Avoid Late Charges By Paying Online
REM # F639
By Ilyce R. Glink
Summary: A reader is wondering if making a payment a few days late will trigger higher rates from other creditors. Ilyce states that late payments are not usually reported for less than 15 to 30 days. She encourages the reader to sign up for automatic payments to avoid all late payments.
Q : I have a question regarding a creditor possibly raising rates if we are
late on any bills to any other creditors.
I know that when we are 30 days or more late, that is certainly reported. How
about when we pay our bill only 1 or 2 days late? Is that reported, and then
a possible trigger to higher rates with other creditors?
A: Typically, payments that are less than 15 to 30 days late are not reported
as "late" to the credit reporting bureaus. And yes, getting reported
as “late” on one bill can trigger the “penalty” APR
interest rates that are sky high.
So, why take a chance? There's no excuse for being 1 or 2 days late. In addition
to giving you a headache, you'll still have to pay finance charges and a late
fee that can be more than $40.
If you're having trouble getting your bills paid on time, it's time to let electronic
banking work its magic for you.
Go to your credit card company's site and sign up for the smart check option.
Essentially, you can input your checking account number, and then each month,
you can log online and direct the company to automatically deduct the amount
that is due out of your bank account.
It takes about 30 seconds to pay your bill this way, and most credit cards will
credit your account immediately with the electronic transfer. Not only will
you save yourself the late fees and finance charges, but you'll also pocket
the 37 cents you would have spent on the stamp.
Is it safe to do this? I've been paying my credit card bills this way for years
and it's always worked. Just make sure you print out (or copy into your desktop
calendar) the confirmation number for the transaction, in case something does
go wrong.
NOTE: This column is distributed by Real Estate Matters Syndicate, PO
Box 366, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022. This column may not be resold, reprinted,
resyndicated or redistributed without written permission from the publisher.
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