MBNA Credit Card full payment by DD - is it problem free?

Roy1234

I always pay my MBNA Mastercard off in full each month, on receipt, via online banking, which these days goes through very quickly (via 'Faster Payment service').

I'm toying with the idea of setting up a Direct Debit for the full amount instead, mainly as a convenience for when away on holiday with limited (safe) internet access for online banking. It also means I could never forget to pay it and lapse into charges etc.

The DD system is old & slow compared to Faster Payment, more resembling the creaky old cheque clearing system. I note that MBNA only aim to take the payment on the due date, or else next working day, whereas online I'd pay them plenty early.

My question is, does the DD full payment system work flawlessly? Has anyone ever found delays rebounding into late payment/interest problems from the Credit Card end?

SuperHan

Nope. I've had mine paying by DD for over a year now without one issue.

Provided the funds are there to take the DD, if it fails, the onus is on the, so you have a much better case for a refund if anything does go wrong.

Roy1234

SuperHan wrote: »

Nope. I've had mine paying by DD for over a year now without one issue.

Provided the funds are there to take the DD, if it fails, the onus is on the, so you have a much better case for a refund if anything does go wrong.

That's nice to know. I guess it was the fact they took the funds at the very last minute via DD that seemed odd. A gain to the customer (if earning any interest on bank account balance) and a loss to the Card Company as they get paid later than anyone paying otherwise would dare leave it.

If anyone has had any contrary experience, I'd like to know. Otherwise, I'll go ahead and set one up.

pete-20-11

I've had my MBNA setup to pay the full amount by DD for at least a year. No issues here either.

Roy1234

pete-20-11 wrote: »

I've had my MBNA setup to pay the full amount by DD for at least a year. No issues here either.

Great. Thanks for adding your vote.

NiftyDigits

You should always have a DD setup for a CC.
Personally I been with MBNA since they were introduced to the UK and have always paid in full, with no issue.
They also have a good customer service ethic, accepting reverse charge calls from abroad in the event of an issue.

g6jns_2

Roy1234 wrote: »

I always pay my MBNA Mastercard off in full each month, on receipt, via online banking, which these days goes through very quickly (via 'Faster Payment service').

I'm toying with the idea of setting up a Direct Debit for the full amount instead, mainly as a convenience for when away on holiday with limited (safe) internet access for online banking. It also means I could never forget to pay it and lapse into charges etc.

The DD system is old & slow compared to Faster Payment, more resembling the creaky old cheque clearing system. I note that MBNA only aim to take the payment on the due date, or else next working day, whereas online I'd pay them plenty early.

My question is, does the DD full payment system work flawlessly? Has anyone ever found delays rebounding into late payment/interest problems from the Credit Card end?

If you set it up to pay the full amount by DD you will not incur any charges for late payment unless the DD fails because of lack of funds. The whole onus is on the credit card company to take it at the right time.

planteria

if you are sure you want to pay in full, every month, Roy, and will have sufficient funds to do so in the same account, from which you can pay via Direct Debit, i would certainly do so. no problems at all in paying my Amex and CapOne cards in full (and with MBNA, which i have set to minimum) as it takes out human error and shifts the onus on to them to take the payment...if there is a problem, it's not your problem:)

chattychappy

It is problem free until you have a problem!

You wrote:

Roy1234 wrote: »

I'm toying with the idea of setting up a Direct Debit for the full amount instead, mainly as a convenience for when away on holiday with limited (safe) internet access for online banking.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have spent long periods overseas. Personally I don't use DDs and would never use them. I do have my own laptop and never have a problem with access to reliable WiFi.

I like not having a DD because it acts as a "firebreak" in the case of fraud. Case in point. Whilst I was away, I had £6800 of fraudulent transactions go through on a dormant account. Had I had a DD setup, this would have cleaned out my current account. This would have had knock-on effects - I wouldn't have been able to pay bills and the CCs I was using might have been suspended because of late payments to them. I wouldn't have been able to obtain cash on a debit card (though overseas I use CCs for that).

As it was, the "damage" was confined to the particular card concerned. There was interest, late charges and a report to a CRA. I had to deal with it when I returned (some paper forms to shuffle). The card was re-issued and the transactions, interest and charges reversed. They said that the report to the CRA would be removed, it wasn't, but I didn't bother to pursue that.

So if you don't have online access such that you can't make a payment, remember also it means you don't have online access to check for fraudulent transactions and therefore the balance and the amount that will be taken.

The reality is that you are unlikely to have fraud on the account, and you are likewise unlikely to have a Wifi connection that is "unsafe" to the point of allowing fraud online. In the past few years, *most* of my online banking activity has been done using Wifi in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and parts of Europe - much of it public Wifi and never had a problem. Different story if you are using public PCs. Of course, depending on your holiday plans you might not have access to public wifi, you could lose your laptop/tablet or whatever, or simply not want to be messing about with such things whilst away.

Have a great trip! And I trust you'll be using and "unloaded" card whilst overseas?

SuperHan

chattychappy wrote: »

It is problem free until you have a problem!


I like not having a DD because it acts as a "firebreak" in the case of fraud. Case in point. Whilst I was away, I had £6800 of fraudulent transactions go through on a dormant account. Had I had a DD setup, this would have cleaned out my current account. This would have had knock-on effects - I wouldn't have been able to pay bills and the CCs I was using might have been suspended because of late payments to them. I wouldn't have been able to obtain cash on a debit card (though overseas I use CCs for that).

One call to your bank though would reverse the direct debit transaction immediately, and reinstate the issue as an isolated one.

Personally, I'd rather have the failsafe of the direct debit being paid.. It's more likely that I'll forget to pay on time, and that will cost me more money than fraud and a too high direct debit, which will just cost me time (and probably not too much more time than paying manually every month), and not money!

chattychappy

SuperHan wrote: »

One call to your bank though would reverse the direct debit transaction immediately, and reinstate the issue as an isolated one.

But the point is that you are away and won't necessarily know it's happened until much later on - by which time other payments could have failed, bills gone unpaid. Or you find your debit card doesn't work because you no longer have cleared funds.

It is also debateable whether the DD would have been wrongly taken in the event of a statement being generated showing the balance due, you're notified that the DD will be taken, and it is taken. Only later you dispute the transactions as being fraudulent. Whether or not the so-called DD guarantee would help here, it certainly wouldn't help you with the knock-on stuff and the hassle involved.