Although not a bad *idea* I'm not sure it will work if the payment is made before the date of the statement.
I almost always pay my current balance, rather than my statement balance, when I get my monthly statement. This almost always covers my minimum due for my next statement. The one time my payment was late (by 1 day) Citi charged me both interest on the unpaid balance and a penalty for missing the minimum payment. I protested only the latter but Citi immediately offered to remove both charges. This was about 10 years ago so I'm pretty sure things have changed for the worse.
I've been paying the statement balance, but paying the current balance is an even better idea. Thx! I had an experience same as yours quite some years ago. It has clearly changed for the worse, where customers are not trusted, even those of us with otherwise perfect payment and credit histories.
We'll see about an interest charge. I'd asked about that, as IIRC interest charges appear on the next statement, not the current one. I was told any interest charge would have appeared on the current statement. It's been so long since I've paid less than the statement balance, I don't recall exactly.
As is too often the case with me I didn't state my point very clearly. But thanks anyway for the undeserved credit.
I wasn't recommending my method - I was just giving evidence that Andrew's suggestion of a small automated payment in the middle of a payment month may not count toward the minimum due payment on your next statement (even if it covers purchases during that statement period). Still, his method is more likely than mine to avoid the minimum due penalty. The problem with both methods may be making the payment too soon. Perhaps both methods will work now, but my method definitely did *not* work 10 years ago with Citi.
A method that definitely will work is to make or automatically schedule a small extra payment at the beginning of the payment *period*, i.e. between the date of the statement and its payment due date (usually a 2 or 3 week period). This way you definitely avoid the minimum due penalty if either this or your regularly scheduled payment goes through. Even here there's a chance that your extra payment will be rejected if it exceeds your current balance and you may incur a penalty for the rejected payment. These people have gone out of their way to maximize their chance to nail you no matter what you do :-(
What I do, and I don't necessarily recommend it for others, is to pay my balance with an electronic check ASAP after the statement date. This gives me plenty of time to contact them if the payment doesn't show up in Quicken.
Jerry
P.S. Congratulations on a most interesting OT post and thanks for fighting this fight for all of us.
I've never seen Citi's Virtual Account Number idea (you generate a number, on the fly, that's linked to your real number, and can only be used once) done by anyone else.
By the way, it's an automatic PUSH transaction so I don't have to do anything. I set it up through Checkfree as mentioned. I also have a "bill payment" in Q to automatically enter it into my register (tied to the CF account) and the credit card account too.
Margaret - I've never seen / heard you so mad. Hope you can relax and get over this! Have a good LONG Memorial Day weekend!!
The payment is made on the same date each month; I think once you get past the initial billing cycle (f you happen to miss it), it HAS to hit the "next" one, since it's on the same day. As long as it's regular, it should take effect each month. I haven't seen it not do that yet.
Discover has had that feature for a long time. I think they had it first. I've found that Discover has implemented several online features and enhancements before the other companies.
I've had a hard time finding the virtual account number feature for my Citi Mastercard. Discover makes it easy, so that is what I always use.
Thanks Andrew. I do have a question about Checkfree, if you don't mind. :-)
The company that provides my water/sewage service doesn't offer online bill presentment. They have an agreement with Checkfree for that, so I go to a special Checkfree site to see my monthly bill. To pay my bill, however, I've set up an arrangement whereby the company charges my monthly payment to a credit card. As the payment amount is the same every month, this works fine until I occasionally find the need to change the card that gets billed. To change the card, I have to complete and mail a paper form. It's not a biggie, but it's the only payment arrangement I can't easily change online.
IIRC, I can arrange a recurring monthly debit from my checking account via Checkfree, but if I choose to pay by credit card, I have to schedule each payment each month. Is this correct, or am I remembering incorrectly? In any case, I think I'm going to stop using my Fidelity SmartCash account, as it adds another layer of complexity to my bill-paying system, and SmartCash no longer pays enough interest to make it worth the effort.
My credit union has recently upgraded their bill payment system, and I spent some time today investigating it. It's free, and although I can't set recurring payments, it does everything else I need it to do. Since you mentioned using Checkfree, I thought I'd ask. I do like charging everything I can to my credit cards, as it boosts my rewards, and I only have to schedule a very few payments each month. :-)
Yes, I was pretty steamed over this returned check fee removal debacle. Although I'm capable of getting really mad, I don't remember the last time I was so mad.... I know I'm a bit stressed right now, as I'm in the middle of having some major work done on my home. The project is dragging into its third week, and I'm feeling rather frazzled. Anyway, I'm feeling much less harried today, so I think the long weekend will do me good! :-)
I've had an account with Discover since the mid '80s, and I used to use that card almost exclusively. When Chase and Citi began offering better rewards, I quit using my Discover card. Perhaps they're trying to reel in existing customers who've gone dormant.
It's a pretty good offer IMNSHO, but as I said, I'm not sure I can charge $1500 for each of the next five months. I've signed up and have switched all my automatic charges to Discover, so I'm going to try! ;-)
So, Citi was asking you to prove that Citi didn't do something? As proving a negative is impossible, that's pretty amazing. I would have turned the question around and asked them to provide evidence they attempted the transaction.
'OP' or Orignial Poster is a gender neutral term. The use of "his" later in the para was an oversight.
I've used virtual account numbers with my Citi Mastercard, but Citi kind of buries that feature on their web site. I recall having to dig for it last time I used it. I don't think it was all that easy to use, either. But I do believe Discover offered virtual nums first.
Yep. Actually I did turn the question around, and of course each rep played dumb, like what they were requiring wasn't absurd. I felt like I was beating my head on a wall. As it was Citi who applied the charge and held the power to remove it, all I could do in the end was comply. Fortunately the senior supervisor accepted a conference call with Fidelity. Of course it took almost an hour for that call alone. All for $39, but more-so the principle. I can only imagine what trying to hang onto that $39 cost both Citi and Fidelity in employee hours. That they treat any cardholder this way, let alone ones with consistently perfect payment histories, is why I really don't want to do business with Citi anymore. I'm not sure they're any different than their competition though.
It was the "his" I objected to, not the OP, which I'm aware is a gender neutral term. :-)
Interesting. I received Discover via a letter in the mail, no mention of it even on my account homepage. To sign up, I had to actually call. Normally I can sign up online. So perhaps it *is* a directed offer. I usually watch everyone else get these.... I hope you both manage to get Discover to sign you up! :-)
The issue I was considering was whether or not your payment fulfills the Minimum Due Payment requirement for the next billing cycle. If it does and your regular payment is late, you avoid the MDP penalty; if it doesn't, you don't. I claim the latter.
There's an easy way to tell just by looking at your next statement. If the MDP shown *on that statement* is not zero I claim that you must make (or have already made) a payment of at least that amount *on or after that statement date* and *before the payment due date* to avoid the penalty. You may be able, as I was, to state your case and get them to remove the charge but I doubt that they are legally obliged to do so.
Prove me wrong - this is one of those cases where I hope I *am* wrong.
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