve earned at the end of the first year. You may redeem the miles you earn as a statement credit for travel purchases that may come in the form of flight tickets, hotel stays, dining out and more. You may also redeem your miles when paying through PayPal or to shop at Amazon.com.

Discover it® Chrome Gas & Restaurants Credit Card

You pay no annual fees to use the Discover it® Chrome Gas & Restaurants Card. You get 2% cash back on combined spending of up to $1,000 at gas stations and restaurants every quarter. All other purchases earn 1% cash back. Discover matches the total cash back you earn at the end of the first year.

NHL Discover it® Credit Card

The no-annual-fee NHL Discover it® Credit Card lets you choose the logo of any NHL team as your card’s face. You earn 5% cash back up to a predetermined maximum limit on revolving categories that you need to activate each quarter. All other purchases earn 1% cash back. Discover matches the cash back you earn during the first 12 months at the end of the year.

Discover it® Student Cash Back Credit Card

The Discover it® Student Cash Back Card charges no annual fees. It lets you earn up to 5% cash back up to a predetermined maximum limit of bonus categories that you need to activate every quarter. All other purchases earn 1% cash back. At the end of the first year, Discover matches the cash back you’ve earned through the course of the year.

Discover it® Student Chrome Credit Card

The no-annual-fee Discover it® Student Chrome Card offers 2% cash back on combined spending of up to $1,000 at gas stations and restaurants every quarter. All other purchases earn 1% cash back. As a bonus, you get to double the cash back you earn throughout the first year.

While a balance transfer may lead to monetary savings, how much you save depends on the intro APR offer, the amount you transfer, the time you take to repay it completely, the debt’s existing APR and the new card’s regular APR.

>>More: How Much Money Could a Balance Transfer Save You?

Balance transfers work in the same basic manner across different credit card issuers, although some differences exist. As a result, it’s best to know what to expect from your Discover card balance transfer before getting started.

• You may request a balance transfer online or over the phone.
• Your account needs to be open for at least 14 days before Discover processes your balance transfer request.
• Discover processes most balance transfers in four days, but you need to account for any additional time that a recipient takes to post the payment to your account.
• You cannot carry out a balance transfer between two Discover cards.
• Balance transfers do not earn cash back or rewards.
• Depending on when you transfer a balance, you may need to pay 3% to up to 5% as balance transfer fees.
• You need to make payments toward your old account until the balance transfer is complete and the account has no outstanding balance.
• Any outstanding balance on your new Discover card will start accruing interest charges once the promo period ends.
• If your card does not come with a 0% APR offer on purchases, you’ll need to pay interest charges on new purchases until you pay off the transferred balance in full.

You may increase the possibility of paying off your debt in a timely manner by adhering to some basic principles. In addition, using a balance transfer card can help quicken the process and may also lead to savings.

• Select a Discover balance transfer card after comparing your options based on cash back/reward rates and added perks.
• Work on a plan to pay off the entire transferred amount before the end of the promo period.
• Avoid late fees by making your payments well in advance.
• Don’t add to your existing debt before paying off what you owe.

>>More: What Happens to an Old Credit Card After a Balance Transfer?

While a Discover balance transfer might work well for you, there are potential pitfalls that need your attention too.

If Discover denies your balance transfer request, you have other options. For example, if you wish to consolidate balances from different types of debt, you may think about getting a personal loan. People experiencing financial hardship may benefit by getting on debt management plans. Using a cash advance to pay off credit card debt, on the other hand, is not the best idea.

• Personal loan. Personal loans tend to have lower ongoing APRs than credit cards, which is why many people turn to them for debt consolidation. Plus, you can usually get approved for higher credit limits through personal loans.
• Debt management plan. If you’re having trouble paying your bills and keeping up with your everyday expenses, you may consider getting on a debt management plan. You should ideally work with a nonprofit credit counseling agency accredited by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, which negotiates with your lenders on your behalf. Going this route may come with lower interest rates, and it may be possible to get your previously applied late charges waived.
• Cash advance. Cash advances start accruing interest from the date of the transaction and typically incur additional cash advance fees. Cash advance APRs can also be rather steep. So using a cash advance from one card to pay off another is not recommended. Consider taking this path only if you wish to avoid a hefty late fee and are sure you can pay off the entire cash advance amount in a few days.