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How to Avoid Credit Card Late Fees
Everyone hates late fees and being late will cost you dearly
these days. For some credit cards today, if you are late, you
will have to shell out as much as $40 each time. This can put a
nice sized hole in your pocket really quick.
Below, I will provide you with some tips and strategies on how
to steer clear of those monstrous late fees. This will not only
save you a lot of money in the long run, but it will also keep
those money-hungry credit card companies, I won't mention any
names, from getting your hard earned money.
Just pay your bill. One of the easiest ways of avoiding a late
fee is to just pay your bill each and every month by sending in a
check, money order, or other type of payment to your respective
credit card issuer. Just make sure you follow the numerous
guidelines, which are usually outlined on the back of each credit
card bill, on how to send in your payment. These guidelines must
be followed precisely if you want to guarantee that your payment
will go through on time.
Payment guidelines may include everything from a specific
payment address to the time of day by which the payment must be
received to be credited that day. Many issuers also stipulate
that payments must arrive in the preprinted envelope sent to the
customer.
While the Fair Credit Billing Act requires issuers to credit
payments the day they are received, each issuer is allowed to set
specific payment guidelines. If any of the guidelines are not
met, the issuer can take as many as five days to credit the
payment.
An on-time payment could easily become late during that
five-day period, so follow those payment guidelines
carefully.
Just skip the payment. One of the more rare types of methods
you hear of are Skip-A-Payment services. You can use these
services to skip mortgage, credit card, or loan payments. Usually
you would need to get in contact with your bank just to see if
you even qualify or not. There are also independent companies out
there that will allow you to do the same thing, no matter what
bank you are a member of. Depending on whose service you use, the
fee's associated with it vary. When you use these types of
services make sure you know how much you will be charged then
decide if it's worth it or not.
Pay minimum due immediately. One of the best ways to prevent a
late fee from being charged to your account is to pay the minimum
due immediately. As soon as you receive your bill, send in the
minimum due. This will always insure that your credit card issuer
received payment. You can always send in more money later if you
decide otherwise. This is a great way to avoid missing a payment
because if you forget to send extra money you can guarantee that
you won't be charged a late fee because the minimum due has been
already been paid.
Move your due date. Are your credit card bills due at a time
of the month when you're running low on cash? Many people have
trouble saving money, so when it comes time to paying their
credit card bills, they don't have any cash to do so. One
particular solution is to move your due date. Many credit card
issuers will allow you to set your own due date to meet your
specific needs. If you have trouble saving money, move your due
date to a time when you do have money, like as soon as you get
your paycheck. If you time your credit card bill to come the same
day you get paid, you will always have cash to pay the bill.
Pay by phone. If you are one of those people that wait to the
last minute to do everything or if you just forgot to send in
your credit card payment early enough, you could always pay by
phone. This guarantees that your payment will be on time. Just
supply the representative on the other line with your checking
account number and your bank routing number, which is printed at
the bottom of each check. Usually the routing number is first and
the account number is second. A lot of issuers allow you to pay
by phone and some will charge you a pretty penny for doing so.
Fee's can range from $5 to $20.
Use other express methods. If your bank does not offer a "pay
by phone" service and you need to get your payment to your credit
card issuer as soon as possible, I recommend either sending your
payment in by express mail or by Western Union. Either one of
these services can get your payment to your credit card issuer
immediately. These express methods are costly, but it will always
most likely be cheaper than any fees associated with being late.
Make sure you send your express payment to the proper address.
Many issuers have separate payment addresses for express
payments. The last thing you want to do is slow the processing of
an express payment by sending it to the wrong address.
Daryl Flagg is the founder and CEO of Next Month Online. Next
Month Online is a service that allows its visitors to skip credit
card payments. They can be found at http://www.NextMonthOnline.com.
Sign up for free!
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