Credit card minimum payment by direct debit

[purpleturtle]

I have probably just incurred a late fee (again) on the credit card, so I think I really will set up the direct debit for the minimum payment so it doesn't happen again. I generally pay off in full every month, but from time to time I leave it too late.

So, if I pay in full a few days before the deadline, does that mean that when the deadline comes round they won't take a direct debit payment because by then the balance will be £0?

Not necessarily - unless you paid it off way in advance, it might not get through in time to stop them taking the DD.

But the min payment is usually so tiny it wouldn't be the end of the world if they took that too, would it? As long as you've enough in to cover it?

Depends how far in advance, I'd have thought. But why don't you just let the minimum payment DD go through; you know it's going to be enough so why bother paying beforehand? That's what I've always done.

I suppose if the min payment goes as well, it'll just get deducted off next month's balace, won't it? I'm being lazy, really. I don't want to faff about working out how much I have to pay off to clear it, and I don't like the idea of them having it to earn interest on either.

Thanks for your help, though.

The min payment DD usu goes out at the last minute so you keep your money for longer. if you have a balance remaining you can pay bits off whenever you have the money, too.

I pay off each month by dd - you are saying you usually do so but miss sometimes - so why don't you set dd to pay off each month in full and not make any other payments?

ditto activate - if you are paying off in full why not set the direct debit to take the full amount so you don't have to do anything.

I echo the last two posts. Set the DD to pay off in full. The payment will come out of your account a week or two after you get the online statement. This gives you time to make sure there are sufficient funds in your account.... bingo. If you're clever about it you'll never pay interest again and, if you switch to a cashback card, you could even earn a few quid.

In fact I've just checked back on my last few credit card DDs & it leaves my account on the same day it gets to theirs; if I do a transfer it has to be at least 3, pref 4 days in advance

Even so, I prefer not to have the DD take the full amount - some months you just can't do it!

You may be on to something. I was going to say I can't manage the full amount because I usually have to scoop money in from other accounts to pay the bill. I usually do that when I set up the credit card payment.

However, so long as I remember to look a the bill by the due date, or even on the due date, I can move the money in time to cover it. Which would mean, for example, that I wouldn't have incurred a late fee today.

Thank you - I hadn't properly thought that through before. You have been very helpful.

My view is that if I can't afford to pay off the CC bill in full then I probably shouldn't have spent that much in the first place :) I treat CCs as a way to get two or three weeks' worth of interest free credit but they are far too expensive to do any actual borrowing with. Expect this makes me hopelessly cautious and old-fashioned but in the past I've fallen into the trap of thinking 'I'll just pay the minimum this month', forking out wads of interest and watchin the total amount owed getting bigger and bigger.....

I absolutely agree Chil1234 but it's taken a while for me to get to this stage too. It's now been a few years since I paid any interest to a credit card company - it's a good feeling. I use it for the interest free period, the purchase protection, and the John Lewis points!

I only pay interest when I forget to pay on time.
I use the credit card so that my money can stay in my savings account a bit longer. It'll be the moving money between accounts bit where I come unstuck another time!

As interest rates are low at the moment you won't loose much if you transfer the money from your savings account on the day the bill arrives then as long as you aren't tempted to spend it in the time between then and the DD date you should be fine.

if you are transferring the money from a savings account you may (depending on the type of account) be able to set up the direct debit to come straight from the the savings account (I used to with my Egg account).