How do you get your credit card direct debit to work for you (D/D interest criteria)?

JustAnotherSaver

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

No due dates or 'months' get missed unless a purchase wasn't made using the card within the relevant statement dates. The provider doesn't 'miss ' months where a payment is due as the OP seems to suggest. If they did they would be rolling over payments to the next month and they never do that.

There is obviously a [small] window then between date X in the month and date Y in the month that (in this case, my sister) she needs to make a purchase of some sort so that a direct debit will be taken each month.
Since in the case of Halifax the direct debit is taken on the 15-16-17 of the month then i'm taking it that this is X, so what would be Y?

Yorkshire_Pud

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

There is obviously a [small] window then between date X in the month and date Y in the month that (in this case, my sister) she needs to make a purchase of some sort so that a direct debit will be taken each month.
Since in the case of Halifax the direct debit is taken on the 15-16-17 of the month then i'm taking it that this is X, so what would be Y?

Just look at the Halifax statement which shows the statement dates, if it doesn't then phone Halifax and ask what the statement dates are. I'm guessing up to about 22nd of the previous month. I'm afraid I can't think about X and Y etc I don't know what they did but I do know how to set up a DD and make sureit pays out every month!

There's a three or four day variable in all these dates so whatI do is after finding it the statement dates add four days to the start date of the statement period then stick some masking tape on the face of the credit card with 'use on 1st month' or use after the 4th of the month etc to suit. Similarlynat least four days before the end of the statemnt date. that future proofs the dateI choose going forward.

Which is why im to be seen in a local supermarket buying four small amount purchases on the 1st of the month with four credit cards, and one after the 2nd and one after 4th. Done for the month and all put away and note in diary to do again next 1st of the month etc turn card over in wallet to know its been used. All worked perfectly so far!

soulsaver

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Chuckle-chuckle
Guffaw
Chortle har-de-har-har


You're good

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Wow, can we all get our claws clipped?

.

So are you..

masonic

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

8th March - purchase ... due 15th April
15th April - direct debit
23rd April - purchase ... due 17 June
...nothing in May...
17 June - direct debit
14 July - purchase ... due 15 August


The same happened with her Barclaycard but they haven't produced a statement to show what's what.


End of May balance - £2.38
End of June balance - £2.38
8th July - direct debit for £2.38 taken

There you have it! The March purchase made it into your March statement for payment in April, but your April purchase didn't make it into your April statement for payment in May, as it was made too late. In future be sure to make a purchase earlier in the month, or towards the end of the previous month to have that transaction show up in your next statement and trigger a DD. I tended to make a purchase for the next statement month as soon as a statement was issued, this way there is no chance of it missing the deadline for inclusion in the statement.

There is obviously a [small] window then between date X in the month and date Y in the month that (in this case, my sister) she needs to make a purchase of some sort so that a direct debit will be taken each month.
Since in the case of Halifax the direct debit is taken on the 15-16-17 of the month then i'm taking it that this is X, so what would be Y?

For your Halifax card, if the direct debit is taken on, say 16th September, then the statement would be produced on around the 23rd August, meaning you would need to make a transaction between 22nd July and 19th August to be sure to have a September direct debit (the exact dates would depend on your statement dates, which you've not disclosed). You have more or less a 4 week window to make the transaction.

It's already too late to make a transaction for an August direct debit, hopefully you made a transaction between 21st June and 19th July.

Terry_Towelling

What this all suggests is that you and your sister are working on a calendar month basis with the credit card purchases and simply thinking that there has to be a purchase each calendar month in order to get a balance on a statement and a direct debit taken as a result. This is the wrong way to do it.

You have to make purchases within each credit card statement cycle. So, if the credit card produces a statement somewhere around 20th month (check your sister's statement dates) you need to get your purchases made between 20th of one month and 20th of the next in order for a statement to be produced with a balance to be collected.

What you've said about the Barclaycard giving the same problem reinforces the notion that your sister believes calendar month's are the way to spend, when they are not. What's important is the balances on the credit card statements not the balances at the end of each calendar month.

Looking at the Barclaycard example, a direct debit taken on 8th July must mean the statement which prompted that payment was produced around 13th June. So, the £2.38 purchase must have been made after 13th May (ish). So, the balance on the card at the end of May will have been £2.38. The statement will have been produced around 13th June for £2.38 with a payment due date of 8th July (25 days later approx). This in turn means the balance on the card at the end of June will still have been £2.38. So the figures tie up.

surreysaver

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

There is obviously a [small] window then between date X in the month and date Y in the month that (in this case, my sister) she needs to make a purchase of some sort so that a direct debit will be taken each month.
Since in the case of Halifax the direct debit is taken on the 15-16-17 of the month then i'm taking it that this is X, so what would be Y?

The other way around. They'll be a small window of when a purchase shouldn't be made (assuming you're only making one purchase a month to create a direct debit), as a purchase won't show on your credit card statement as the same date you made it - it is normally one to three working days later. If the date a purchase is made falls around the date your statement is due to be produced, there is a likelyhood it will miss a statement, and instead appear on the following month's statement.

JustAnotherSaver

soulsaver wrote: »

So are you..

Err, not really. I come here and see some attempt at point scoring between certain people. Unnecessary attitude and it's all a bit childish (so are you / like you / same as you .... classic childlike response). I read it back looking for the need of it all (the attitude) and still couldn't find it.

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

What this all suggests is that you and your sister are working on a calendar month basis with the credit card purchases and simply thinking that there has to be a purchase each calendar month in order to get a balance on a statement and a direct debit taken as a result. This is the wrong way to do it.

You have to make purchases within each credit card statement cycle. So, if the credit card produces a statement somewhere around 20th month (check your sister's statement dates) you need to get your purchases made between 20th of one month and 20th of the next in order for a statement to be produced with a balance to be collected.

What you've said about the Barclaycard giving the same problem reinforces the notion that your sister believes calendar month's are the way to spend, when they are not. What's important is the balances on the credit card statements not the balances at the end of each calendar month.

Looking at the Barclaycard example, a direct debit taken on 8th July must mean the statement which prompted that payment was produced around 13th June. So, the £2.38 purchase must have been made after 13th May (ish). So, the balance on the card at the end of May will have been £2.38. The statement will have been produced around 13th June for £2.38 with a payment due date of 8th July (25 days later approx). This in turn means the balance on the card at the end of June will still have been £2.38. So the figures tie up.

Thanks.


We were under the impression that if you spend shortly after the direct debit is taken then you should be good to trigger a payment for the next months direct debit. That's how it was being worked. Not necessarily a spend within a calendar month but a spend shortly after a direct debit is taken.


Will take a closer look. Thanks for the explanation.

Terry_Towelling

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

We were under the impression that if you spend shortly after the direct debit is taken then you should be good to trigger a payment for the next months direct debit. That's how it was being worked. Not necessarily a spend within a calendar month but a spend shortly after a direct debit is taken.

Will take a closer look. Thanks for the explanation.

Understood. If you wish to use a method that requires timing to make it work, it would be best to use the card just after getting a statement.

JustAnotherSaver

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

Understood. If you wish to use a method that requires timing to make it work, it would be best to use the card just after getting a statement.

Will have to go through all the cards currently in play and just make an excel sheet for them in Google Drive or something to detail the timeframe for a payment to be made and a check box for when it's done


Have never had to use a card this way. In the past it's always been 0% for x-months and just let the minimum payments roll. Once the 0% ends then close the card.

Terry_Towelling

It's certainly an odd way to use a card and it kind of suggests the card is controlling the user rather than the user taking advantage of the deferred payment facility offered by all credit cards.

The best usage method is to use the CC for everything you'd normally buy with cash or DC. Each time you make a CC transaction, move the same amount of cash out of your current account (to avoid accidentally spending it) and put it in a 'safe' account (preferably one that pays you interest). As the CC billing cycle passes, your 'ring-fenced' cash pot increases by the same amount as the CC debt and you effectively control your spending in the same way as if you were still using cash/DC.

The only thing you then have to remember is to transfer back enough for a full payment from your 'ring-fenced' funds into the account that pays the direct debit a few days before it is due. That shouldn't be an issue because your CC statement tells you when the DD will be taken.