Best Loans for Credit Card Refinancing in December 2025
What is credit card refinancing?
Credit card refinancing is using a new loan or credit card to pay off your credit card debt. You can pay off your debt directly with a credit card refinancing loan or transfer the debt to a balance transfer credit card.
Why refinance your credit card?
People typically refinance for two reasons:
1. Save money on interest. Credit card debt can come with high interest rates, making it very expensive. You could save money with a low-rate personal loan or even skip paying interest for a period of time with a 0% intro APR balance transfer card.
2. Cheaper monthly credit card payments. You could get cheaper monthly payments with a credit card refinancing loan when you qualify for lower rates or choose a long repayment term. Note that extending your loan term could help you get cheaper payments, but you’ll spend more money on interest in the long run.
Best ways to refinance credit cards
0% intro APR balance transfer credit cards
- Best for: People who qualify.
- How it works: Transfer your credit card balances to a new credit card, ideally with an introductory 0% APR period.
- APR: No interest charged during the intro 0% APR period, but your regular variable APR will apply on any leftover balance.
- Upfront fees: You’ll pay a balance transfer fee, typically from 3% to 5%.
- Requirements: You’ll typically need good to excellent credit to qualify.
Personal loans
- Best for: People who don’t have excellent credit and want regular, fixed payments.
- How it works: Use a personal loan to pay off credit card balances, then pay off the loan in fixed monthly payments.
- APR: Your rate will depend on your creditworthiness. Typical rates are from 6% to 36%. See the current average personal loan rates by credit score.
- Upfront fees: Some lenders take out a one-time origination fee (typically between 1% to 10%) from your loan money before sending it to you.
- Requirements: Personal loan requirements vary by lender.
If you qualify and can pay off your credit card debt in the 0% APR intro period, get a balance transfer card — you’ll save money on interest payments. And if you need longer to pay off debt or want fixed monthly payments? Use a personal loan. Learn more about which credit card refinancing option is best for you.
Best loans for credit card refinancing
| Lender | User rating | Best for | APR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall credit card refinancing loans | 8.74% – 35.49% (with discounts) | ||
|
Runner-up, overall credit card refinancing loans | 7.74% – 35.99% (with discounts) | ||
|
Fast payment to credit card company | 6.99% – 35.99% | ||
|
No fees | 7.99% – 24.99% | ||
|
Small credit card balances | 7.04% – 35.99% |
Credit card refinancing lenders at a glance
Best for: Overall credit card refinancing loans – SoFi
- Discount for direct payment to credit card companies
- Wide range of loan terms
- Same-day funding available
- Improve your approval odds with a co-borrower
- High maximum APR (35.49%)
- Not good for small credit card balances (minimum borrowing amount is $5,000+)
- One-time fee for lowest rates
While many lenders let you use a personal loan to refinance credit card debt, SoFi offers a discount for it — just apply 50% or more of your loan money toward paying your credit card company directly and meet other terms and conditions.
SoFi’s minimum credit score of 620 is on the low end of what’s considered good credit (a FICO Score of 670 to 739). Be sure to shop around for a cheaper loan if you only qualify for rates toward the top of SoFi’s range (35.49%).
You’ll need to meet the requirements below to get a loan from SoFi:
- Age: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18)
- Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, an eligible permanent resident or a non-permanent resident (a DACA recipient or asylum-seeker, for instance)
- Employment: Have a job or job offer with a start date within 90 days, or have regular income from another source
- Credit score: 620+
Best for: Runner-up, credit card refinancing loans – Upgrade
- Lower rate for direct payment to credit card companies
- Wide range of loan terms
- Fair credit OK
- Boost your approval odds with a co-borrower
- Good for small balances ($1,000+)
- Charges a one-time fee of 1.85% – 9.99% on every loan
- High maximum APR (35.99%)
Like SoFi, Upgrade offers lower rates when you meet certain requirements, like using your loan to pay off your credit card company. It also offers a wide range of repayment periods, so you can save money on interest with a short-term loan or lower your monthly payments with a long-term loan.
Keep in mind that while Upgrade offers loans for fair credit — or a FICO Score of 580 to 669 — people with fair credit may only qualify for rates close to the top of Upgrade’s range (35.99%). This is significantly higher than the average credit card APR of 21.39% in Q3 2025. Make sure that your Upgrade loan helps you save money before signing a loan agreement.
To qualify for a loan through Upgrade, you’ll have to meet the requirements below:
- Age: Be at least 18 years old (19 in some states)
- Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or live in the U.S. with a valid visa
- Administrative: Have a valid bank account and email address
- Credit score: 580+
Best for: Fast payment to credit card company – Best Egg
- Fast direct payment to credit card companies (typically two to three business days)
- Competitive starting rates
- Fair credit OK
- Charges a one-time fee of 0.99% – 9.99% on every loan
- High maximum APR (35.99%)
Best Egg could pay your credit card company in two to three business days, which is some of the fastest funding to creditors of any lender on this list. Plus, if you have good or excellent credit, you could qualify for some of the best starting rates on the market with Best Egg.
But Best Egg charges a one-time origination fee of 0.99% – 9.99% on every loan, which would add to the cost of refinancing. And while Best Egg offers loans for fair credit, you could pay a steep price since Best Egg charges a maximum APR of 35.99%.
You’ll need to meet the requirements below to qualify for a Best Egg loan:
- Age: Be of legal age to accept a loan in your state (usually 18)
- Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living in the U.S. and have a Social Security number
- Administrative: Have a personal checking account, email address and physical address
- Residency: Not live in the District of Columbia, Iowa, Vermont, West Virginia or U.S. territories
- Credit score: 580+
Best for: No fees – Discover
- Direct payment to credit card company
- No upfront or other fees
- Extra-long repayment terms
- Need at least good credit
- Can’t use on Discover or Capital One credit cards
- Can only borrow up to $40,000 (other lenders offer up to $50,000 or $100,000)
Discover’s credit card refinancing loans can help you keep refinancing costs down with no fees and competitive rates. You could stretch out your repayment term to 84 months if you want to lower your monthly payments or choose a shorter loan term to save money on interest.
But with a minimum credit score of 720, Discover requires at least good credit (a 670 to 739 FICO Score). Plus, you can’t use a Discover loan to refinance a Discover or Capital One credit card.
You’ll need to meet these eligibility criteria to get a Discover loan:
- Age: Be at least 18
- Citizenship: Have a Social Security number
- Administrative: Have a physical address, email address and internet access
- Income: Minimum income of $40,000 (individually or as a household)
- Credit score: 720+
Best for: Refinancing small credit card balances – LendingClub
- Direct payment to credit card company
- Wide range of repayment terms
- Good for small balances ($1,000+)
- Fair credit OK
- Boost your approval odds with a co-borrower
- High maximum APR (35.99%)
- May charge upfront fee of 0.00% – 8.00%
Consider using a LendingClub personal loan to refinance a small credit card balance. While many other lenders start loans at $2,500 or even $5,000, you can borrow as little as $1,000 with LendingClub. LendingClub also has low starting rates and allows you to apply with a co-borrower for a chance at better rates.
Like other lenders on this list, LendingClub offers loans for fair credit — a FICO Score of 580 to 669 — but these loans may be too expensive to be worth it, since LendingClub’s max APR is 35.99%. LendingClub may also charge a one-time origination fee of 0.00% – 8.00% on your loan.
To be eligible for a LendingClub personal loan, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:
- Age: Be at least 18 years old
- Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Administrative: Have a verifiable bank account
- Credit score: 600+
Should I refinance with a credit card refinancing loan?
- You have good or excellent credit. You can save the most money with a credit card refinancing loan if you have solid credit, since your rates will likely be low.
- You have multiple high-interest credit card debts. Consolidating multiple payments into one with a low-rate personal loan can help you manage payments and save money at the same time.
- You can afford the new monthly payment. Only refinance if your new monthly payment is affordable. If it’s not, consider alternatives to credit card refinancing and other ways to get out of debt.
- Your credit score is too low. It’s possible to find a debt consolidation loan for bad credit, but bad credit may make it hard to find a loan with lower rates than the ones you’re already paying.
- Origination fees are too high. Not all lenders charge origination fees, but many do charge these fees as a cost of doing business. If a fee makes it too expensive to refinance, consider other options.
- You qualify for a balance transfer card and can pay it off in time. Paying off your debt interest-free in a 0% intro APR period is one of the cheapest ways to refinance debt. Just make sure you can afford to pay off all of the debt before the intro period expires, or you’ll be on the hook for interest payments on any remaining balance.
Estimate my monthly payment
Alternatives to credit card refinancing loans
Work out a payment plan
Best for anyone
Your credit card company may work with you if you reach out directly to tell them you’re having trouble making payments. Ask if your credit card company has a hardship program — companies like Discover do — and if you can defer or temporarily lower your payments.
You can even ask to lower your APR permanently — 83% of people who asked for a lower credit card interest rate in the past year got one.
Use a debt repayment strategy
Best for manageable credit card debts
Pay off your credit card debts one by one with the debt snowball method (smallest debts first) or debt avalanche method (highest-interest debts first) while still making minimum payments on your other cards. Both methods are effective ways to get out of debt, so choose the strategy that works for you.
Balance transfer credit card
Best for excellent credit
You can refinance your credit card debt by transferring it to a balance transfer credit card, then paying it off. Balance transfer credit cards often come with an introductory 0% APR period — typically 15 to 24 months — during which you can pay off your debt interest-free.
Debt management plan
Best for credit card debt you can’t afford to pay back
If you’re up at night worrying about how you’re going to pay off your credit card debt, know that there are resources that can help you become debt-free. The first step is to contact a nonprofit credit counselor who can help you create a debt management plan to help you get free from debt in three to five years.
How credit card refinancing loans impact your credit
Credit card refinancing can affect your credit both positively and negatively. In fact, you could improve your credit score by more than 80 points by refinancing your credit card debt with a personal loan. Here’s how it works.
Hard credit pull
When you take out a loan, the lender will pull your credit. This can cause your credit score to temporarily drop, typically by up to five points.
More diverse credit mix
When you replace your credit card debt with personal loan debt, this can improve your credit mix. This is one of five factors that affect your credit and is worth 10% of your FICO Score.
Regular payments
If refinancing for lower credit card payments helps you make your payments regularly, you’ll likely see your credit score improve. Payment history is worth 35% of your FICO Score, so catching up with payments can make a huge difference.
How to compare credit card refinancing loans with LendingTree
You’d shop around for flights. Why not your loan? People save an average of $1,659 just by shopping for a loan on the LendingTree platform.
1. Tell us what you need
Take two minutes to tell us who you are and how much money you need. It’s free, simple and secure.
2. Shop your offers
LendingTree users who get at least one offer receive 20 personal loan offers on average. Compare your offers side by side to get the best deal.
3. Get your money
Pick a lender and sign your loan paperwork. You could see money in your account in as soon as 24 hours.
How we chose the best loans for credit card refinancing
We reviewed more than 30 lenders and loan marketplaces to determine the overall best five credit card refinancing loans. To make our list, companies must offer credit card consolidation loans with competitive APRs and direct payment to creditors.
From there, we assessed each lender or marketplace across four categories: eligibility and access; cost to borrow; loan terms and options; repayment support and tools.
According to our standardized rating system, the best credit card consolidation loans come from SoFi, Upgrade, Best Egg, Discover and LendingClub.
Our categories
We assess how easy it is for people to qualify and apply. This includes state availability, soft-credit prequalification, membership requirements, funding speed and whether borrowers with less-than-excellent credit can get a loan.
We evaluate how affordable the loans are based on minimum and maximum APRs, loan fees and rate discounts. Lenders with unclear or potentially predatory costs receive lower scores.
We consider repayment term flexibility, loan amount ranges and whether options like secured loans, joint loans or direct-to-creditor payments are offered — plus whether the lender clearly communicates these options.
We evaluate borrower experience after funding: customer service access, hardship or forbearance programs, payment flexibility and digital tools like mobile apps or credit monitoring.
Our process
We gather data directly from companies through their websites, disclosures and direct communication with company representatives. Our editorial team verifies and updates information regularly. We value transparency and award less favorable scores when lenders obscure or omit details.
Our editorial team applies the same scoring model and standards to every lender. Lenders cannot pay to influence our ratings.
Frequently asked questions
There are two popular ways to refinance credit card debt: credit card refinancing loans and balance transfer credit cards. Either of these methods could help you save money on interest with lower rates.
Credit card refinancing and debt consolidation are similar. Credit card refinancing is just paying off your current credit card debt with a new credit card or loan, and then paying that off. Debt consolidation is using a loan or credit card to pay off multiple debts.
No, credit card refinancing isn’t bad. It can be a smart financial strategy when you use it to save money on high-interest debt. But if you’re refinancing credit card debt because you can’t afford your monthly payment, you could be in financial hot water.