Matrix makes it impossible to have a $0 balance.....

[rearfanged]

I've noticed my last two billing cycles that continental finance applies their $12 monthly charge literally moments before they turn over to the next billing cycle....so my balance is ALWAYS $12. My new statement came out today, and my balance yesterday was $0. Is this even legal? How can they make it impossible to pay off their card?

[Alvy14]

This same thing was happening to me with both Credit One and First Premier (until i closed them). It was very annoying.

The way I was able to avoid it was:

First Premier: They would not waive the fee, or allow you to pay more than the balance, which in our case would be 0$, BUT, they allow you to send via Western Union a payment that they must accept, and it negatives your account by the exact fee.  For instance, you'd send them 12$ via western union right before your statement and when the fee is charged they will cancel each other out thus showing a zero balance.  They do not let you pay any other way to get to a negative. I did this for about 6 months before cancelling the card after my score/utilization was high enough to not require the card anymore.

Credit One: Had to call customer service and plead my case and they credited me 3 months worth of fees, and you wouldnt want to make any charges on the card because you couldnt get it back to negative again.  You would need to keep pleading and asking for supervisors and mention that it is impacting your credit score, and eventually it worked.

I would call them and ask them about the Western Union idea.

[gdale6]

Use you banks bill pay to push the payment to them.

[rearfanged]

gdale6 -

Thanks for the idea.....it worked.

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@gdale6 wrote:

Use you banks bill pay to push the payment to them.

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[Creditaddict]

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@rearfanged wrote:

gdale6 -

Thanks for the idea.....it worked.

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@gdale6 wrote:

Use you banks bill pay to push the payment to them.

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Close the acocunt... looks like your credit score is high enough to replace with "something" better with no monthly fee!

[bigblue7722]

I dont understand why anyone would get a card with a monthly fee. Your much better off saving a little money up and getting a secured card. 

[fot1]

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

I dont understand why anyone would get a card with a monthly fee. Your much better off saving a little money up and getting a secured card. 

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It is simple eveyone has different, needs and means. For me the choice of a  Credit one  card was a lot better then a secured card.  It was quite easy to manage an 8 dollar monthly payment( skip one fast food lunch a month) vs $500-$1000 dollar secured cards ( sorry family no food for anyone for the next 4- 8 weeks)

[bigblue7722]

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@fot1 wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

I dont understand why anyone would get a card with a monthly fee. Your much better off saving a little money up and getting a secured card. 

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It is simple eveyone has different, needs and means. For me the choice of a  Credit one  card was a lot better then a secured card.  It was quite easy to manage an 8 dollar monthly payment( skip one fast food lunch a month) vs $500-$1000 dollar secured cards ( sorry family no food for anyone for the next 4- 8 weeks)

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you can get a secured card for as little as 200 for fully secured or some people get cap one for 49 or 99 with a 200 dollar limit.  When you close your secured card you get your money back think of it as a savings account. That 8 dollars every month your not going to see any of it back. how much was the anuall fee for credit one?

[fot1]

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@fot1 wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

I dont understand why anyone would get a card with a monthly fee. Your much better off saving a little money up and getting a secured card. 

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It is simple eveyone has different, needs and means. For me the choice of a  Credit one  card was a lot better then a secured card.  It was quite easy to manage an 8 dollar monthly payment( skip one fast food lunch a month) vs $500-$1000 dollar secured cards ( sorry family no food for anyone for the next 4- 8 weeks)

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you can get a secured card for as little as 200 for fully secured or some people get cap one for 49 or 99 with a 200 dollar limit.  When you close your secured card you get your money back think of it as a savings account. That 8 dollars every month your not going to see any of it back. how much was the anuall fee for credit one?

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The $8 is the annual fee.. you just pay it monthly..    And again not eveyone has the  ability to pay that much in on shot for secured card..  And if somone is rebuilding and wants to open 2-4 cards that is a big chunk of change..

[bigblue7722]

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@fot1 wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

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@fot1 wrote:

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@bigblue7722 wrote:

I dont understand why anyone would get a card with a monthly fee. Your much better off saving a little money up and getting a secured card. 

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It is simple eveyone has different, needs and means. For me the choice of a  Credit one  card was a lot better then a secured card.  It was quite easy to manage an 8 dollar monthly payment( skip one fast food lunch a month) vs $500-$1000 dollar secured cards ( sorry family no food for anyone for the next 4- 8 weeks)

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you can get a secured card for as little as 200 for fully secured or some people get cap one for 49 or 99 with a 200 dollar limit.  When you close your secured card you get your money back think of it as a savings account. That 8 dollars every month your not going to see any of it back. how much was the anuall fee for credit one?

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The $8 is the annual fee.. you just pay it monthly..    And again not eveyone has the  ability to pay that much in on shot for secured card..  And if somone is rebuilding and wants to open 2-4 cards that is a big chunk of change..

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I was looking at first premier banks site its like 95 for a processing fee. 75 dollars for the first year anuall fee. then 45 after that plus 6.25 servicing fee every month after the first year. So if you have the card open for two years thats 290 dollars. A cap one secured card for two years would cost you 258 but you get 200 back. Then i went to credit ones site its 75 for the first year then 8.25 a month after that. So thats 174 dollars gone after two years.