Direct debit date

PerfectMess

Does anybody know if I want to have my direct debit come out within the first few days of the month when should I apply for the credit card?
I thought applying at the end of the month would work but this gave a date of the ~14th. TIA

gd55

You can sometimes choose the date for it when setting up the account, but if not you can request it to be moved, give your card provider a call. 

MorningcoffeeIV

Apply any time you want and then change the date.

There is no set date to apply that gives any determined due date across all cards.

penners324

Set the account up with the DD in place then request to change the date to when you need it

blue.peter

As others have said, you can always get the due date changed once you have the card. I've never known a card issuer refuse to do this on request. It's what I'd recommend doing. However, this isn't quite perfect, because you'll probably get stuck with having to make your first payment on a less-than-ideal date before things settle down to your desired pattern. You should also note that some issuers (e.g., Santander) can't/won't alter the statement date until after your first purchase on the card has cleared.

Typically, you'll get 25 days between the statement date and the payment due date. One or two give you less - for example, from memory, Virgin only gives 20 days*. Most will collect by DD on the payment due date, though American Express makes its DD collections about two weeks before the due date.

The card issuer will set the statement date when the card is issued - some set it to the date of the application (e.g., Santander), some base it on the date they issue the card, some seem to do it more or less at random. If you want the DD collection date in the first few days of the month and don't want to ask for the date to be changed, I'd suggest applying somewhere around the 10th of the month for most, around the 15th for Virgin (and anyone else that only gives 20 days for payment) or around the 20th for American Express. But this is not guaranteed to work!

*This might have changed - I haven't had a Virgin card for a couple of years.

PerfectMess

I did not realise I could request it to be changed. Thanks everyone