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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.
This article is the property of
www.bestcreditcardsonline.com,
which has been offering credit cards services since 2002.
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