How to Always Pay your Credit Card Bills on Time

Why should we pay our credit card bills on time? Timely payment is a reflection that a person’s credit cards are managed well. This also translates to good credit standing.

A single missed payment will leave a dent on your credit score and might take months to repair.

Therefore, it is important that we do our best to pay on time and never miss a payment especially if we have multiple credit cards.

The following are several strategies to make sure that we will always pay on time and avoid unnecessary charges.

1. Keep a record of all your payment schedules

This is a holistic approach. This is applicable to all billing statements such as utility bills, amortizations, association fees, etc. This can be done on a note-taking app on your phone, an excel file, or any other means which are convenient and accessible to you.

Personally, I put this on google drive which I can view clearly and i can access anywhere.

2. Set Two payment schedules and pay twice in a billing cycle

Why pay twice? The reason is that our minds may forget and systems may fail. I missed an insurance payment in the past because their system was down and I can’t pay thru the bank. The only mode available is direct payment in their branch which was not possible in my location at that time.

There are also instances when you paid on time but this is not reflected in their system. This can easily be corrected but you may spend your time on more important things. Worse, you forgot to pay on time. This 2-payment system will make sure that payment is done and reflected in your card company’s system before the due date.

How is this done?

Set the first payment schedule a day after the billing statement date. Pay the minimum amount due or much better, pay the whole amount due.

For the second payment schedule, set it 5 days before the due date. If you haven’t checked yet if the first payment is reflected in your credit card system, now is the time to do it. Pay the remaining amount in full. If you have already done this in the first payment schedule, the second schedule will serve as a confirmation that payment is already reflected in their system.

3. Create two layers of reminders

For this, I use Google Keep and ColorNote apps. Set a reminder in these apps for the first and second payment. This will ensure that when an app did not send a notification, there is an alternative one. There are other means to do this such as your planner or a calendar app on your phone or personal computer.

4. Set recurring payments

If you’re using an electronic mode of payment, you can automate monthly payments. On a selected and predefined monthly schedule, the system will trigger the payments and all you have to do is verify if these were reflected in your credit card account.

Final thoughts

As of this writing, there was no instance that I have been late in paying my credit card dues. That is a confirmation that the strategies are working for me.

How about you? Do you have strategies to prevent late credit card payments? If you have, please comment below. Thanks in advance.