How to Avoid Credit Card Late Fees

by Daryl Flagg

Everyone hates late fees and being late will cost you dearly
these days. For some credit cards today, if you are late, you
will have to shell out as much as $40 each time. This can put a
nice sized hole in your pocket really quick.

Below, I will provide you with some tips and strategies on how
to steer clear of those monstrous late fees. This will not only
save you a lot of money in the long run, but it will also keep
those money-hungry credit card companies, I won’t mention any
names, from getting your hard earned money.

Just pay your bill. One of the easiest ways of avoiding a late
fee is to just pay your bill each and every month by sending in
a check, money order, or other type of payment to your
respective credit card issuer. Just make sure you follow the
numerous guidelines, which are usually outlined on the back of
each credit card bill, on how to send in your payment. These
guidelines must be followed precisely if you want to guarantee
that your payment will go through on time.

Payment guidelines may include everything from a specific
payment address to the time of day by which the payment must be
received to be credited that day. Many issuers also stipulate
that payments must arrive in the preprinted envelope sent to the
customer.

While the Fair Credit Billing Act requires issuers to credit
payments the day they are received, each issuer is allowed to
set specific payment guidelines. If any of the guidelines are
not met, the issuer can take as many as five days to credit the
payment.

An on-time payment could easily become late during that five-day
period, so follow those payment guidelines carefully.

Just skip the payment. One of the more rare types of methods you
hear of are Skip-A-Payment services. You can use these services
to skip mortgage, credit card, or loan payments. Usually you
would need to get in contact with your bank just to see if you
even qualify or not. There are also independent companies out
there that will allow you to do the same thing, no matter what
bank you are a member of. Depending on whose service you use,
the fee’s associated with it vary. When you use these types of
services make sure you know how much you will be charged then
decide if it’s worth it or not.

Pay minimum due immediately. One of the best ways to prevent a
late fee from being charged to your account is to pay the
minimum due immediately. As soon as you receive your bill, send
in the minimum due. This will always insure that your credit
card issuer received payment. You can always send in more money
later if you decide otherwise. This is a great way to avoid
missing a payment because if you forget to send extra money you
can guarantee that you won’t be charged a late fee because the
minimum due has been already been paid.

Move your due date. Are your credit card bills due at a time of
the month when you're running low on cash? Many people have
trouble saving money, so when it comes time to paying their
credit card bills, they don’t have any cash to do so. One
particular solution is to move your due date. Many credit card
issuers will allow you to set your own due date to meet your
specific needs. If you have trouble saving money, move your due
date to a time when you do have money, like as soon as you get
your paycheck. If you time your credit card bill to come the
same day you get paid, you will always have cash to pay the bill.

Pay by phone. If you are one of those people that wait to the
last minute to do everything or if you just forgot to send in
your credit card payment early enough, you could always pay by
phone. This guarantees that your payment will be on time. Just
supply the representative on the other line with your checking
account number and your bank routing number, which is printed at
the bottom of each check. Usually the routing number is first
and the account number is second. A lot of issuers allow you to
pay by phone and some will charge you a pretty penny for doing
so. Fee’s can range from $5 to $20.

Use other express methods. If your bank does not offer a “pay by
phone” service and you need to get your payment to your credit
card issuer as soon as possible, I recommend either sending your
payment in by express mail or by Western Union. Either one of
these services can get your payment to your credit card issuer
immediately. These express methods are costly, but it will
always most likely be cheaper than any fees associated with
being late. Make sure you send your express payment to the
proper address. Many issuers have separate payment addresses for
express payments. The last thing you want to do is slow the
processing of an express payment by sending it to the wrong
address.

About the author:
About the Author Daryl Flagg is the founder and CEO of Next
Month Online. Next Month Online is a service that allows its
visitors to skip credit card payments. They can be found at
http://www.NextMonthOnline.com. Sign up for free!