Do you guys use autopay on your credit card bills? Why or why not?

[Middleswarth]

No way.  I want nothing coming out of my checking that I did not initiate.  I always want to know how much is in there.  I'm always afraid that something will get messed up and my direct deposit will not be there in time.  Although that hasn't happened in 20 years, I know there's a first time for everything. 

I have all my bills sent to my bank (USAA Billpay).  I also have them setup on my Quicken Calendar.  I manually manage the payments from there.  With Quicken I can see everything for the month and easily plan ahead. Then every Monday I review my bills and pay via USAA.  

I do use auto pay for my cell phone, Directv, and other monthly bills that accept credit cards.  I have a CC that I use for all of this so it is not coming from my checking.

[cashnocredit]

Middlesworth:

You raise a good point. It's really dangerous if you don't track whats gonna come out of your checking. I use Mint to track all my cards and balances. Otherwise I would probably set up autopay for min payments as backup and do the reset manually.

I was caught out of my home during the SoCal fire about 5 years ago. I couldn't get back home for a week and came really close to bouncing checks that were on autopay. Stuff happens.

[ACsteel]

I PIF a little over a week before the statement end date every month without exception and don't use the card 2 weeks before the statment end date.

[lanc]

I setup my bank to push the minimum payment monthly 7 days before it's due through billpay.  This ensures I always pay the minimum and it always clears the next day and the cc sends me a notification the payment posted.  This also gives me a margin of error if something didn't clear correctly because autopay services pay on the day or or after the due date.  Most autopays don't let you set your date. 

[LS2982]

I don't, strictly because I don't keep a lot of money in checking, only in savings. I like to see what I need to pay beforehand.

[LTomBerry]

I have all of them on autopay since I travel often and never know if I'll be gone somewhere without internet or something. I have them all set to PIF except one I am milking a 0% promo I pay a few hundred a month on. I track it all meticulously in Quicken so I can transfer funds between bank accounts if I need to.

[jla84]

+1 for minimum payment on autopay only as a backup. I usually pay way before the due date. 

[Anonymous]

QUESTION:  If you have autopay set up to pay the minimum --- yet, you make a payment before the autopay date, do they still take the minimum out of your checking account on the autopay date? 

I am taking advantage of a 0% APR offer and floating a balance on a card.  I have not set up the autopay because I did not know if in addition to the payment I send, if on autopay day, the creditor would take a minimum payment out too. 

How does it work?

[Dustink]

---

@PokemonMaster wrote:

I have mine set to autopay the minimum as backup should I not be able to make a payment. I still get the satisfaction of paying them in full and I have peace of mind knowing that should an emergency arise I am covered.

---

+1

That is also what I do.

In addition to having the minimum payment as backup. I make small payments throughout the month to keep utilization low.

[CreditScholar]

I always pay manually for each of my cards. They all have the same due date, so it's not really an issue. I don't have that many cards, but if I had more than autopay might be warranted.