topic Re: Autopay in Credit Cards

Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:29:30 GMT

How many of you have setup automatic payments of your credit cards? If not, why not?

Personally, I have all my cards setup for autopay of full balance. This way I don't have to worry about paying bills. Of course I still double check the statement and also verify that the payment went through.

It seems like a lot of people here pay their bills manually and I'm curious why.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:41:58 GMT

I personally domy because I like to calculate all my transactions in detail after entering them in Quickbooks. This is just so I know I'm not paying for someone's bogus charges.

But then again, your way works since you're looking over your statement. I just like getting more "hands on" with my statement to make sure.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:48:25 GMT

I manually make payments because I like to know how much is being paid, when and to whom. I like to be hands on when managing my money and credit. I do, however, have autopay set up for minimum balance just in case I somehow "forget". Although I never have forgotten to make any payments, I just like to know that the added security of autopay is there.

My cards that are still on the intro 0% APR period carry balances, while the cards that aren't on any intro period are PIF.

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:00:10 GMT

If you have autopay setup, you have up to 25 days from the day the statement cuts to review the accuracy of the statement. I have had unauthorized charges on my cards before and I never had to disable autopay. I simply called the CCC and they removed the unauthorized charge before the next payment came out.

I understand the use case of 0% APR, but even if I took advantage of that (I never do), I would still setup autopay of the monthly payment.

I'm curious if there's anyone here who doesn't even have autopay for minimum balance due setup.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:15:20 GMT

There are some cards (such as some of the Comenity ones) that do not have autopay

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:18:55 GMT

Seriously? Wow, I didn't know that. When I originally got my HSBC Premier, it didn't have an online autopay option either. I called customer service and they sent me a form to fill out to setup autopay. A couple of months later the autopay option was finally available online, too. Maybe Comenity is similar?

Re: Autopay

EddieK — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:19:50 GMT

I don't have autopay set up on any CC. I rotate my cards each month to have one report a balance so it's just easier to do that manually for me.

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:24:22 GMT

If you had autopay setup, it would be extra insurance in case you forgot to pay. Why would you not setup at least minimum balance due payments?

Re: Autopay

EddieK — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:29:33 GMT

@bz386 wrote:
If you had autopay setup, it would be extra insurance in case you forgot to pay. Why would you not setup at least minimum balance due payments?

You're probably right, I just believe I won't miss one with the amount of times I check them.

Re: Autopay

bdhu2001 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:29:56 GMT

I have a combination method. I pay most of my bills through automatic schedule via on-line banking. I started with Microsoft Money & Quicken before on-line banking & other things became an option. Eventually, I switched to on-line banking and still use it because I like to have one area to view all scheduled payments.

Over time, I've adapted to using autopay for the minimum on all my cards, but I manually go on line to pay the full balance prior to due date. In addition, I manually make additional payments to make sure balances aren't recorded between due date and statement close date (if I think I may apply for something).

I also keep an excel spreadsheet that tracks all my bills and payments. In addition, I have a tab that tracks utilization. On top of that, I check "Mint" every morning to make sure nothing got missed.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:30:50 GMT

@bz386 wrote:
If you had autopay setup, it would be extra insurance in case you forgot to pay. Why would you not setup at least minimum balance due payments?

Is there some "Autopay Corporation" that you work for that we don't know about?

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:44:55 GMT

I don't auto pay. I like to chose when I'll pay it. I also think that if I'm paying multiple times a month they still may take that minimum payment on the due date. I don't know tho but we have three accounts. 1 is strictly for bills so we don't keep a lot in there. EOW we know what money is going out and to who. So we deposit that amount into the account.

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:52:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@bz386 wrote:
If you had autopay setup, it would be extra insurance in case you forgot to pay. Why would you not setup at least minimum balance due payments?
Is there some "Autopay Corporation" that you work for that we don't know about?

Haha, not at all. I just read this forum and see cases where people either forget to pay or pay too late. Then there was this story of someone who ended up in the emergency room and only came back from hospital a month later and was asking what he can do about the late payment on his credit report. It seems so stupid to mess up one's credit because of something like this. I understand the cases of people who get into financial trouble and can't pay their bills, but I just can't wrap my head around how people get into trouble due to sloppiness, when it is so easy to prevent it.

For the health of your credit, the single most important thing to do is to always pay on time. Setting up automatic payments is the best way to ensure that this always happens. Yet a surprising number of people don't do it, so I'm curious why.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:53:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I don't auto pay. I like to chose when I'll pay it. I also think that if I'm paying multiple times a month they still may take that minimum payment on the due date. I don't know tho but we have three accounts. 1 is strictly for bills so we don't keep a lot in there. EOW we know what money is going out and to who. So we deposit that amount into the account.

I don't think that happens, every payment reduces the min pay due, so that really is not a concern (at least with any of the banks I use).

To me, the huge advantage of PIF on due date is that you are maximizing the float (paying the last possible day) and the CCC is responsible (so long as you have enough money in the account) for taking the payment in time. And, if you have utilization concerns, you can still pay down during the month (losing some of the float advantage)

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:56:07 GMT

@EddieK wrote:
@bz386 wrote:
If you had autopay setup, it would be extra insurance in case you forgot to pay. Why would you not setup at least minimum balance due payments?
You're probably right, I just believe I won't miss one with the amount of times I check them.

This reminds me of the guy who ended up in the emergency room and had to stay in hospital for a month, then was asking on here how to fix the 30 day late on his credit report. Not that I wish anything like that would ever happen to you, but it potentially can.

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:58:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I don't think that happens, every payment reduces the min pay due, so that really is not a concern (at least with any of the banks I use).
To me, the huge advantage of PIF on due date is that you are maximizing the float (paying the last possible day) and the CCC is responsible (so long as you have enough money in the account) for taking the payment in time. And, if you have utilization concerns, you can still pay down during the month (losing some of the float advantage)

+1. This.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:09:43 GMT

@bz386 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't think that happens, every payment reduces the min pay due, so that really is not a concern (at least with any of the banks I use).
To me, the huge advantage of PIF on due date is that you are maximizing the float (paying the last possible day) and the CCC is responsible (so long as you have enough money in the account) for taking the payment in time. And, if you have utilization concerns, you can still pay down during the month (losing some of the float advantage)
+1. This.

Disclaimer: I work for BZ386 at Autopay 'R' Us and he made me post !

Re: Autopay

bz386 — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:13:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@bz386 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I don't think that happens, every payment reduces the min pay due, so that really is not a concern (at least with any of the banks I use).
To me, the huge advantage of PIF on due date is that you are maximizing the float (paying the last possible day) and the CCC is responsible (so long as you have enough money in the account) for taking the payment in time. And, if you have utilization concerns, you can still pay down during the month (losing some of the float advantage)
+1. This.
Disclaimer: I work for BZ386 at Autopay 'R' Us and he made me post !

Geez, now you're making me consider starting a business with that name. I wonder if Toys'R'Us would mind

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:19:54 GMT

Every one of my accounts is set up auto-pay. Works great and I don't have to worry about a missed payment. The manual snail mail or logging in to issue a check to the bank or even remembering to electronically pay is old school.

Re: Autopay

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:21:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
There are some cards (such as some of the Comenity ones) that do not have autopay

There has to be one in every crowd