First I'm going to make some assumptions based on a single sentence:
We've already stopped using the card, the goal is to get out of debt completely.
I assume:
- You and your wife are on the same page and are dedicated to becoming debt free. This is fantastic, and necessary.
- You may not have been completely financially responsible in the past, but you definitely are now.
- Both you and your wife can be trusted not to abuse additional open lines of credit, should the opportunity be presented.
Warning: this answer depends on all 3 of the above statements being true. If they are not, this answer could actually hurt more than helps. Now, let's try some math and see what comes of it:
Rate Change:
- Right now with a balance of $2500 and a rate of 20.49%, the interest you'll pay next month is approximately $43.
- If you are able to reduce the rate to the lowest possible rate on this card of 14.74%, the interest you'll pay next month is approximately $31. This will save you about $12 per month, and the savings will get smaller each month as your balance decreases.
Rate Change Conclusion: You'll still be paying up to $30/month in interest even with this change, so it's not the solution, but it's worth making a phone call and asking nicely for a reduction, since you have nothing to lose. However, if they tell you they need to pull your credit in order to find out how much of a rate reduction they can give you, I'd probably decline. Be prepared for them to offer you a new CC with an enticing balance transfer offer (which will also likely require them to pull your credit), but we don't know yet whether a balance transfer is worth it.
Ask yourself: How long will it take you to pay this off completely? The shorter the time period the less changes you need to make. Try to make an educated ballpark guess and make note of your answer. For example, if you can afford to throw $300/month at this debt, with interest you'll be looking at around 10 months. If you can afford $150/month then perhaps it's 22 months.
Balance Transfer: Typically the balance transfer fee is between 2-5%, though I know from first hand experience that BofA offers zero-zero (no fee/zero interest) balance transfers on new CCs for those that qualify. If you qualify for zero-zero I'd take it without too much thought and immediately move the $2500 to the new card. If it's a 3% fee with 0% for 12 months, that's only $75 over 12 months (compared to $300-500/year at your current rates). This also makes sense unless you feel you can realistically pay off the card in less than 3 months. Note though it's possible that BofA (or any bank) won't let you do a balance transfer from one BofA card to another, so most likely you'll have to explore a new bank. But once you decide to do this, it's kind of fun because with a credit score over 700 you'll be comparing not just balance transfer offers, but cashback offers too which you can take advantage of after you've completely paid off the transferred balance.
Balance Transfer Conclusion: this is probably a good solution, and I'd start with BofA first to see what they can offer. Most likely you'll have to find a new bank unless BofA allows you to move your existing balance to another card they offer. If you do a balance transfer, try as best you can to have it completely paid off by the end of the promotional period. If you can't, you're still better off, but you'll have to repeat this exercise in another 12-18 months, hopefully for the last time of your life.