topic Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments? in Credit Cards

Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:06:48 GMT

Hello all.

I've read a number of posts indicating that one should limit credit card payments to 1 or 2 per month.

Why? Unless the card issuer has a specific monthly limit on the number of monthly payment, and assuming that all payments are well over the monthly minimums, what is the harm? Is there any negative backlash in doing so or not?

Thanks!

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

MarineVietVet — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:41:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello all.

I've read a number of posts indicating that one should limit credit card payments to 1 or 2 per month.

Why? Unless the card issuer has a specific monthly limit on the number of monthly payment, and assuming that all payments are well over the monthly minimums, what is the harm? Is there any negative backlash in doing so or not?

Thanks!

I have no idea about this. I'll wait along with you to find the answer.

From a BK years ago to:

9/09 EX pulled by lender 802
3/10 EQ- 800
4/10 TU -772

You can do the same thing with hard work

Credit Scoring 101
Common Abbreviations
Frequently Requested Threads
Credit Problems Which Is Worse?
Whats In Your FICO Score

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

smallfry — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:26:19 GMT

I don't like to make any more than 2. Usually make 1 payment. Depending upon the credit limit it might give the appearance of living week to week.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

MidnightOwl — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:17:01 GMT

The rule I follow for myself is, if I'm going to charge something on my CC, I better be able to pay the entire balance when the bill arrives so, That keeps me to the 1 payment rule. However, I do realize that emergencies come up when people may have to charge more & can't make the entire payment all at once. I guess it's because I learned the hard way in the past when I screwed my credit up. I actually feel pretty good about myself since I keep my balance showing on all 3 reports as $ 0. I just wished I did that all along instead of going through that nightmare that I did in the past ( completely my fault )

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:13:26 GMT

I pay more times a month depending on how much I put on the respective card. If I really spend a ton, I sometimes pay 4 or 5 times a month. It doesn't affect my score negatively and Amex and Discover don't touch my limits. I really don't get the argument that doing so is a negative thing if my balance always reports zero. Now, if I was paying 4 times a month and leaving an increasing balance then I can see the argument that one may be living week to week. There are many more important things to worry about than how many payments you make to keep a zero balance. Just my two cents.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

laz98 — Thu, 06 May 2010 04:05:37 GMT

i don't usually make more than 3 payments. right now i'm still working my way towards paying in full on some of our cards, so when i have extra money, i make an extra payment. no big deal to me. gets my balance down faster.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:53:31 GMT

It does nothing, and I have fantastic scores to back it up!

I use a rewards card with no cap, and so just about every dollar I decide to spend goes on that card.

I pay many times per week sometime depending on the balance, and how much I need to use etc.

One thing I have noticed is all my payments in one month are added together to count as one monthly payment on my CR's.

That makes complete sense though!

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:07:19 GMT

smallfry wrote: I don't like to make any more than 2. Usually make 1 payment. Depending upon the credit limit it might give the appearance of living week to week.

My feelings exactly. Well said, smallfry!

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Jazzzy — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:22:43 GMT

I have also had no ramifications from making multiple monthly payments. My multiple payments usually go to AmEx because that's the reward card we use most. We've never had any negative ramifications.

Paying multiple times won't affect your FICO score, and I haven't seen any evidence that the creditors are worried about it. I would think just the opposite....it shows them how much you use their card.

I think we may be talking about two different scenarios, however. In some cases, there are multiple payments because the card holder is close to the limit and want's to free up the available balance. In others, cardholders may pay weekly, for example, as a budgeting and discipline measure.

I've not seen any hard evidence posted here that shows the cc cards do not like it. Everyone has to pay according to their own beliefs/experiences.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:35:18 GMT

Thank you all so much for your input, I really appreciate it!

I've been making multiple monthly payments to reduce and eliminate balances - we're planning to move in a few months, so I wanted to get my credit in the best shape possible.

We need to get about $2K worth of unexpected car work done next week (grumble grumble) so I've tailored our budget to completely pay off 2 of 4 cards by tomorrow, with the other 2 at < 20% utilization. I want to continue throwing every extra amounts on our cards (payments are always well over 10 times the monthly minimum payment amount) but wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting myself in doing so.

Thanks so much, I am really enjoying the insight available here.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:36:55 GMT

Oh. I'm sorry, I thought your original post was just a generic question about multiple payments and how they might be viewed. (In other words, I thought you had a $0 balance, charged something, then went home and paid for it...rinse, repeat, etc.)

If you're paying down balances you've accumulated, pay as often as they allow, whenever you've got the money to throw at it. You'll save on interest charges, too!

You're doin' just fine!!

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Woolfman — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:17:56 GMT

Im curious if anyone has actually had a card closed or CL cut on a card for the reason of paying too many times . While i know not all things in the credit world make sense. This is one of the ones that really has me boggled .

I have a BB RW MC that me and the wife are ultimately using as an atm card. (no cash back) The CL is only 750.00 . We have shoved just over 4k through it in the last four months . (reward zone points + employee discount= good christmas)

I pay on this thing weekly. Generally it will hit the statement with a balance just because of the fact of the heavy usage daily. (gas, food, even pay some Utils with it)

But it is always PIF'd . I just cant grasp that they would think this is a negative thing in thier eyes.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:33:47 GMT

Good question OP.

We make multiple payments on several of our cards. When we've called in and the CSR's have reviewed our accounts, or when we've received letters from these creditors, they have continuously commented on our "excellent" credit behavior with them. I think they're not at all concerned with multiple payments - and seem to believe that the nice low balances that are kept, along with good card usage equals good credit management.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:22:04 GMT

I received a Best Buy MC with a $300 limit. Obviously not much of a limit as I am rebuilding from horrible credit. I put EVERYTHING you could on the card and as you could tell a grocery and gas trip could max the card out. So I was making at least a payment a week and sometimes more. I have had this card for just over 6 months and have had three CLI's. One requested and two auto CLI's. I am up to $650 now. So it worked for me with the BBRZMC. However your experience could vary and it could also vary according to the issuer. Different banks may like different things but I know the Best Buy Mastercard has no problem with frequent payments. And I didnt make them all on every Monday or Friday just whenever I got close to the limit I would pay it off and repeat.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

MidnightOwl — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:24:26 GMT

How long ago did you get your card ? I haven't had any increases at all on mine & I've had my card over 1 year. I always pay the entire balance off when the bill comes.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

smallfry — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:50:01 GMT

@Woolfman wrote:
Im curious if anyone has actually had a card closed or CL cut on a card for the reason of paying too many times . While i know not all things in the credit world make sense. This is one of the ones that really has me boggled .
I have a BB RW MC that me and the wife are ultimately using as an atm card. (no cash back) The CL is only 750.00 . We have shoved just over 4k through it in the last four months . (reward zone points + employee discount= good christmas)

I pay on this thing weekly. Generally it will hit the statement with a balance just because of the fact of the heavy usage daily. (gas, food, even pay some Utils with it)
But it is always PIF'd . I just cant grasp that they would think this is a negative thing in thier eyes.

It's a $750 card. Making payments weekly makes sense. I am talking about someone with a very high limit card with one of the AA happy issuers who pays a couple hundred a week. It looks better if you pay monthly in that case.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

GregB — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:55:21 GMT

Does this count?

I have a BofA Signature card that is in my name but used for business purposes. I made 6 payments last statement ranging from $1000-2000 each. Previous month was 9 payments ranging from $500-2000 each. Balance has grown from $39K to $42K in that period. Limit is $46K. They recently approved a single charge of $16K which would make me think they aren't concerned. Interest rate is 8.49%.

I feel I'm pushing my luck but I have a card that just went from 0% to 18% so I'm concentrating on it first.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:25:56 GMT

Unless and until I read a specific example of AA resulting from multiple payments per month, I think that this is a case of us worrying too much about what lenders might think.

This is understandable, because in many ways they're so freakin' weird, but I've never seen a clear indicator that they have a problem with this. Just IMO.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:06:25 GMT

@MidnightOwl wrote:
How long ago did you get your card ? I haven't had any increases at all on mine & I've had my card over 1 year. I always pay the entire balance off when the bill comes.

I got the card in November and the first CLI upon activation. That was the only manual increase. Then I got an auto CLI in January after running tons of money through the card Christmas shopping. I then got another auto CLI in March. I was surprised for both of the auto CLI's especially in this credit climate.

Re: Is there really an argument against making multiple monthly payments?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:02:22 GMT

My wifes Sears MC (Citi) seems to get paranoid about more than 2 payments a month. After 2 payments they will not release the available credit for 6 to 10 business days.