Don't Trust Bank Bill Pay for CC's

[Anonymous]

Just a word of advice on using your Bank's bill pay service.

I just found out that my BoA Bill Pay made a late payment for me to CapOne in Oct 08.

My bill was due Oct 3 and the Bill Pay was set to pay it Oct 1.  But, payment did not get to and post CapOne until Oct 4, one day late.  Mind you, my bill pay was set for the bill to be paid/credited for the 1st.

While this did not affect my FICO or CR, it is affecting my interal CapOne credit and was the reason for a CLI decline.

I always PIF early when I use the card, but this particular month had no use....but my $19 AF hit.

So, make sure your Bill Pay, if you use it, pays it far in advance, like more than a week.

For me, I called CapOne and requested to enroll in auto draft pay for minimum due (so that I am never late).

Cap One does not have an online/web enrollment process.   You have to call in, they send a letter with auto draft authorization that you have to complete and mail in which will not become effective for 6 to 8 weeks.

[haulingthescoreup]

Ow! Any chance that you can get BofA to cut a letter acknowledging their mistake? Maybe Cap One would take that into account. Maybe.

I think I've read that Cap One will forgive one mistake, and after that forget it, but that might be for the reporting of 30 days, rather than the one-day-late for their internal systems.

[Anonymous]

Nope....that's why I don't trust bill pay any more.  They do "not" guarantee any particular payment will be paid by a particular date, only estimate or state the date it should credit or post.

BoA does not consider it a mistake.  Plus, they state that the problem may lie with CapOne failing to credit the payment timely....which is possible also.

So, Cap says not paid on time, BoA says paid as indicated, not responsible for actual post date.

I have asked CapOne to review and consider it as internal crediting error and essentially do internal GW.

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, it's worth a try.

So essentially, you're saying that in the eyes of banks, the only party ever responsible for anything at all whatsoever is the consumer, and the banks have carte blanche to categorize any transaction any old way they want? --gotta love it.

[Red1Blue]

I usually pay as soon as the statement cuts so in my case there is plenty of time for the processing and posting. I also check my bank account to see if the funds are debited and also credit card account to see the balance and payments posted. This way I have no confusion about my accounts. It is our responsibility as the owner of the account to verify what is in our account instead of assuming it is taken care. Trust me this bank billpay made life lot easier if you remeber the old days when we have to mail the check and hope it will get there in time and processed in time. I take the billpay any day over the snail mail.

[Anonymous]

Oh, the convenience is great.  I just don't trust it without all the "follow up" you mentioned.

As stated, I generally do PIF early.  It was an AF that hit that I wasn't aware of.  I am not saying it is BoA's fault, I am saying it is my responsiblity and as such, I choose to have the CC enrolled in auto draft from the CC side in case snail mail is late/lost, bank bill pay is late or errored, I am hit by a bus and in a coma or abducted by aliens, etc.

It's called coverying my posterior back side and mitigating risks.

[UpNUp]

Exactly the reason I PIF 2-3 weeks before the due date.

In case there is a mistake there is time to fix it, although I never had a problem.

Message Edited by UpNUp on 04-04-2009 10:09 AM

[Anonymous]

I also pay my Cap-1 as soon as the statement is cut.  I always check.  I don't quite trust "automation" so I always a couple days after I used my CU's bill pay system go back to Cap-1 to see when my payment was posted.  For me, my little system works well. 

[KingAdrock]

This is a shock to me. I've used BofA billpay for some years now. At first I always paid a few days ahead just in case, but after awhile I set it exactly on the day I want. Never even once have I seen a payment post on a different day than BofA said it would.

Since when does BofA *not* guarantee that the payment will arrive on time? As I recall they clearly say they do, going as far as saying they would pay your late fees.

[UpNUp]

I also find it hard to believe if the error was on their part and you have proof, that they would'nt happily fix it.

My payments always posted when they said it would. And in the case of Chase the payments post and my accounts credited on the scheduled payment date two days before they even get their money from my checking account.