Starting a thread on different banks' online payment deadlines and quirks

[marty56]

I  stoped using my CU's online bill pay since I dont use it every month and they wanted to chare $4.95 each month if I dont make 1 payment.

Also after many years, they stoped doing electronic transfer and going to mail since they are using a new company.

I used Chevron's online payment and I paid on the 15th but it didnt get reflected until today.  Since they are GEMB, I would give them a week to process the payment, for those who may use their payment system.   I will.

[MojaveMoon]

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@marty56 wrote:

I  stoped using my CU's online bill pay since I dont use it every month and they wanted to chare $4.95 each month if I dont make 1 payment.

Also after many years, they stoped doing electronic transfer and going to mail since they are using a new company.

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I finally started noticing awhile ago that (some) credit unions have some conditions (such as the one you mentioned) that aren't disclosed upfront. So now when I'm evaluating a credit union that I might be interested in, I always search that credit union's website for a "fee schedule". Sometimes it's difficult to find, and I have to resort to using google to locate it for that credit union.

e.g., https://www.patelco.org/pdf/fee_schedule.pdf

Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 01-23-2009 02:57 PM

[llecs]

Great thread, Hauling.

Knowing the last possible moment to pay a CC is important, IMO. Handy to squeak out the last ounce of utilization....or handy for some of us procrastinators.

Here's our observations for DW and myself (I know I'm duplicating others too):

Credit One Bank - Don't know their policy, but I've paid w/ a debit card as late as 5pm on the due date (on a weekday) w/out being late.

HSBC, Orchard Bank, HSBC Direct Rewards Discover, & Best Buy MC - You can pay online by 4pm the business day prior to the due date. If you miss the cutoff time, you have until 5pm on the due date to pay using their Rush Service w/ a $15 charge. I also spoke w/ a teller from HSBC and said you can pay your CC at any branch but he was unsure if Orchard, Discover-branded, Best Buy, and other cards could be paid at the branch. For reporting purposes, pay them by 4pm the biz day prior to the last biz day of the month. Edited....Not sure about the reporting rules for the Direct Rewards & Best Buy.

Juniper (SeaMiles & ITunes) - pay online by 7pm on the due date.

Target - pay by 4pm on the due date online. We've also paid at the store as late as 7pm w/ cash. A late charge may appear but was reversed the next day. I don't advocate paying that late though.

Macys & Bloomingdales - Don't know what their online policy is (think it's the day prior), but I've paid at the store as late as 7pm on the due date.

Capital One - CapOne advertises that you have to pay by 3pm Monday-Saturday.

Wachovia - I don't know the policy, but I've paid at the branch as late as the day prior to the due date. I did transfer money the night before the due date into the CC from checking without any problems.

National City - Their policy is you can pay by 5pm on the due date, but not on Saturday.

Bank of America - Don't know their policy, but I've paid as late as 2pm on the due date at the branch on a business day.

Citi - Policy is to pay by 5pm on the due date, Monday - Friday. I did talk to a Citibank teller and he said that we can pay at the branch.

Toys R Us (Chase) Store card - Pay by 4pm on the due date.

Merrick Bank (bank CC) - Pay by 3pm on the due date, Monday through Friday only.

Anyone reading this, please correct me if wrong anywhere. I'm in the Eastern time zone if that matters any.

Message Edited by llecs on 01-26-2009 10:38 AM

Message Edited by llecs on 01-26-2009 10:40 AM

[valley_man0505]

Hooters/Merrick:  2 months ago, my balance was for $450 with a CL of $500.  I paid the acct down to 0$.  For almost two weeks, my online access showed a balance of $0, but the available credit was only $50.  I checked my bank account, and the payment cleared the bank the day after I made it.  I called and asked why and they said they hold payments for up to 2 weeks for new(er) customers.  I asked them why since it had already cleared the bank, so there was no way it could get kicked back for insufficient funds.  They said it is just a policy they have and they could put it through for me right away as a courtesy.  An hour later, my available credit was $500.  The next month, the same thing happened.  This time, it transpired while my statement came out.  My statement was actually cut showing a $0 balance, $500 CL, and $70 available credit.  They "last payment made date" showed my $430 payment being made a week earlier.  The credit did not become available for another 2 days after my statement came out (just in time to max it back out for my truck repairs--guess I will have to PIF again out of my next paycheck )

Message Edited by valley_man0505 on 01-26-2009 10:43 AM

[marty56]

Perhaps a bit OT but National City will not generate a statement for me this month since my account was at a zero balance.  They did report to the CRAs though.

LOL I even called to ask about it since I did not want my only Visa card to be my first AA victim or the result of the National City /PNC merger.

[DieselAmy]

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@marty56 wrote:

Perhaps a bit OT but National City will not generate a statement for me this month since my account was at a zero balance. 

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I think all of my cards stop sending printed statements when the balance is zero for more than a month.  I switched to paperless on the frequently used cards, but the others seem to behave this way.

Discover online has always worked well for me (Platinum... not sure if More etc is different).  The 5pm thing seems to be new--you used to be able to pay until 11:59pm on the due date and it would credit fine.  But one time recently I was a couple hours late and still didn't get dinged with any fees etc.  It tends to take a couple of days for the payment to come out of my bank account when I do those last minute online payments, but if I schedule it a few days in advance, it comes out of the bank account the same day as the scheduled payment.

I like that Discover and most of my others allow me to pay more than the statement balance.  I like to just put in a round number.  My Home Depot Rewards Mastercard will not allow me to pay more than the statement amount even if I have other billed activity since then.  Very annoying, but then so is their online interface.

[score_building]

One thing that seems to be different about Discover online acct mgmt versus most other issuers is that they allow you to link only one bank account at a time to draw payments for your cc acct. 

now that i am in between banks and deciding where to land with banking (former wamu and wachovia here) i have found this limitation to be a bit of a nuisance.

Message Edited by score_building on 02-23-2009 07:58 AM

[Anonymous]

I expect you veterans know this but it surprised me when I wasn't paying attention. 

I was using my bank's automatic Bill Pay to send payments to my credit card after each biweekly paycheck, Washington Mutual.  Of course this 2 week interval shifts over the months and one of my payments posted to WAMU 2 days after the due date but 2 days before the statement date for the coming month. So that payment did not "count" toward the minimum due for either of those 2 months. The payment 2 weeks later was less than the minimum due so I got a late payment charge, since the first payment for that month had been sent too soon.

Now, of course, I keep track of all these dates and manually set the bill pay amount and date sent, particularly as I am continuing to pay 5 times more than the minimum due.

From the other posts it seems that most people "pull" money from their bank to the credit card rather than use bill pay to "push" the money from the other direction. Is there an advantage to this?

Thanks, Patrick

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, SpareCheck, I did the same sort of thing on a BofA BT payment, where I paid WAY over the minimum, biweekly. In a month with 3 payperiods, I skipped one, got out of the rhythm, and surprise! Live and learn.

In many cases, paying on the creditor's website credits your account more quickly than paying on your bank's site. Certainly not always, though. And if your creditor has some sort of wacko problem where you can't pay on their site, the other is a good backup.

For instance, several cards --I think American Express is one --won't let you pay on their site until after the first statement has generated. If you want to pay down/ off your balance before the statement drops, you will have to push it through by paying on your bank's site.

[Anonymous]

Maybe slightly OT as well, but I was surprised by BoA this week.  I had a BT that ended this statement and was waiting for my tax return to pay it off.  The return was delayed a week and the earliest I could schedule the payment for was on Friday the 20th for Monday the 23rd. (As noted before by others, they won't accept payments for the same day or on the weekends)  The statement cut on Monday the 23rd and the payment was actually credited before the statement cut.  I was so surprised.  I was sure they would cut the statement first so they could hit me up for a month's interest.  It was a 5k balance so I wasn't looking forward to paying any interest at all.  I'm still skeptical and will be waiting for next month's statement to see if anything surprising shows up later.

Krystofur