MBNA not taking into account manual payments made

KitKat_Shuffler

I currently have credit/charge cards with Amex, Barclaycard, Nationwide, Santander, MBNA and RBS. They all produce my monthly statement around the 18th of each month, so its easier to deal with them in one go. I usually - but not always - pay the balance off in full by bank transfer around the 20th of each month and have been doing this for the last 20+ years without any issues, ie never missed a payment.

At the beginning of the year, for peace of mind, I set up a direct debit with all the card issuers to take out the minimum payment from bank - this is purely to protect my credit file just in case i fail to make any payment (never happened so far!). But I've continued making manual payments (minimum or greater) a few days after the statements are issued to all card issuers and as a result, none of the card issuers have taken out any minimum payment by DD...except MBNA that is. 

When i spoke to MBNA they said its simply how their systems work and even said all other credit card companies work in the same way....utter rubbish. So are MBNA (and possibly Halifax, BoS and Lloyds?) unique in doing this? Setting up a DD with MBNA to take the full statement balance is not an option, as I won't always pay the full balance off every month (has a fair low APR of around 7% so can take the interest hit ocaasionally).

onlyfoolsandparking

Some companies still take the DD even if you pay manually and MBNA are one of them, Virgin still take the DD too and it tells you they will still take it on the statement whereas Barclaycard adjust the DD or don't take it all. It's still a good idea to have DD in place so you eliminate the risk of a missed payment. 

[Deleted User]

Make your manual payment close to the DD date. Then the DD will still take.

KitKat_Shuffler

I should add, its not the end of the world wrt MBNA's practice. What I'm doing now is that any payment I make manually to MBNA shortly after statement issue date, i reduce it by £25 (since that's what they typically take out from my bank account). If I'm planning to clear my balance in full, i clear this a few days before statement date so that statement balance is zero and therefore no minimum payment is due. But its weird how MBNA's systems work differently to some/all other card issuers.

KitKat_Shuffler

Deleted_User said:

Make your manual payment close to the DD date. Then the DD will still take.

But what difference does it make when the manual payment is made to MBNA? MBNA will take out the DD payment regardless.

onlyfoolsandparking

KitKat_Shuffler said:

I should add, its not the end of the world wrt MBNA's practice. What I'm doing now is that any payment I make manually to MBNA shortly after statement issue date, i reduce it by £25 (since that's what they typically take out from my bank account). If I'm planning to clear my balance in full, i clear this a few days before statement date so that statement balance is zero and therefore no minimum payment is due. But its weird how MBNA's systems work differently to some/all other card issuers.

I've been caught out with that one in the past and I used to leave a small balance for the DD to 'suck up', until I sussed out which card accounts still take DD and which adjust or don't take it all, no big deal. I still think it's a good idea to have DD in place to avoid an unhelpful missed payment.

The one thing MBNA do which is good imo is they won't take a DD which will put you in credit, like mine is this month, I owe around £160 and my DD is set at £250, they will only take the £160.

[Deleted User]

KitKat_Shuffler said:

Deleted_User said:

Make your manual payment close to the DD date. Then the DD will still take.

But what difference does it make when the manual payment is made to MBNA? MBNA will take out the DD payment regardless.

True. I misread the issue as the DD not being taken after a manual payment. So reducing your manual payment will work.

Banks get complaints about how DDs interact with manual payments either way. MBNA and other erred in the side of always taking the DD, that her than taking complaints that the customer was trying to pay off faster.

[Deleted User]

Halifax certainly take the DD after statement is generated even if you pay a lump

Brie

This happens with my Santander card & M&S card too. 

The weird thing too with M&S is that if I make a manual payment when I go online it looks like my DD has been cancelled as there's no minimum payment required.  I find their online statements very misleading frankly as there's no total of purchases for the prior month.  This is not a problem when you are clearing the entire balance but tedious if you have purchases as well as a zero BT.  It's as if they are trying to confuse you to ensure they get some interest or make you reduce the BT faster than you might like.  Something I put up with as they don't charge any interest havng both BT & purchases unlike a lot of cards.

Carrot007

Deleted_User said:

Make your manual payment close to the DD date. Then the DD will still take.

I tend to go for on the day of the DD. Though some cards are very close to statement date, still has worked so far though.

Carrot007

Deleted_User said:

Halifax certainly take the DD after statement is generated even if you pay a lump

Depends. They keep changing it, and probably depends on the card. Sure mine says DD reduced if it is cleared in time currently. I think they do have a longer clearing time than most, though as above I use the DD coming out in order to remind me to make the rest of the payment!