How do I pay a line of credit with a credit card?

You can pay a line of credit with a credit card using a balance transfer, cash advance, mobile payment service or money order. It is not possible to directly charge a line of credit payment to a credit card, though, as issuers do not want you to consistently borrow to pay off borrowed money.

Ways to Pay a Line of Credit With a Credit Card

1. Balance transfer

   A balance transfer is the best way to pay a line of credit with a credit card. Your credit card issuer pays off the line of credit, effectively moving the balance to your card. You should only do this if you have a lower APR on your card than on the original line of credit. There may also be a balance transfer fee, usually 3% to 5% of the balance transferred. If you’re interested in a balance transfer, you can check out the best balance transfer credit cards on WalletHub, many of which offer long 0% introductory APRs.

2. Mobile payment service

   If you have accounts with services like Venmo or PayPal, you may be able to use a credit card to send money to another account you own. Then, you can transfer that money to a bank account and use it to pay your line of credit. Depending on your credit card issuer, this may count as a cash advance and incur expensive fees and interest that starts accruing right away.

3. Cash advance

   A cash advance is a way to access your card’s credit line at an ATM to get cash. This is an extremely expensive transaction and the interest will start piling up the moment you make it, with no grace period. It’s not an ideal payment method but could be used to save you from missing a payment in an emergency situation.

4. Money order

   It’s possible to purchase a money order from a company like MoneyGram or Western Union using a credit card. You can then use the money order to pay off a line of credit. The purchase of the money order will register as a cash advance, though, and thus will be very expensive.

   
   

   In all, it’s really not ideal to pay a line of credit with a credit card unless you plan on moving the entire balance over through a balance transfer. The best way to make a payment on a line of credit is through a linked bank account or debit card. Getting cash from your credit card can temporarily stop you from missing a payment on your line of credit, but then you’re stuck dealing with all the fees and interest that come with that.

Ways to Avoid Paying Off a Line of Credit With a Credit Card

If you want to avoid having to use a credit card to pay a line of credit in the future, there are a few strategies you can try. The first is to change your line of credit’s due date (if the issuer allows it) so that it’s shortly after you get your paycheck. That may help make it easier to prioritize paying your line of credit before any non-essential expenses.

Speaking of non-essential expenses, it’s also a good idea to try to cut back on as much spending as you can until your line of credit payments become manageable again.

Finally, you could consider asking for an advance on your paycheck or borrowing money from friends or family, though those naturally aren’t ideal solutions.