Avoid late payment fees on credit cards with direct debits
November 10, 2009 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
As most people know the fees and charges that credit card firms impose for late and missed repayments can quickly add up, costing a small fortune. Whilst credit card companies have had to cap these fees at a maximum £12 for the last few years they fees can amount to a tidy sum over time.
Given that many people make late repayments from time to time or even miss repayments altogether credit card companies are able to make a fortune from these fees.
Industry officials are now advising consumers to try and avoid paying these fees by ensuring that their payment is made every month and in time.
Whilst this is not always easy given the fast pace of life that many of us have to cope with there are ways to ensure that your payment is never missed or late, thus avoiding the hefty fees that can otherwise be applied to your account.
Consumers who set up a standing order or direct debit to have their credit card repayments made each month do not run the risk of missing repayments or making late payments, and therefore do not have to worry about being charged because of this.
Customers are advised to set up a payment for at least the minimum amount to come out, although those that pay in full each month can make arrangements for the full bill to be paid each month.
One consumer stated: “I used to miss credit card repayments on a regular basis, and because of this I used to spend a fortune in charges alone, which was a complete waste of money. However, not that I have made arrangements with my bank I know the money will go our automatically and in time, so I have no need to worry now.”
A balance transfer can work to your advantage when you have an unpaid balance on your existing credit card. You may ask what reason is there to transfer my outstanding balance from one card to another. For starters most of the cards that offer balance transfers have lower interest rates than your existing credit card. This makes you save lots of money when making payments not to mention the convenience of only having to deal with one card to make your payments.
Dear Money Stop
I have used the direct debit system to protect my credit card accounts against late payment penalties for many years despite the fact that I normally clear card payments on time.
Recently, however, I have discovered that two credit card companies have changed the way in which they operate their direct debit system – without notification.
Normally the direct debit took a minimum payment and a manual payment was made of the outstanding balance but suddenly I was paying interest because my account had not been paid in full.
So, what had happened?
The card companies had changed the way in which the direct debit was triggered – any payment made to the account in a month negated the direct debit!
A payment made near the payment due date might or might not result in the direct debit being taken. Too near the due might result in a late payment and interest charges or a full payment and a direct debit being taken. The only safe way was to pay early in full and not rely on the direct debit at all.
So that’s OK then? No, not really.
The most recent credit card company to adopt this change did explain the way in which they operated but added that “If you don’t use a direct debit arrangement for twelve months your bank might just cancel”.
Sure as little eggs it will be the thirteenth month when you forget to pay on time and get hit with a penalty and interest charges.
I would appreciate your comments on this and your experience of how wide spread it is in view of the number of people likely to end up paying unnecessarily.
Yours sincerely
AH