Here’s a tip you probably didn’t know, which may surprise you considering all the different ways credit card companies try to trip you up so they can raise your interest rates and tack on fees. Most credit card companies will allow you to enroll in an automatic payment program. Of course they don’t heavily advertise these programs, but if you call and ask they will likely send you an enrollment form.
Here is my experience with several of my card issuers in trying to set up automatic payment plans:
Citi – You can contact customer service to get a form for your accounts. They will send you a form to complete, which allows you to select to pay the minimum due, full balance, or specified amount each month. You simply complete the form and attach a cancelled check to enroll.
First National Bank of Omaha – Same as Citi. They often send the form with your new card when opening the account, but you can always call customer service to request it.
Capital One – Same as above.
Chase – The easiest of them all as you can complete the request entirely on their website. From the main online banking page, click “Payments & Transfers”, then “Card Payments, then “Set up automatic payments”. From there you can enroll your checking account and set up the automated payments of minimum due, statement balance, or specified amount. The really nice thing about this system is that the request is almost immediate, so their is not uncertainty as to when the payments will start. Enrollment is confirmed on your statement and the exact payment amount to be deducted is noted. Also, it is clarified that if you make a payment prior to the due date, the autopay amount will be adjusted for it.
Bank of America – BofA is the worst for this. They do not offer an automated payment setup that allows the full balance to be paid from an non-BofA account. The only possibility is for old MBNA-issued cards, you can set up automatic payment of the minimum due through the Bill Pay Choice system, if enrolled.
No more missed payments or late fees!
This is fantastic if you play the “app-o-rama” game, which I’ll probably post about in the coming weeks. The only disadvantage I see is that if you have an old MBNA credit card account, you can use the billpay feature on that card to pay other credit cards, gaining about an extra month of float. It may not seem like a big deal, but if you are paying other cards an average of $5000 total each month, over the course of a year the interest earned on the extra float would be about $200, assuming a 4% return. The question then becomes how much is it worth to you to not be bothered with scheduling the payments each month. At this point for me the time savings and the assurance I won’t miss a due date make it worthwhile for me to enroll.
