Fluid credit card - designed to catch you with default sum for non payment?

I've had the fluid card since november and I've had two default sum notice.

Both instances the last payment date was on a Sunday, I paid on a friday after 4pm and they consider this late as I need to make payment before 4pm on Friday to count within deadline.

Furthermore. They don't go by calender month, they go by some other calculation, I think 30 day/29 day period because every month the statement date creeps back 1-2 days and the due date also rolls back 1-2 days from previous month.

I make card payments manually because I can pay the minimum amount if I need to or if I have plenty of funds I can pay more. In the past I had no issues with this because I have it in memory when the payment needs to be made by. But Fluid/MBNA keep moving the dates earlier and earlier each month and it's caught me up twice.

First time it happened - the due date was 26 Dec - I made the payment on time, then on Jan I assume it would be 26th again, and I just assumed it would be 26th Jan again. WRONG. It was moved back to 25th Jan and I paid after 4pm on 23rd Jan and that was considered late as it would be processed on 26th.

Now on Feb I just paid now assuming the due date would be 25th Feb, I checked and found that it's now moved earlier to 22nd Feb!!!!!! ANOTHER SUNDAY!!

So now that I've paid on the 20th February it's not going to count.


Every other credit card they have the same day of the month without fail. Others vary a little bit and average it down to 30.5 days so it will shift 1 day but still more or less consistent. But MBNA/FLuid are deliberately conning people.
«134

Comments

  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    But MBNA/FLuid are deliberately conning people.
    Nonsense!
    The odds of your payment DUE BY date falling on a weekend are 2 in 7 (and 2 in 6 or 2 in 5 around Easter and Xmas). They gave you around 3 weeks to pay...and you still wanted an extra couple of days!
    They tell you on your statement when the payment is DUE BY, and they tell you how long their various and many payment options will take to credit.

    You used the words "assume" and "assuming" several times in your OP. That's where you went wrong.
  • You set yourself up to fail there.
  • noh
    noh Posts: 5,814 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    No.
    It is you not managing your account efficiently.
    They send you a statement every month you need to read it to determine the payment date and not assume when it will be.
    If you are not capable of doing that then set up a DD for the minimum payment and make manual payments of of any additional amounts. That way you will not get late payment fees.
  • redux
    redux Posts: 22,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Make some type of diary reminder

    And look at the due date on the statement.

    Most credit cards have never been due on the same date each month. Maybe they go in exactly 4 or 5 week periods, or maybe they skip weekend days.
  • adindas
    adindas Posts: 6,856 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If you have found your assumption is inaccurate why did not you just set up a DD ??
    I've had the fluid card since november and I've had two default sum notice.

    Both instances the last payment date was on a Sunday, I paid on a friday after 4pm and they consider this late as I need to make payment before 4pm on Friday to count within deadline.

    Furthermore. They don't go by calender month, they go by some other calculation, I think 30 day/29 day period because every month the statement date creeps back 1-2 days and the due date also rolls back 1-2 days from previous month.

    I make card payments manually because I can pay the minimum amount if I need to or if I have plenty of funds I can pay more. In the past I had no issues with this because I have it in memory when the payment needs to be made by. But Fluid/MBNA keep moving the dates earlier and earlier each month and it's caught me up twice.

    First time it happened - the due date was 26 Dec - I made the payment on time, then on Jan I assume it would be 26th again, and I just assumed it would be 26th Jan again. WRONG. It was moved back to 25th Jan and I paid after 4pm on 23rd Jan and that was considered late as it would be processed on 26th.

    Now on Feb I just paid now assuming the due date would be 25th Feb, I checked and found that it's now moved earlier to 22nd Feb!!!!!! ANOTHER SUNDAY!!

    So now that I've paid on the 20th February it's not going to count.


    Every other credit card they have the same day of the month without fail. Others vary a little bit and average it down to 30.5 days so it will shift 1 day but still more or less consistent. But MBNA/FLuid are deliberately conning people.
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I make card payments manually because I can pay the minimum amount if I need to or if I have plenty of funds I can pay more.
    Just picking up on this point separately, you are probably not aware, despite the information being available on their website, that an MBNA DD value is 'set in stone' once they produce the statement.

    So any amount of manual payments made between the statement date and the payment DUE BY date will not affect the DD...it will still be claimed.

    I trust now you'll be setting a DD up to stop it happening again?
  • londonTiger
    londonTiger Posts: 4,903 Forumite
    Just picking up on this point separately, you are probably not aware, despite the information being available on their website, that an MBNA DD value is 'set in stone' once they produce the statement.

    So any amount of manual payments made between the statement date and the payment DUE BY date will not affect the DD...it will still be claimed.

    I trust now you'll be setting a DD up to stop it happening again?

    I'm doing a balance transfer out to a credit card that has the same due date every month
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I'm doing a balance transfer out to a credit card that has the same due date every month
    Well done on finding that then, because I've had dozens of credit cards over the last 10 years and, from memory, absolutely none of them had that feature.


    Will you be checking to see if they operate the same DD policy MBNA do, and setting one up for some insurance?
  • londonTiger
    londonTiger Posts: 4,903 Forumite
    Well done on finding that then, because I've had dozens of credit cards over the last 10 years and, from memory, absolutely none of them had that feature.


    Will you be checking to see if they operate the same DD policy MBNA do, and setting one up for some insurance?

    Really? my tesco clubcard credit card has been due on 1st of the month, or 31st back and forth for the last 3 years I've had it.

    All my other credit cards are like that as well.

    Current account statements are all printed on the same day eahc month, rent us due by pcm, tax returns due 31st Jan each year, car tax expires last day of the month, utility bills due same date each quarter etc etc etc...

    What the **** are MBNA doing pushing the due date earlier each month by 2 days.
  • YorkshireBoy
    YorkshireBoy Posts: 31,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    my tesco clubcard credit card has been due on 1st of the month, or 31st
    Well that's not the "same due date every month" now is it? ;)


    Or is it the same due date, but you just can't remember which one of the two it is?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 597.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.6K Life & Family
  • 256.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.