Credit card late charges

ELLIOTS_MUM

In the last month I've had late charges on three credit cards, one for late payment, Santander insist on ten days to clear payment make by internet banking, one for a statement not received in the post and the last for a statement not received by e-mail, have I just been unlucky and with a lot on my mind forgotten the dates I should of checked up on missing statements or is it way of the banks getting some extra money?

jonesMUFCforever

You should have been aware that these bills were coming.
I think what you say about Santander credit card bills must be wrong.

chattychappy

I have always received my statements through the post without a problem. But anyway I maintain a spreadsheet, know when to expect them, and generally check online as I'm away from the UK for long periods.

I pay using internet banking from my Nationwide account. Recent payments go through on Santander the same day, historically within a couple of days.

I have the "Zero" card - not sure if that makes a difference.

You suggest you had one late payment fee and the other two were for missed statements. The truth is they were ALL for late payments (unless I misunderstood). NEVER wait for statements to come because it won't really be an excuse for not paying. Check the account online. When I first got my card I was way for a several weeks (?months) without having enough time to get the online facility set up. I rang them up weekly - got the transactions over the phone including statement balances and due by dates. Bit of a pain, but worked fine. Get to know when your statement dates/due by dates are. (Bear in mind they can shift a little, so don't run anything to the wire.)

In the end, you've paid those charges because, in your own words, you have a lot on your mind. You must keep on top of things - or if there is too much going on in your life, just use one card in the future so there is less to remember. Use a diary or whatever.

The "should have set up a DD" brigade will be along soon.... whilst a DD might avoid the problem of forgetting to pay, if you're too busy to keep on top of things it will just shunt the problem somewhere else.