Why are some cards direct debits not taken?

JustAnotherSaver

When Tesco ended their savings accounts allowing payments in via D/D i switched mine to credit cards to generate interest on some current accounts. Some months though i've missed out because a D/D wasn't taken and i'm wondering why this is.


For example...


One cards D/D date is in and about the 8th of the month. Let's take this month for example - so 8th Nov the D/D was taken. So shortly after that - 9th, 10th, 11th (up to say around the 15th-18th ish, but as close to the 8th as possible if i can) i'll make a payment to generate another D/D.


Then the next month it wont be taken - so nothing in December, but then there will be in January (for example).

onlyfoolsandparking

Some card companies still take DD even if you make additional payments like MBNA and Virgin but Barclaycard don't. Its usually in the T&C,s if you read through them.

eskbanker

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

One cards D/D date is in and about the 8th of the month. Let's take this month for example - so 8th Nov the D/D was taken. So shortly after that - 9th, 10th, 11th (up to say around the 15th-18th ish, but as close to the 8th as possible if i can) i'll make a payment to generate another D/D.

The two key prerequisites for generating monthly DD payments for credit card bills are (1) to ensure that there is a balance on each statement and (2) not to make any manual payments to the account prior to payment date that would prevent the DD from being collected.

The relationship between DD collection dates and statement cycles will vary between cards so when choosing dates to make transactions, check when the statement is to be generated (not when the DD was last taken) and make sure you put a transaction through before that. A card I use has less than a week between the payment date for one month's statement and the generation of the next one, so if you sometimes leave it from the 8th to the 18th you could easily miss a monthly cycle and therefore not generate a DD....

JustAnotherSaver

So it's a statement generation date that i'm looking for then and not a direct debit collection date?


So how do i see when the generation date is? Would you expect to see this on the bill?

eskbanker

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

So it's a statement generation date that i'm looking for then and not a direct debit collection date?


So how do i see when the generation date is? Would you expect to see this on the bill?

Yes, any credit card statement should have a prominently displayed issue date, such as 'summary of account as at mm/dd/yy' or whatever.

Vortigern

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

One cards D/D date is in and about the 8th of the month. Let's take this month for example - so 8th Nov the D/D was taken. So shortly after that - 9th, 10th, 11th (up to say around the 15th-18th ish, but as close to the 8th as possible if i can) i'll make a [STRIKE]payment[/STRIKE] purchase to generate another D/D.

Corrected your post for clarity. I think that's what you meant.

As already stated, you need to make a purchase soon after the statement date.

One method that works for some is to link your CC to your Amazon account and set up a small monthly top-up from CC to Amazon balance.

PRAISETHESUN

Your statement period is typically around 30-31 days, with the DD payment being taken sometime after that. Your purchase needs to be within the statement period to be taken for that months DD. The dates should be predominately stated in your card statement - it should say something like charges made between dates XXX-YYY will be paid for on by direct debit on date ZZZ.

It's also possible that if your DD payment date is very close to the start/end of the month that it could shift by a day or two due to weekends/bank holidays. If this happened, then the DD may slip over into the next month and you might miss a DD being taken in that month - if possible I'd contact your card provider to change your statement date to the start of the month so your DD is taken around the middle of the month to avoid this.