Despite your best intentions, you’re eventually going to miss a credit card payment. There are things you can do like setting calendar reminders, aligning all of your account due dates and setting automatic payments. But none of these are 100% foolproof when you open a new account. Or maybe you’re traveling and don’t have internet access to make a payment.
Or maybe you’re like me and just forget that you didn’t schedule your bi-monthly set of payments.
I’ve found that Chase gets right to the point. Besides instantly charging a late payment fee, they’ll send an email letting you know of the forgotten payment the day after the due date.
Once you receive this, be sure that the late fees and interest charges are already added to your account. You can try to contact the bank to see if they’ll waive the late fee but the interest charge is usually your responsibility.
In contrast, I was also late paying my JetBlue Plus card from Barclays. The next day I received this polite reminder.
I immediately paid the card online. A few days later an interest fee showed on my statement but I was never charged a late fee penalty. Maybe it’s because Barclays is a British bank, but the way they handled a late payment differently was surprising.
Chase’s response was very impersonal and almost accusatory. It was like I offended the bank by not paying on time. Barclays’ message sounded concerned, like they wanted to know if there was a reason that I missed a payment.
I know that Barclays often gets a bad rap from the Points and Miles community, and sometimes rightfully so. But for existing customers, their approach to late payments is much more customer-friendly than other banks, like Chase.
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1 comment
One bank in the U.S. sends an email before the due date, which is helpful as compared to one day after the due date with a penalty.
One bank in Canada, does not charge a late fee, only interest but then grabs the money from your bank account even though there is no autopay.