What Else Can You Do If You Are Struggling to Pay Your Credit Card Bill?

Credit Cards can become a reliable ally and a financial trap at the same time, depending on how you are using them. There are many benefits of having credit including hassle-free credit for your big-ticket purchases. Value back and value-added benefits and add-on memberships and complimentary services just make it more desirable. But it becomes a trap for those who are not fully aware of what and how much they will have to pay to remove the whole debt.

The thumb rule says that always make your payments on time and in full but sometimes even after knowing it all, you might not be able to make the payments on time or whole. In this scenario, you are aware that the outstanding amount is just going to pile up and through your credit score into darkness. The more your amount will be, the more added amount of interest rate will be charged to your credit card. Here there is not much you can do to remove the interest and all but there are several ways through which you can try to pay off the bill and try to arrange the same.

Other Ways You Can Try To Pay Off The Credit Card Bill

If you are unable to follow the Thumb Rule of repaying the whole bill on time, here are a few other options you can choose from in order to repay the debt –

Minimum Amount Due

If you are unable to pay the whole amount on your bill, you can start by paying the minimum amount due. This will help you remove the big chunk of the amount and also somewhat relax you for your interest being charged on the whole amount. Paying the minimum due amount will not surely resolve the whole concern here but it will help you gain some extra time to make the whole payment from the next bill onwards. The minimum amount due will keep your credit card running and also try to hold your credit score for some time.

In case you are unable to make a minimum payment, you can have a word with the bank to see if something can be done to either defer the due date or extend the repayment plan in case of EMIs for big purchases. The banks will be more than happy to help you out in temporary situations if you have a clear record.

Avoid Any Further Credit

Where you are unable to keep up with your monthly payments, it is important to cut off any further credit. This is necessary to make sure that you are not piling up more credit for yourself. This will help you in sorting out your credit more effectively and timely.

Any further credit taken will not only increase your bill due but your interest rates will also be added to your outstanding bill. If this kept going on, you will only make things more difficult for yourself at the end you will keep on piling up your credit with interest rates. This behaviour will not only negatively impact your credit report and your credit score but it will also make your future chances of availing any financial aid.

Choose a balance transfer to a Low-Interest Rate Credit Card

Transferring your present credit to a new account with a low-interest rate is the best debt management strategy. You can choose one of the credit cards from IDFC such as IDFC Bank Millenia Credit Card whose interest range from 0.75% to 3.5% per month. This can help not only help you reduce the burden of interest rates but also help you with late payments. In theory, you will be starting afresh with new rates and everything, here you will be able to make the repayments more quickly and for less money to that. This method can help you consolidate your debt and help you repay it before it becomes too heavy.

Try Getting a Personal Loan

Try to get a Personal Loan to clear the whole credit card balance. This will not only help you cover your whole credit. In this case, you will be able to avoid the whole late fee charges and high-interest rates of the whole amount. Once cleared out, you can start fresh and adjust the EMIs for the loan repayment on your own.

However easier this method might be, it should be noted that this should be your last resort. Before going for this method, make sure that you have used and tried the rest of the methods. If any of the earlier methods work for you, refrain from choosing a personal loan as it can make a negative impact on your credit report and credit score.

Conclusion

Credit Card is a double-edged sword, which can help you in the most critical situations but they can also crush your credit altogether if not used wisely. Credit cards give you credit to make purchases, sure to increase your living standard but the same credit card bill, if not paid on time will make your credit score touch the bottom. It is important to make sure you are making your bill payments on time but if you are unable to do so due to any reason, you can try out another way that can help you make the whole situation better than before to protect your financial status.

As a suggestion, if you are new to credit cards and are struggling with many expenses, you can try for SBI CashBack Credit Card. This credit card will help you reduce your bill by giving you a value back on every transaction and will automatically get reduced from your all-total bill. These types of credit cards are the best suited for people who are struggling with their credit.