cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Few questions about payment timing

tag
IOGARCIA
Member

Few questions about payment timing

I used chargesmart to pay for the mortgage this month with my Discover It card. Is it better to pay it off right away since I have the actual money or should I wait to get my statement to pay it off so it could help my credit? Or can I give half right now and half when it's due?

 

I also have a Bank Americard cash rewards card that I use for gas since I get 3% cash back, but now that I've gotten a hold of an Amex PRG, I'm not sure which is the better deal since Amex gives double points on gas a groceries.

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
pakman92
Established Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing


@IOGARCIA wrote:

I used chargesmart to pay for the mortgage this month with my Discover It card. Is it better to pay it off right away since I have the actual money or should I wait to get my statement to pay it off so it could help my credit? Or can I give half right now and half when it's due?

 

I also have a Bank Americard cash rewards card that I use for gas since I get 3% cash back, but now that I've gotten a hold of an Amex PRG, I'm not sure which is the better deal since Amex gives double points on gas a groceries.


If you let it report on your statement, it will be reported as having a balance, that will hurt your score for the month until it's paid off.

 

Doesn't chargesmart tack on 2.5% or somethign like that?  I hope you weren't doing it for reward points...


My Starting Score: EQ: 691 (11/30/11) TU98: 726 (11/30/11)
My Current Score: EQ: 779 (04/22/13) TU08: 835 (06/03/13)
DW Starting Score: EQ: 742 (03/02/12) TU98: 748 (03/02/12)
DW Current Score: EQ: 784 (03/11/13) TU08: 775 (06/03/13)
Message 2 of 11
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing

how's your experience with charge smart?

i am tempted to do it for my auto loan.

 

charge smart charges 10-45 dollars per transaction, depending on which lender you're trying to pay.

 

JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 3 of 11
mojobones89
Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing


@IOGARCIA wrote:

I used chargesmart to pay for the mortgage this month with my Discover It card. Is it better to pay it off right away since I have the actual money or should I wait to get my statement to pay it off so it could help my credit? Or can I give half right now and half when it's due?

 

I also have a Bank Americard cash rewards card that I use for gas since I get 3% cash back, but now that I've gotten a hold of an Amex PRG, I'm not sure which is the better deal since Amex gives double points on gas a groceries.


pay it off ASAP,so it shows 0% balance on your statement which will report positive on your report,as far as BOA cash rewards vs PRG,you have to think about it in the sense of long term....

with prg you can pay alot of things with points depending on how many points you have,obviously the more you have the bigger and better things you can pay with your points....FOR EXAMPLE A "FREE" TRIP TO EUROPE.

does your BOA cc give you such rewards?

Message 4 of 11
boomhower
Valued Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing


@enharu wrote:

how's your experience with charge smart?

i am tempted to do it for my auto loan.

 

charge smart charges 10-45 dollars per transaction, depending on which lender you're trying to pay.

 


Why would you be tempted?  I'm not seeing the benefit of it unless you ran into a tight spot and can't make the payment for the month.  Then I can see it to give you a month to recover and avoid a 30 day late. 

Message 5 of 11
IOGARCIA
Member

Re: Few questions about payment timing

I used chargesmart to effectively avoid a tight spot for my parents. I know for auto loans from Toyota Financial it's either from $5-$10 fee.

 

And that's a good point on the PRG vs BoA. As for the statement showing 0 balance, I thought it was better for there to be a balance and then have it PIF by the due date? Correct me if I'm wrong...

Message 6 of 11
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing

I owe 500 for my BMW loan so it doesn't make sense for my own loan since charge smart charges 10 dollars per payment.

My girlfriend however still owes bout 9700 for her BMW. A payment of 500 or 9700 is the same flat fee of 10 dollars for BMW. So even with a 1% reward card, I can get 97 dollars in rewards for 10 dollars. I have a 2% Barclays arrival card too, so the rewards are more. This isn't manufactured spending, right? To me I see it as the same as paying for my AT&T or utilities bill using my credit card, and then paying for my card using my checking
JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 7 of 11
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing

Yes, Chargesmart isn't manufactured spending (VR/AP/GC with pin etc)   I used Chargesmart just to meet the minimum spend quickly on my Citi Premier, and might do it on my CSP.  

 

It's expensive, (for mortgage) around 2.5%, but, with those cards, you get 1% back as rewards (which if you are a UR lover you can probably say that's worth lots and lots!)

Message 8 of 11
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing

Hey bs6054, have u used them yet? How's your experiences with it so far? How long do they take with processing payments?
JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 9 of 11
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Few questions about payment timing

I used Chargesmart just to meet the minimum spend quickly on my Citi Premier,

 


so yes, I used them!   I submitted the payment early Friday, it appeared in my Mortgage account this morning, and was charged to my credit card today.

So I was fairly impressed.  Their FAQ says something like allow 5 business days, but often it is there in 2.

 

But for mortgages, not cost effective for rewards in general, but good for meeting initial bonus limits, and I guess if you were close to a reward level that you wanted to redeem quickly.

Message 10 of 11
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.