You have a credit card, that is a low interest rate one. Do you pay extra on that account and then transfer the money? Otherwise, where does the money come from? Other than as a cash advance.

Maybe you are accepting a new card that offers a great balance transfer rate. It turns out both card are from the same bank as is frequently the case. They tell you you can't transfer a balance from one of their cards to pay off the other high rate card. Its a work around.

They don't tell you that a balance transfer can be from one card directly to your bank account. I'm not sure why that isn't considered a cash advance but it's not. At least it didn't used to be. I swear I did that myself a few years back because my old boss told me about it. Unless they closed that little loophole somehow, you can still do that.

You usually have to pay a 3% or so balance transfer fee but if you are getting a few thousand to pay off a really high interest card you come out way ahead.

I found this online.

http://www.creditcardbalancetransferoffers.com/moving-a-balance-transfer-to-your-checking-account/

However, in the past I used to get these blank checks mailed to me from one of my credit cards. I think they were encouraging me to use those checks as if they were checks, but whatever amount I wrote them for would wind up as a new charge on the account. I never used them, and was careful to rip them up.

Now that you mention it, I have not seen any of those in several years. I have closed a couple of credit card accounts, which is perhaps why they no longer show up in my mailbox.

There is usually a 3% transfer fee but you get a year or 18 months at zero percent on many of them. Usually 3% of the entire balance will be way less than the interest you would pay over the life of the special rate. Then all over your payments go to knocking down the balance. Even if you don't pay it off, you come out way ahead.