Pay Aqua Credit card

littly_kitty

I am a new Aqua card holder. I won't receive my Aqua credit card statement yet (and won't till the end of the month), but I thought I would pay it off in full now.

I was going to use my Halifax bank debit card. However, I was Googling and saw several threads/pages which say paying by FPS is better.

I assume FPS is a faster payment service bank transfer. Why is it better than a debit card (sadly the threads/pages that say it is better don't explain why)?

Two questions
1) Should I use FPS or stick with bank debit card?
2) Are there any disadvantages to paying early before the statement. I plan to pay it off each time I make a purchase.

Sorry if these are noob questions, but I did search first and I am kind of new to all this credit card stuff. Thanks!

dieselv2

FPS normally reaches an account within 2 hours so probably for last minute people.

Some cards won't let you pay if statement isn't in.

swingaloo

Be careful. I made the mistake of paying early and ended up with a charge (which they did agree to cancel) because I had paid before the statement.

I had spent £56, my statement is printed on the 17th and I have to make payment by the 1st of the following month.
I actually paid the balance of £56 on 14th thinking I was doing the right thing paying early. But, because I had paid it before the statement day it then showed that I had not made a payment against that statement and I incurred a charge.

When I rang they took the charge off but warned me never to psy befors the statement has been done.

Ebe_Scrooge

littly_kitty wrote: »

I assume FPS is a faster payment service bank transfer. Why is it better than a debit card (sadly the threads/pages that say it is better don't explain why)? It isn't better - unless you're down to the wire in terms of paying on time.

Two questions
1) Should I use FPS or stick with bank debit card? Stick with a debit card, or Direct Debit, or simple online bill payments, or even over the counter in branch.
2) Are there any disadvantages to paying early before the statement. I plan to pay it off each time I make a purchase. Yes - wait until your statement arrives, then pay in full. If you pay it off before the statement arrives, you won't benefit from the advantage of "this person is a reliable payer, who always pays his/her debts in full every month" being reported to the Credit Reference Agencies. If you pay before the statement arrives, it'll look like you're not using the card. No bad thing in itself, but much better to show that you can use credit sensibly, pay your dues every month on time and in full, this will have a positive impact on your credit history should you want to apply for further credit in the future ( mortgage, loan, more mainstream cards, whatever ).

My replies above - hope this helps. The main point - to improve your credit history ( which I'm assuming is the point, given that it's an Aqua card ), simply pay the full amount, on time, without fail, each time you receive a statement. A Direct Debit set to pay the full amount is the easiest way to do this, and avoids any issues if you forget, or go on holiday, or whatever.

Ben8282

If you want to pay off each purchase immediately you make it then just make the purchases using the debit card in the first place. No point in wasting your time paying with a credit card then paying it off immediately.

littly_kitty

Glad I checked. I thought I was doing the right thing by paying in advance.

So it looks like the direct debit is the way to go. I will set one up now, as I think it takes a few days to become active.

There's not pitfalls to Direct Debit? E.g. they can't take more than the full statement? Thanks!

Ebe_Scrooge

littly_kitty wrote: »

There's not pitfalls to Direct Debit? E.g. they can't take more than the full statement? Thanks!

No - you'll always be protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee ( or whatever it's called these days ! ). Basically, if the bank or the payee make a !!!!-up, it's their problem. Of course, it's down to you to ensure there are sufficient funds in your account to honour the DD.

Most Credit Cards will allow you to set up a DD for either the minimum payment, or the full amount, whatever that may be. Just make doubly sure that you set it up for the full amount each month - and, obviously, make sure the funds are in your bank account to cover the direct debit.

<edit> One thing to add - if you're just setting up the direct debit, just make sure that the first one goes out OK - and be ready to make a manual payment if not. As you say, they can take a few days to take effect, and if you're close to your payment date it may not get through the bank's systems in time.

HeCh

As others have said, I wait until the statement has been produced (visible/indicated online even if not received in the post) and then make the payment by FPS. With Aqua any FPS payments appear very quickly on Internet banking/mobile app as pending transactions with the available balance also changes accordingly.

I also have a minimum payment direct debit set up as a backup but this isn't taken byou Aqua if paid by FPS before the due date.

Anthorn

littly_kitty wrote: »

I am a new Aqua card holder. I won't receive my Aqua credit card statement yet (and won't till the end of the month), but I thought I would pay it off in full now.

I was going to use my Halifax bank debit card. However, I was Googling and saw several threads/pages which say paying by FPS is better.

I assume FPS is a faster payment service bank transfer. Why is it better than a debit card (sadly the threads/pages that say it is better don't explain why)?

Two questions
1) Should I use FPS or stick with bank debit card?
2) Are there any disadvantages to paying early before the statement. I plan to pay it off each time I make a purchase.

Sorry if these are noob questions, but I did search first and I am kind of new to all this credit card stuff. Thanks!

Virtually no difference between a debit card and Faster Payment Service for relatively small amounts. The problem with larger amounts by debit card is that you could trigger the bank's fraud prevention service. When I had an Aqua card I would sometimes make a payment of around £500 and that triggered the fraud prevention service when paid by debit card. That's why I moved to paying by bank transfer.

But whether debit card or FPS you're still stuck with Aqua's own time factor. In my experience the payment was credited to my account by the next working day but it could be as long as 4 days. I have never had a payment sent by FPS credited to my Aqua account the same day.

ajp2009

Hi I've had an aqua card for a few years now and have always paid any outstanding balance in full when my statement comes in which has majorly improved my credit rating. I always pay on the aqua website and I usually see the available balance adjust within 24 hours but obviously it shows as a pending payment for a few days until it debits my bank account, if you have this card to improve your credit rating like I did just make sure you pay a good few days before your balance is due and within a few months they will increase your balance and they continue to do so every few months ...just always make your payments on time and try to avoid going into interest and taking cash withdrawals

Kolomna

Aqua Credit Cards are making a fortune and stealing money from hard earners. You pay cash into Lloyds Bank which accepts on behalf of Aqua. They take YOUR CASH and according to Aqua, then send a cheque to Aqua, which aqua then takes 10 working days to clear. What crooks. Since when has CASH not been KING. They won't let you pay early and ALL they are trying to do, is make or hope that you slip up and end up with a late payment charge or huge interest charges. I call this legal theft and it needs to be looked into. I paid my cash into the Bank on the 13th of the month. A payment was posted to my account on the 15th BUT it will not be clear until the 27th. My Payment due date was the 24th... What's the odds that i get a late payment charge?... Just as bad is the fact that I just went into HSBC to pay my Capital One Card and they charged me £5.00 for the privilege. Now wonder this Bank makes 7.5 Billion every 6 months.