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Patrick
2005 Apr 16, 6:01am
Ah, my wife thinks there was a law in Michigan requiring a 30-day grace period. Maybe California needs a similar law.
Patrick
Patrick
2005 Apr 16, 2:52pm
There are some things, like my ISP account, that require me to use a credit card. Maybe they would take a check if I insisted, but it is pretty convenient to just charge things to that number. The float is a bonus.
Please let me know if there is a credit card with no fees at all. No annual, no interest (because payment required in full every month). I know AmEx was kind of like this, but many places don't take it, and there was an annual fee.
I wonder if I could run my own Visa or MC operation like this. There might be a lot of people who would like it, and the merchants have to pay 1% or so of the purchase price, so it could still be profitable.
Patrick
Patrick
2005 Apr 17, 9:45am
Yes, not bad. Still, I'd like the old 30 days I used to get. Weird that it used to be standard, and now I haven't seen any card in 5 years or more that offers 30 days. Know of any?
Would also be nice to get some guarantee that they'll actually send out the bill within a week of the closing date. I guess that's just not a parameter that anyone reports - whether they send out the bill on time. Wonder where I can get that info.
Patrick
Is there any dearth of cards that have no fees? I have never paid any annual fee ever since I arrived in the US 14 years ago. AT&T, Citibanks, BofA. I also suggest you use e-payments to reduce your payment time to 1 day. Of course these credit cards are out to slam you with late fees (i've got hit a few times myself) but they usually reverse 1 to 2 a year without any problem. Why not use a credit card when virtually all of them 1-3% back. Pay your bill in full and you can't lose.
Patrick - sometimes you rail too much for no reason which reduces your credibility.
My experience is it is best to play by the credit card company
rules. It's there game and you can't do much.
All my cards are fee less. Chase , Citi , Amex , BofA. Never signed up for
a card which had fees.
Option 1: Go all electronic. Sign up for ebills. Setup automatic electronic payments with your online checking/banking. You can view your bill in 2-3 days after closing date. Payments posted in 2-3 days. No mail delaying
tactics by the CC Company . No forgetting on your side.
Option 2: If your CC company is not online yet ( really?)
You know what your closing date is. Use the automated telephone
system to find out the min/full even before the bill comes to you in
mail. Mail a check accordingly ASAP. You can give yourself extra 7-10
days that way.
Paying unnecessary interest is waste of money.
Don't speed. No tickets, No points, lower insurance rates.
No late payments. No late fees. No higher interests.
And lately, your late payment on one account , can/will
cause other creditors to increase your rates as well.
The amount of time between the arrival of my credit card bill from Pacific Service Credit Union and the time I have to pay it has been decreasing.
My bill arrived today, April 16th, and is due on April 25th. That's only 9 days. Given 4 days for the payment to get through the mail, that leaves me only 5 days to pay it and avoid finance charges. I never pay any interest or finance charges. The bill used to arrive around the 10th, giving me 15 days to pay.
In fact, all credit cards used to offer a grace period of 30 days, but moved as a cartel to decrease that to 25 or 20. No one offers 30 days any more.
I suspect that Pacific Service Credit Union is trying to get me to mail in a payment late, and I've read that other institutions also try to push people over their due date to get the finance charges and interest. Some, like Providian, are rumored to even let your payment sit in their office for a week or two before they accept it, to ensure that it will definitely be late, and that they will be able to charge you interest.
Must be profitable, but it's really sleazy. I'm very disappointed in Pacific Service Credit Union and recommend you avoid them. It's sad, because otherwise they seemed pretty good.
Anyone know a better credit card, with a real honest-to-goodness 25 day gap between mailing the statement and demanding paymen?
Patrick