How Punctuality and Wit Can Save You from Credit Card Penalty Fees

March 07, 2008

Punctuality is the politeness of kings. Being punctual means being responsible. And when it comes to your credit card management, this trait is really vital for your wallet. Making credit card payments on time is one of the basic rules of managing your credit card. It is in your best interest to foster a discipline of timekeeping.

As for creditors, your late or missed payments are their gain. They make money on your absent-mindedness through accruing late payment fees and default rates to your credit card. But what is even more frustrating is that if you are just one day late with your payment, your credit score, you have been working on for years, an get damaged.

Credit card issuers usually set strict time frames on your payment due dates. And woe betide you forgetting or not knowing your due dates. Many credit card holders become victims of their own carelessness. So, what are the ways to avoid high late payment fees and default rates?

How to Stay away from Penalty Fees

First of all, you need to read your credit card terms and conditions to find out everything about penalty fees conditions.

The best way to keep track of your payment due dates is to use one credit card. In this case you will not have any problems with controlling your payments. But the overwhelming majority of US credit card owners have more than one credit card. Say, you use 6 plastics. All of them have different due dates. And it is a piece of cake to miss one of the payments, as it really hard to keep in mind 6 dates, along with all your friends and family members birth dates, anniversaries, and a great deal of other important figures and numbers.

And is it really necessary to make a storehouse of information out of your brain? Of course, not. All you need to do is just make some reminders after getting notified about your due dates. You can put marks in your personal organizer or pin small notes to your computer or fridge. You can take advantage of such online services as email reminders, due date calculator, and spending planners. Or you can just set up cell phone reminders.

It would be great to have some reminders on plastics. But benefits from default rates and penalty fees are credit issuers' daily bread. They would not give their potential profits just like that. So, your financial health is in your hands.

Another way to escape penalty fees is find a credit card deal with an option of changing your payment due dates. Such offers enable you to choose your due date on your own. You can pay your monthly credit card bills when it is more convenient for you. In this case you will know for sure when it is time to pay. And creditors do not stand a chance to profit from your financial missteps.

However, you should not think that credit card companies have designed penalty fees to get some easy money and hurt your credit score. And that they just keep quiet, sit, and wait for you to stumble over. "Fines" for late or missed payments are easy to explain. When you are inaccurate in your credit behavior you prove to be an irresponsible credit card holder. So, you give lenders grounds to consider you to be a bad risk for them. What credit card companies look for is not a customer that is always late with his or her payments, but a creditworthy and reliable card holder.

If lenders and borrowers are mutually polite and everyone fulfills their commitments, both sides bring home the bacon. So, punctuality turns out to be not just the kings' politeness, but credit card users' as well.