Questions about missing the due date on a Citicard Statement

[alect]

I have always paid my statements by the due date (on all my cards not just Citi).

Because of the Xmas period I missed the due date and only realised the next day - made the total payment that night. So I have two questions:

1. Have people had luck in such a circumstance in getting the late fee refunded? ( I know I used to get that done all the time in the US but Aust is a different story)
2. given that my payment was late I assume interest accrued from the purchase date. But is that only for the charges on that statement? Now that I have paid that off do I have interest/finance charges running on the charges from the following cycle too and need to bring the entire account to a 0 balance to stop the finance charges/interest from accruing from now?

Actually I am just dreading the call to Citi as I (like many others here) have found their customer service attrocious (and don't even get me started on the website!).

TIA

 

[medhead]

1 had a missed Amex payment once due to holidays. When I called to check if the money finally got there Amex offered to waive the fee. Otherwise no luck with ANZ.

2. Depends on the bank. In general back to $0 balance to stop interest. With ANZ for example it must be zero at next statement date. i.e. Pay whole balance in time at the next statement

 

[Reggie]

I have always paid my statements by the due date (on all my cards not just Citi).

Because of the Xmas period I missed the due date and only realised the next day - made the total payment that night. So I have two questions:

Been there done that.

Have people had luck in such a circumstance in getting the late fee refunded? ( I know I used to get that done all the time in the US but Aust is a different story)TIA

I found that in my case they automatically credited back the late fee and big whack of the interest (not all). It appeared that they had credited the amount for the previous bill, but anything spent since then had interest applied to it from purchase date.

given that my payment was late I assume interest accrued from the purchase date. But is that only for the charges on that statement? Now that I have paid that off do I have interest/finance charges running on the charges from the following cycle too and need to bring the entire account to a 0 balance to stop the finance charges/interest from accruing from now?TIA

Yes

Actually I am just dreading the call to Citi as I (like many others here) have found their customer service attrocious (and don't even get me started on the website!).TIA

Oher bad news is you will recieve not points until 2 months of paying off the balance on time. So the payment you just made plus two others.

 

[lukehsieh]

If they refuse to remove the late fee, ask them how much to pay out your credit account today to close it. They usually turn around quickly to remove any fees and charges.

 

[KateMayo]

I have always paid my credit card accounts on time and in full except on one occasion when I was a day late (due to some pressing drama at home) with a Citibank Visa payment.

I was charged nothing!

 

[oz_mark]

I have always paid my credit card accounts on time and in full except on one occasion when I was a day late (due to some pressing drama at home) with a Citibank Visa payment.

I was charged nothing!

That was my experience as well.

 

[Techie]

Just wondering why people repay it manually rather than setting up an automatic direct debit?

 

[wallacej]

I have had fees reversed from Citibank. Just made the request through their online banking.
Beware though that unless they back date it to the date that the fee was incurred, you will accrue interest on the balance.

For example, my citibank card has never been used for anything other than the original balance transfer at the low rate.

My statement began to show interest on purchases. I questioned it, and found that the interest was because of the fee, and that will continue to accrue until I pay out the balance transfer amount first.

Small petty amount of $2 or so a month now, but it adds up over all the accounts.
I attempted to have it removed, but was like beating my head against a brick wall!

 

[rwatts]

Just wondering why people repay it manually rather than setting up an automatic direct debit?

I dont know about Citicard, but with a former MasterCard with BankSA they would take the automatic payment out ten days ahead of the due date - so my 55 days interest free was now a maximum of 45 days. Their excuse was "in case there's a problem with the direct debit" - even though it was from an account with the issuing bank. My Virgin MasterCard (run by Westpac) does not take the money until the due date.

These days however I schedule a BPay payment for the due date as soon as the cycle closes. If they accept BPay payments then they must accept the amount as being paid on that day even though they wont receive the actual funds until several days later. (Caveat: watch out for institutions with due dates on non-business days).

Richard.

 

[medhead]

Just wondering why people repay it manually rather than setting up an automatic direct debit?

Because I pay from different accounts at times. Direct debts give me less control over my accounts and can be hard to stop. I have one direct debt set up and I sometimes forget to have the money in the account (3 times in 5 years) and that results in a $50 overdrawn reference fee, which I have to ring up to get reversed.

Of course, that is a unique problem for me as I have private accounts, where I keep my money, with limited access (i.e. no card access). And "public" accounts for eftpos/atm and direct debt access that have limited balances.

 

[one9]

I don't have such experience with Citibank, but I think you will have to be lucky.

I paid my Amex late once. As someone who pays the full bill all the time, it is amazing to see just how high the interest & fees are. I wrote Amex a letter and they replied and reversed all the fees and charges.

Citibank however seem to try and get revenue at every opportunity. So you will need to be lucky.

You could always try calling up and trying with the Manila clowns. If they say no, then you could try sending a letter to Sydney. That way you have two chances - 1 for Manila staff, and 1 for Sydney staff.

 

[pauly7]

That was my experience as well.

I didn't even know there was such things as late fees! I've been up to 3-4 days late without penalty... there must be some sort of grace period...

 

[pauly7]

I don't have such experience with Citibank, but I think you will have to be lucky.

I paid my Amex late once. As someone who pays the full bill all the time, it is amazing to see just how high the interest & fees are. I wrote Amex a letter and they replied and reversed all the fees and charges.

Citibank however seem to try and get revenue at every opportunity. So you will need to be lucky.

.

Again, I've been a couple of days late with both Amex and Citibank and no fees or interest from either.... How late were you with your Amex?

Cheers

 

[alect]

I didn't even know there was such things as late fees! I've been up to 3-4 days late without penalty... there must be some sort of grace period...

This is encouraging....my payment was only one day late.
The next statement since my payment has since issued and no late or finance fees (not sure when they get billed). And the reward points haver posted for both billing cycles. Fingers crossed!!

 

[pauly7]

This is encouraging....my payment was only one day late.
The next statement since my payment has since issued and no late or finance fees (not sure when they get billed). And the reward points haver posted for both billing cycles. Fingers crossed!!

Yes... I'm a bit embarrased I didn't even know they existed but I guess this reflects that I'm not often late... But good luck, certainly I was fine!

 

[Reggie]

This is encouraging....my payment was only one day late.
The next statement since my payment has since issued and no late or finance fees (not sure when they get billed). And the reward points haver posted for both billing cycles. Fingers crossed!!

My late fees and interest appeared online almost immediately, and the credits the follwoing day. So before the end of the billing cycle.

 

[equus]

... there must be some sort of grace period...

Can't speak for Amex etc, but most bank credit card processing systems do indeed have a grace period - but you will never know exactly how much! It is much easier for them (and probably cheaper) to allow a couple of days grace, which covers all the BPays made "in time" (and according to BPay scheme rules, needing to be accepted as paid on the date sent), but not received by the card system for a couple of days, not to mention any internal bank glitches where they may hold a transaction file (with payments) over for a day (or cut off a bit early one day). It also covers those who are occasionally just a day late.

Of course, the more likely the bank is to chase every last cent, and the less they care about the customer impression, or the amount of call centre time wasted, the less and less any grace period will be.

 

[Nigelinoz]

I never have trouble paying bills by the due date,cause I never pay them,
that's what the other half is for.
She just takes the cheque book from my briefcase every month and pays all the bills-and manages to get a new pair of shoes (nearly) every month as part of the bargain.:!:

 

[medhead]

Can't speak for Amex etc, but most bank credit card processing systems do indeed have a grace period - but you will never know exactly how much! It is much easier for them (and probably cheaper) to allow a couple of days grace, which covers all the BPays made "in time" (and according to BPay scheme rules, needing to be accepted as paid on the date sent), but not received by the card system for a couple of days, not to mention any internal bank glitches where they may hold a transaction file (with payments) over for a day (or cut off a bit early one day). It also covers those who are occasionally just a day late.

What you outline is why I missed one AMEX payment. It was due easter Sunday. I put the BPay in the Thursday night after cut off but it didn't get processed until the Tuesday night. The money then took a few days to show.

Of course AMEX were very good, to me the money just disappeared so I called to check if AMEX did get the payment and they offer to reverse the fees without being asked. :shock:

 

[oz_mark]

(Caveat: watch out for institutions with due dates on non-business days).

I swear my payment due dates fall more often on a Sunday than any other day of the week.