If you are carrying a credit card balance at 22%, there is a decent chance you can refinance that exact debt down to about 12%. Same money owed, far less interest, one fixed payoff date. The math is not complicated. The discipline it requires is.
Start with the gap. Bankrate's benchmark puts the average personal loan near 12% for a borrower with a 700 credit score. Credit card balances, by contrast, commonly run 18% to 30%, per the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. A personal loan is a fixed lump sum you repay in equal monthly payments over a set term, usually two to five years. Unlike a card, the rate does not float and the balance actually goes down on a schedule instead of resetting every time you swipe.
The average personal loan runs about 12%. Credit cards commonly charge 18% to 30%. That spread is the whole opportunity.
Run it on a real number. Say you owe $10,000 and commit to clearing it in three years. Left on a card at 22%, that costs about $382 a month and roughly $3,749 in interest. Move it to a 12% personal loan and it drops to about $332 a month and roughly $1,957 in interest. Same three years, same debt gone at the end, about $1,800 less handed to a lender. That is real money, and it is the cleanest case for consolidation.
Here's the trap, and it is the reason most consolidations fail. You move the $10,000 off your cards, your cards now read $0, and they feel like found money. Three months later there is a new balance on the card and the loan payment on top of it. Now you owe more than when you started, at two rates. The personal loan only wins if the cards stay at zero. That is not a math problem. It is a behavior problem, and the lender is betting you have it.
So here is the move, in order. First, check your rate. Most lenders show your personalized rate with a soft credit check that does not ding your score, so you can see your real number before committing. If it is not meaningfully below your card rate, a balance is not worth refinancing, and you are better off attacking the card directly. Compare offers on our best loan rates page and run your balance and term through the debt-payoff calculator so you see the payoff date in writing.
Ranking
Our top-rated debt consolidation loans
Lenders that make rolling high-interest debt into one payment cheapest.
| Rank | Company | Best for | Key stat | Score | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  LightStreamLightStream Personal Loan | Best for low rates | Low APR, no fees | 9.2/10 | |
| 2 | SoFiSoFi Personal Loan | Best for large loans | 6.99% - 35.49% APR fixed with autopay + member discounts (July 2026) | 9/10 | |
| 3 |  UpgradeUpgrade Personal Loan | Best for debt consolidation | Pays creditors directly | 8.9/10 | |
| 4 |  DiscoverDiscover Personal Loan | Best for no-fee consolidation | 7.99% - 24.99% APR, no fees (July 2026) | 8.7/10 | |
| 5 | Best EggBest Egg Personal Loan | Best for fast funding | Fast funding | 8.6/10 |
Second, if you pull the trigger, treat the cards as paid off, not available. Some people cut the limit, freeze the card, or delete it from their phone's wallet. Whatever it takes to keep that $0 at $0 until the loan is gone.
Done right, this is one of the few moves that costs nothing and saves four figures. Done halfway, it doubles your problem. Your call, but only one version of it is smart.
How Candid Yak makes money. Some of the products we write about pay us if you apply or sign up through our links. That never changes our verdict, our rankings, or the numbers in this article. We call a bad deal a bad deal whether it pays us or not. Some brands shown in our comparison tools are placeholder examples while we finalize partner agreements, and we label them as such.