Can i pay sallie mae with a credit card

The companies that collect student loan payments generally require cash payments and don't allow you to use a credit card to pay your bills.

The following options are available to you instead, but they all come with downsides:. Interest fees charged by your student loan issuer might sting, but it's very likely your credit card interest charges will hurt even worse.

Take care to protect your credit score while paying down your student loans—not only by paying bills on time, but by keeping credit card balances low. As your balance rises, so does your credit utilization ratio, which is the portion of your total credit limit you're using. Credit utilization is the second most important factor in your credit score , after payment history.

Other Ways to Get Help With Student Loan Payments If you're considering using credit cards due to a cash shortfall, there are many other ways to avoid falling behind on student loan payments.

Try these alternatives:. Paying student loans with a credit card isn't always a wise choice, due to fees and interest charges that can add up fast. A better idea if you're eager to make use of your credit cards? Applying points or cash back rewards you receive on card purchases toward student loans. Some credit cards let you do this directly. But more commonly, you can ask for your rewards in the form of a check or bank account transfer, rather than a statement credit, and use it to make student loan payments.

Before using credit for loan payments, get clear on how much it will cost so that you can streamline your finances without putting your credit score or cash flow in jeopardy. Need a Student Loan? The purpose of this question submission tool is to provide general education on credit reporting. Sign up for our free student loan newsletter for expert advice on how to borrow student loans responsibly and how to deal with student loan debt. By Ben Luthi January 20, Recommended Articles. How to Increase Your Chances of Qualifying.

Complete Guide to Refinancing Student Loans in If your private lender does offer the option to pay your student loans with a credit card, make sure you know the transaction fee before doing so, as it will likely outweigh any credit card rewards you could earn. Taking out a cash advance from your available line of credit on a card to pay your student loan bills is another costly workaround.

While cash advances are an easy way to get money fast, they often come with an interest rate that's much higher than the rate you pay on purchases or balance transfers. This might sound tempting, since the card comes with an interest-free period when you can pay off the loans with no interest. But there are a few things to consider. Plus, you're limited to how much you can transfer, depending the amount of your credit line. So while you might get an interest-free period to pay off your loans, it's unlikely you'll be able to transfer your entire balance if you have significant debt.

SoFi student loan customers should check out the recently launched SoFi Credit Card , which rewards cardholders when they use the cash back earned from purchases to improve their financial big picture. You can read more about the SoFi Credit Card here. For tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers, payments and interest accrual will continue to be on freeze through at least September Take advantage of this postponement period by paying your higher priority bills and debt, like high-interest credit card balances.

Bonus Rewards only apply on reward amounts redeemed to help pay down a student loan. The reward redemption amount may not satisfy the loan payments due to your lender and you are responsible for meeting the specific payment terms of your loan 3. View pricing and terms for Sallie Mae Accelerate.

To access these features and benefits you must download the Sallie Mae credit card app. Policy provides secondary coverage only. Protection applies to up to 3 phones, the primary line and up to the first two secondary lines on the covered phone bill. Refer to your Guide to Benefits for additional information as terms and exclusions may apply.