Credit card issuers don’t allow you to pay a credit card with a credit card from a different financial institution for a couple of reasons.
First, this guideline prevents you from moving your debt across credit cards. If you use one credit card to pay off another, you can get trapped in a debt cycle without reducing your debt. Paying your credit debt this way can lead to additional fees or higher interest rates, ultimately worsening your financial health.
Credit card companies want to encourage responsible use of credit. They often offer structured alternatives like balance transfers and cash advances for using a credit card to pay off debt.
When used wisely, balance transfer cards, which allow you to transfer existing credit card balances from current cards to a single new card, can help you consolidate debt and reduce interest payments.
Cash advances, which are short-term loans from your credit card issuer, provide funds that you can use to make credit card payments.
But before using these alternatives to pay off your credit card debt with another credit card, understand the terms and conditions set by credit card issuers.