Prosper loan vs credit card debt

[mloupagu]

I was just reading about Prosper loans here, interesting concept. I have about 8,000 in credit card debt spread between 2 credit cards. I was thinking, to get my FICO scores up (the are currently in the low 700's) to get a 8000 loan to pay it off. Do you think that this would be a good idea? My interest rates average 20% on the credit cards.

[SmartCookie]

With your scores, it would certainly save you money to pay off the revolving with a lower interest rate loan.  You don't necessarily have to go thru Prosper, you shouldn't have trouble getting a good rate at most places with those scores.

I always also recommend calling your CCCs and asking them for a better rate.  Most people get them just by asking.  I had one card cut from over 22% variable down to 12% fixed just by saying 'hey, I'm getting 0 rate intro offers from other companies... what can you do because I don't want to switch but your rates are outrageous'.  Takes 5 minutes but most people don't because they feel intimidated for some reason.

[SoulSmilen]

Prosper is not an answer to improving credit based on the TL. They only report to Experian, and that's periodically/sporadically. You're not going to get as good a rate as you could get at a bank or CU either; people bid on loans with high interest rates because that's how they make the money on the money they're using to fund the loan.