How
to Avoid Credit Card Late Fees
By: Daryl Flagg
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 creditt
the payment. An on-time payment could easily become late during
that five-day period, so follow those payment guidelines carefully.
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
creditcard 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 credti 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
creditcard 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.
About the Author
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!
cerdit oline, onine credi
See also:
• fix
credit rating
• Home
Foreclosure Options
• Loan
Applications
• Unlocking The Secrets to Obtaining Venture or Angel Investor Capital
• Efficient and Educational Source for Payday Loans Launched
|
