BoA reports as statement drops

[Anonymous]

I will comment on the BOA credit card situation. I had two cards prior to the merger of BOA and MBNA. One of each type. Each card worked well and the accounts were very easy to deal with and plan payments with. Since the merger, the combined entity is not nearly as efficient as they were seperately. Hopefully this will work out over time. Payments have been slow to post. I do use the transfer funds method of paying since I bank with BOA. Many will be recognized quickly, but if you make a payment on Thurday afternoon, you will not see the posting on it until the following Tuesday morning. I have one internal transaction that has been open since the 14th of this month and has not posted. It left one account immediately and has shown as pending on the other since then. I believe they will get this straighteded out in the end, but I can not help but feel they were nowhere near ready when they folded these together. I PIF my two active cards (one for me, one for DW) every two weeks. Thiis is not a FICO strategy but rather a budget motivated strategy so the charges can't get away from me. Her Discover card always posts faster than the BOA and I am initiating payment on Discover from their site using the same checking account to pay it as I use to pay BOA (which again is BOA).  That kind of gives you an idea of the delay right now.

[ficus]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ficus wrote:

My BoA account reported the balance right after the statement was generated, leaving me no time to pay it off. Granted, the balance is very small. However, this practice takes away from the control I have over what I want a CCC to report.

The thing is that before the balance is due, their system won't let me pay using their Pay CC option, but once the due amount is generated, it's already too late.

Do I have to resort to pushing a payment onto them directly from my checking account BEFORE the statement is generated, or is there a better way to deal with this?

I don't like the idea of BoA reporting what I owe before I have the chance to pay them. Some companies are slow, but this one is inconveniently fast.

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I pay my BoA account online before the statement closing date.

On the BoA website, after you click the "Bill Pay" tab at the top of the screen, and arrive at the "Pay Bills" page, does anything appear on that page before your new statement has generated? If the word "Pay" appears anywhere on the "Pay Bills" page, even on an old statement dated well in the past, you can still click the word "Pay," and pay your current balance.

Message Edited by psychic on 11-26-2007 03:00 PM

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I see exactly what you mean. This is a relatively new account that I've opened with BoA, but it seems now that the very first statement has been generated, the "Pay" link is there to stay, and this is a great loophole to use to push a payment to pay off any subsequent balance. That is exactly what I was looking for. It didn't seem like an option before. It probably would have appeared as one if I had added a checking account to BillPay earlier, before the statement had been generated.

[ficus]

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@Anonymous wrote:
all of my accts are with bofa, so before you open a new account, it probably wouldn't hurt to see if you can transfer funds from outside bofa to your bofa CC. It could work.

as far as you opening up an account, that is totally up to you. if you think it is worth it then go for it. you might want to review the terms of the free checking account. i think there is a fee involved unless you have some other services. I've had my acct for a while to i couldn't tell you the terms.

as far as i am aware you can choose to receive a paper statement or an online one. I have no idea if they will have to mail you anything to set up the account.

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My bank seems to offer these kinds of fund transfers, so I would most definitely be able to move some $$ into the BoA account. However, I'm not a fan of fees. :-)

[ficus]

I greatly appreciate all your help, guys. I've come to rely on the fact that the people on this forum will always be forthcoming with quality and practical advice that's just right for the job.

From time to time I see people online calling for getting together and acting as a group to effectuate a change (economic, social, or political) that would supposedly affect us all in a positive way, but failing to understand that different people's personal needs and wants will always interfere with this kind of "revolutionary" approach, and that most usually there will not be enough numbers to support a cause or movement.

But I have to say that the innovative ideas on various topics that have come out of this collective thinktank provide powerful tools for an individual to be as much of a revolutionary as one can be in one's own life, and have as much control over the outside forces as possible. And I believe that I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that the knowledge that we find here makes our lives more satisfying, and gives us a great peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

I do all on-line and pull up amounts before statements generate and then i can make a payment anytime.  can't you do this? For instance i could look at my accounts today and pay if I wanted to even though they are not due until 10th of next month.  I just look at the transactions and know i'm not going to have anymore.

[Anonymous]

Well put ficus! Thank you.

[MidnightVoice]

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casinoannie97 wrote:

I do all on-line and pull up amounts before statements generate and then i can make a payment anytime.  can't you do this? For instance i could look at my accounts today and pay if I wanted to even though they are not due until 10th of next month.  I just look at the transactions and know i'm not going to have anymore.

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I pay all my bills (including CCs) via my USBank on line system.  It works very well, and I frequently make multiple payments to my CCs over the course of a month to keep my util low.  I have not had any problems at all.

When I get a new card, on the first statement I send the minimum plus $1 via mail and the minimum plus $2 electronically, to make sure everything is working and to see how long it all takes.  After that, I do it all electronically

[ficus]

You guys are correct. A typical bank's BillPay system most usually works fine. I  use mine to pay my other cards. My BoA card is a new addition, though, so I'm still in the 'testing' stage on what, when, and how long things take with this card. I have already sent an electronic payment to BoA, and have BoA's own BillPay all poised to step in if the original electronic payment doesn't come through in time. Once I have a general idea of what to expect, my scheduling would be more precise.