Paying Balance Before Statement Generates

[DI]

I charged some things to my State Farm and Citi cards.  I wanted to pay the balance in full before the statement generates so it wouldn't appear on my credit reports. Since my current balances are $0, I was unable to make a payment.

My Discover Card and Cap1 cards allow me to pay the balance on its website soon as a new charge appears.  

To pay SF and Citi, I  had to get my bank to send the payments electronically.  

I am now reluctanct to use my SF and Citi cards since am not able to pay the balance soon as new charges appear. Consumers should not have to wait until a statement generate to pay a balance. 

[hemi961]

I am not sure how long you have had the State Farm card so this might not apply to you. The first time I paid my balance I had to wait until the statement had cut. However, since that time I have been able to pay anytime I wanted. If this is your first statement then you will be able to pay when the charges post from now on, if not then I don't know what the problem is. National City was the same way.

[DI]

I been with SF for about 2 years.  Until recently, I haven't been using the card.  I use it now to make sure its not closed.  I don't keep a running balance. 

Do you keep a running balance?   If the current balance is $0, the system is not going to allow a payment to be made.  Cap 1 and Discover allow a payment to be made on recent balance before a statement generates. 

[cobaltnv]

What is wrong with paying from your electronically from your bank? I pay all my card by pushing funds from my bank to the credit card (rather than the other way around). The benefit of this is I can send money to a credit card (or anyone else) whenever I want as often as I want.

[hemi961]

I've never carried a balance and with the exception of the first statement I have always been able to pay as soon as the transaction posts. The minimum payment has always had to be at least $10 and I can't pay an amount above the posted amount but can pay anytime. With some of my cards I can pay an amount over the balance if I know there will be a charge coming but SF won't even allow payment on pending charges until they post.Hope it works out for you. Sometimes it's hard to give meaningful advice because these companies have so many conflicting rules and apply them selectively.

[DI]

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@cobaltnv wrote:
What is wrong with paying from your electronically from your bank? I pay all my card by pushing funds from my bank to the credit card (rather than the other way around). The benefit of this is I can send money to a credit card (or anyone else) whenever I want as often as I want.

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I'm going to start doing that too.  The payments I made via my bank was posted to my cards in two days.  

[Anonymous]

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@cobaltnv wrote:
What is wrong with paying from your electronically from your bank? I pay all my card by pushing funds from my bank to the credit card (rather than the other way around). The benefit of this is I can send money to a credit card (or anyone else) whenever I want as often as I want.

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+1

That's the way I prefer to do it as well. Gives me the control and I can change payments to before or after the statement date according to my preference each month. With autopay, reminders, e-bills, etc. most billpay programs allow you to be as manual or as automatic as you want. The only constraints with my CU are that billpays must be scheduled for weekdays, and of course you need to edit creditor info when a company changes an account number. My account is dinged for a scheduled billpay in the early AM, and most of my CCs will post the payment by 7pm that day. At worst, it is posted by the next morning ...

Message Edited by Revike on 08-04-2009 12:59 PM