When used carefully, credit card balance transfers can provide convenience and help you save money. But there are also a lot of misunderstandings about the balance transfer process, how to use it and who can benefit. Let's look at these common questions about credit card balance transfers.

How Do I Use a Balance Transfer?

The idea of a balance transfer is to move an existing balance from a credit card with a high interest rate to one with a low- or zero-percent interest rate. This allows you to pay off the balance more quickly because more of your monthly payments will go toward paying down the principal debt.

Do Balance Transfers Only Work for Credit Card Debt?

It might surprise you to learn that certain creditors allow you to transfer other types of debt — such as personal or auto loan debt — to a credit card. You'll want to find out the new card's terms and conditions for balance transfers before applying to be sure it can help you meet your goals.

Will a Balance Transfer Happen Automatically?

Once you're approved for a new credit card, you'll need to initiate a balance transfer with the card issuer. They will generally ask for the name of the current card company, debt amount and other account information.

Once they initiate the transfer, it can take as long as two weeks for it to be finalized, so be sure to continue making minimum payments to the current card issuer until you confirm the transfer is complete. You should see a new total balance due, including any balance transfer fees, on your first statement from the new credit card company.

Can I Transfer Someone Else's Debt to My Credit Card?

Some creditors will allow you to transfer debt from another person's card — regardless of who they are. Others require the person be related to you in some way, and some card issuers, such as American Express, do not allow these types of transfers at all.

If your goal is to transfer someone else's debt to a new card, do your research to ensure this is allowed before you apply. And keep in mind that if you do this, you are responsible for paying back the debt if the original debt-holder defaults. This could lead to you having trouble paying all your bills on time and ultimately harm your credit.

Can a Balance Transfer Help My Credit?

Whether a balance transfer helps your credit or not depends entirely on your behavior going forward. If you pay off the transferred debt with on-time payments every month before the promotional period ends and keep your credit utilization low on the new card and the original card, you should see your credit improve over time.

If, on the other hand, you only make minimum payments on the transferred debt and start racking up new charges on one or both credit cards, you could end up in a worse financial situation and your credit report and score will reflect that.

How Do I Know if a Balance Transfer is Right for Me?

If you're not sure if a credit card balance transfer is the right choice to help you meet your goals. You'll want to ask yourself these questions.