CommunityLend blog

Even though this CNN piece is American the content is highly pertinent to Canadians too. The other items covered are noted below, and likely at least one is useful to you. Good advice.

Deadlines you can’t afford to miss – CNN.com

But when her credit card company changed its statement closing date, she found herself saddled with a $38 late-payment fee.

With billing cycle dates subject to change at any time, and grace periods shrinking, keeping track of credit card billing changes can be a challenge.
….

Nowadays it goes without saying that everything is programmed into a
computer somewhere, and that equally applies to credit cards. The
dates on that credit card statement are critical, and no human is
watching to help you out. You are in charge.

You also have to factor in the time delay between the Bank’s online
banking service getting the funds to your credit card company. The
fastest might be 24 hours, but from my experience, 48 hours – 72 hours
is the norm. That means your ‘pay by’ date on that credit card
statement is at least 2 – 3 days EARLIER than the date on the statement in
order to meet the deadline set by the credit card company.

Bear in mind too that just because you use the online banking service
of the same bank that you got your credit card means nothing. The
systems are no equally integrated at each bank, and in some cases, are
quite separate, so the 48 hours delay still applies there too.

Some other highlights from the CNN piece.

Unexpected triggers

Just because you’re hit with a late payment doesn’t mean there’s no recourse, Arnold says. If you’ve been paying your bills on time and you’ve been a good customer, you can usually get that late fee waived by calling customer service and asking to get the fee removed …..

Financing fees

Retailers may call out to you with promises of “buy now, pay later” offers. But what’s not so obvious is what happens if you don’t pay the balance in full by the due date. Namely, you’ll be socked with heavy fees. …..

Lost ATM/debit card fees

Losing your ATM or debit card is bad enough. But blow past some deadlines, and you could lose your entire savings — and then some …..

Student loans

When it comes to college, paying attention to deadlines can really pay off. [ the other content in this one is specific to US, but the relevance to dates is applicable]