If you are one of the many people hard hit by the slowing economy and mounting credit card debt you may be considering credit card debt consolidation loans as an option. Many people use this term interchangeably with credit card debt consolidation and it’s easy to misunderstand what your options actually are. We’re going to discuss the differences here to make things easier for you to make your decision.

Debt consolidation is a service debt consolidation services offer their clients that enables the consumer to make a single monthly payment on all of their credit card balances. The reason this is done is so that interest rates can be lowered, penalties and fees eliminated and to create a situation where the one monthly payment is more affordable than before.

When you refer to this process as credit card debt consolidation loans it is confusing because they are not actually loans. Instead it is a program that has been set up to help people get out of debt and pay of their credit card balances more easily. If you are interested in a loan to pay of credit card debt your only options is a home equity loan or a personal loan. If you are in a high level of credit card debt, such loans will be hard to come by.

If the consumer is in fact looking for a loan to completely pay off their credit card debt then it is actually not a debt consolidation loan at all. What the consumer is doing is not consolidating their debt but rather using the loan to pay it off. The distinction between the two is where the confusion usually begins for some people.

Debt consolidation companies and credit counseling services are terms that are often used to describe the very same things and that is companies that negotiate on behalf of consumers in debt. So instead of securing credit card debt consolidation loans they are actually negotiating lower interest rates so that the debt is more affordable.

Debt consolidation services are able to help their clients because they have developed a solid relationship with banks and credit card companies. As a result, they are able to negotiate lower interest rates for people who cannot afford their current payments. The creditors understand that it is better that the consumer not get into a position where they cannot pay their loan at all.

Credit card debt consolidation loans are not exactly what these services do. They create a payment plan and act as an intermediary to facilitate the payment of credit card debts. The payment plan ordinarily takes 4 to 5 years to pay off credit card balances completely. All credit cards must be cancelled. These services are extremely helpful to people who are looking for ways to manage their credit card debt.