What are the best credit cards for cosmetic surgery?

The best credit card for cosmetic surgery is the U.S. Bank Shield™ Visa® Card because it has an introductory APR of 0% for 24 months. In addition, the card has a $0 annual fee, which means you can finance expensive cosmetic surgery for free for two years. It has an introductory APR of 0% for 24 months on balance transfers as well, so it’s also a good option for paying off existing surgery debt.

Just keep in mind that this card has a 17.49% - 28.49% (V), which applies once the introductory APR period ends.

Best Credit Cards for Cosmetic Surgery

Using a Credit Card for Cosmetic Surgery

Of all the uses for a credit card, funding cosmetic surgery might seem out of left field. But the fact of the matter is that more than 30 million people undergo cosmetic procedures each year, with average costs ranging from around $3,000 to $19,000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Patients need a way to pay, and since most insurance companies do not cover cosmetic surgery, the patients bear the brunt of these expenses.

Cosmetic surgery need not have a long-lasting detrimental impact on your finances though. Waiting until you have the cash to pay for your procedure is obviously your best option, but consumer impatience often results in people incurring significant debt in the form of medical loans.

That’s why one great option for paying for cosmetic surgery is a 0% APR credit card. This type of credit card can alleviate the financial burden of cosmetic surgery in two distinct ways:

1. Paying for the procedure from the outset to avoid interest entirely. You can charge your medical care to a credit card with a 0% intro APR on purchases, which can give you 6-24 months to pay off your balance interest-free. Even if you can’t pay everything off in that time, you should still be able to significantly reduce your balance before interest eventually kicks in.

2. Transferring the remaining balance of a medical loan to minimize further interest. If you took out a loan to finance your medical care, consider getting a balance transfer credit card. This type of card can offer 6-24 months of interest-free financing on balances transferred from other creditors. And if that’s not enough time, you could transfer any remaining balance to another card with a new 0% promotion, assuming offers are still available.

While both of these options can save you a lot of money, just keep in mind that most credit cards that offer long 0% introductory APRs require good credit (score of 700+) or excellent credit (score of 750+) for approval. In addition, not all balance transfer cards will allow transfers from medical loans, so it’s always good to check with the issuer beforehand.

Financing Cosmetic Surgery With a Credit Card vs. a Loan

Suppose you need a $5,000 cosmetic surgery procedure but you can’t pay for it in full up front and you don’t want to wait until you have the money. Let’s look at how much one of the best credit cards could save you compared to the average credit card or a medical loan:

• Situation 1: You charge the procedure to the U.S. Bank Shield™ Visa® Card, which has an introductory APR of U.S. Bank Shield™ Visa® Card. As long as you pay off the whole balance by the time the introductory period ends, you’ll owe no interest. That requires you to pay a little more than $208 per month, and your total cost remains $5,000.
• Situation 2: You charge the procedure to a credit card without an introductory APR, which has an average interest rate of around 23%. If you pay that off over the same 24-month period, you’ll have to pay around $262 per month and you’ll owe about $1,298 in interest, for a total cost of $6,298.
• Situation 3: You take out a 24-month medical loan with an interest rate of 17% (rates currently range between 7% and 26%). You’ll have to pay around $247 per month and will owe approximately $933 in interest, for a total cost of $5,933.

As you can see, a general-purpose 0% APR credit card is clearly the best option. However, there’s still one other type of credit card to talk about.

Medical Credit Cards

Medical credit cards are credit cards that can only be used for medical financing, and you can use many of them for cosmetic surgery. The best option is the CareCredit Credit Card, which offers Not Offered on purchases.

However, the financing on this card and other medical credit cards is known as “deferred interest.” If you don’t pay your balance in full by the time the promotional period ends, you will retroactively owe all the interest that would have accrued at the card’s regular APR from the date you made the purchase. That’s why we instead recommend getting a regular 0% APR credit card that doesn’t use deferred interest.

Regardless of what card you get, you can use WalletHub’s free credit card payoff calculator to plan out your payments and make sure you’ll be debt-free by a certain date. You can also check out our picks for the best 0% APR credit cards and the best medical credit cards.