GM MasterCard

[djb383]

When my GM Card bill arrives in the mail, the payment due date is only 8-11 days later. Anyone else notice this short turn-around on their GM Card? I've called them and they say they can't change this. My other credit cards have like 3 weeks from the time the bill is received and the due date. I never carry a balance, always pay in full each month. The credit card companies refer to customers, that pay in full each month, as "dead beats". That's gratitude for you isn't it.

[engineertwin2]

Certainly, they shouldn't be calling you a deadbeat, but they make money when you carry a balance and don't make money when you don't carry a balance. My understanding (doesn't say much) is that when you never carry a balance, it takes longer to build your credit. A credit score is an indication of how responsible you are at carrying and repaying debt. When you don't carry a debt from month to month, its hard for them to determine how you would handle it if you had to carry a debt...that's my understanding...However, they also refer to customers as "deadbeats" if they never charge the card either.

[Whelan]

Can you setup online bill payment for them? I had that issue with Discovercard, but online they offer the ability to just select what date you want your payment to be due )

[engineertwin2]

Unfortunately, I found out the hard way, that some credit card agencies have exorbitantly high fees to use their online pay (mine was $25! per payment). Luckily, I was able to fight and argue that the fee wasn't listed anywhere in my T&Cs for the card. Two months later, they sent out revised T&Cs with the charge in there.

[808 Vibes]

Ours wasn't like that-I don't remember exactly how many days we had, but I don't use my credit cards anymore after consolidating with ReFi. I'm just not going through that again. I don't trust doing banking online and used to pay my credit card payments by phone-that way you don't have to worry about if a check got there in time...especially from Hawaii!

[djb383]

The wifey and I are old school. We write checks for the few bills we have twice a month, the 12th and 27th, and have done it this way for many years. Kinda ties in with many years of 15th and last day of month pay checks. Our system works fine with our other cards but not the GM card's short turn-around. Might be time to get the scissors out and do a plastectomy on The General.There was a segment on CNBC the other day saying that the credit card companies labeled their monthly full payment customers as "deadbeats".

[jimincalif]

Well, as the owner of a business that has a merchant account for accepting credit cards, I can tell you that the CC companies make anywhere from 1.5% to 4% per transaction, depending on the volume of CC business you do. So they make money even when you pay it off.I've never carried a balance in over 25 years, and we charge EVERYTHING to a card that gets us a small rebate. Once they tried to institute an annual fee on the card. We called them and they immediately agreed to waive it when we said we'd close the account. So we must be worth something to them. The only CC company that's probably ever lost money on me is GM. We had the old blue card where 5% of purchases up to $500 per year up to $3,500 was available for rebate on a car purchase, I maxed it out. This, combined with a factory rebate of $2,500 and negotiated dealer discount of $2,000 got me my 03 Vibe GT for $13K.All, do yourselves a favor, get your balances paid off and don't carry balances again. You will save a lot of money over the years.

[jake75]

My bank pays 3% on checking if you maintain a minimum $10,000 balance, and they have free on-line bill payments. What I like is that when you get the credit card bill you can go on-line at once and specify when they are to send the payment. I get to keep the money almost as long as possible and not run the risk of forgetting to pay. Also - no postage or risk of lost mail. I still pay a few days ahead of the deadline just in case.

[djb383]

Back to my original post - Does anyone else have a short payment turn-around time on their GM Card (less than 2 weeks)?

[Houston]

Quote, originally posted by djb383 »Back to my original post - Does anyone else have a short payment turn-around time on their GM Card (less than 2 weeks)?Yes, I'm in the same situation. If the bill arrives the day after we've taken off on a two week vacation we're automatically late only to be hit with additional fees and interest rate increases. I agree that this sucks.

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by Houston »Yes, I'm in the same situation. If the bill arrives the day after we've taken off on a two week vacation we're automatically late only to be hit with additional fees and interest rate increases. I agree that this sucks.Thanks for the response. We received our Chase Rewards card bill yesterday and the payment due date is the July 25th or 23 days later. Since we're considered "deadbeats" for paying in full and on time, I think it's time to say "See Ya" to the GM Card.

[jake75]

I never understood any reason for the "late fee" other than it is an opportunity for the bank to rob you instead of the other way around - but they don't go to the federal pen for their sticking you up.Scenario #1 customer has $500 balance from prior month. no new charges, and fails to pay minimum $25 payment. $35 late fee. Scenario #2 customer has $500 balance from prior month, charges $25 and makes $25 minimum payment. No late fee. As long as your balance is within your limit what difference should it make if you "skip" a minimum payment or charge that much more.With my bank I could set up automatic payments to cover anticipated minimum payment requirements, and then always make the rest of the payment via another payment.

[djb383]

If there is a balance due, isn't there a payment due?

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by djb383 »The credit card companies refer to customers, that pay in full each month, as "dead beats". That's gratitude for you isn't it. HSBC (the holding bank for the GM Card) and Citi must REALLY hate me then. I've had my citi card for 8 years, and my GM card for about 3-4, and I've never once, in my entire credit-bearing life, carried a balance.To answer your question, though, my last GM card statement ending date was 6/22, and my payment due date is 7/12. About 2.5 weeks. Yeah, does seem a bit short. But I get an email when my statement is ready, and I pay my bills electronically. They don't charge you any fees to pay your bill electronically UNLESS it's a rush payment. Standard payments take a few days to post, but they're free. My citi card usually gives me about a month to pay it. But same deal, I pay electronically.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by djb383 »If there is a balance due, isn't there a payment due? Not necessarily. if I charged $200 on my card in june, and my statement is issued, I have a $200 balance due, and a $20 (for example) minimum payment due. But if I pay that in full, and then in july I charge another $200, until my july statement is issued, I have a $200 balance due, but no payment due. At least that's how I understand it...

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »HSBC (the holding bank for the GM Card) and Citi must REALLY hate me then. I've had my citi card for 8 years, and my GM card for about 3-4, and I've never once, in my entire credit-bearing life, carried a balance.To answer your question, though, my last GM card statement ending date was 6/22, and my payment due date is 7/12. About 2.5 weeks. Yeah, does seem a bit short. But I get an email when my statement is ready, and I pay my bills electronically. They don't charge you any fees to pay your bill electronically UNLESS it's a rush payment. Standard payments take a few days to post, but they're free. My citi card usually gives me about a month to pay it. But same deal, I pay electronically. I'm not talking about the "statement ending date", I'm talking about the day the bill "arrives at my house", the "payment due date" is only 8-11 days later and that's not business days, it's calender days. Like I said, my Chase card bill arrived yesterday, the "payment due date" is July 25th or 23 calender days later, not 8-11 days later like the GM card.

[scott_h]

I've never had a GM card, so can't comment. While I haven't noticed short "turn-around", I have been burnt by the suddenly large late fees. I admit in my younger days, I used to send payments in a week or two late. I've had payments over the last year or so post one day late, and gotten a $25 late fee.I pay all the bills with our credit union's online bill pay service. I never schedule automatic payments though.

[WaveAction]

i have the GM visa..and theirs no real date to pay it off..just a minimum payment..which is usually less then $20

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by RedFire2K »i have the GM visa..and theirs no real date to pay it off..just a minimum payment..which is usually less then $20There's no payment due date?

[jake75]

YES - there is a payment due date for the minimum payment for sure.

[WaveAction]

yea..for the minimum payment.. theirs a due date..for instants..one of my bills...got billed on june 25th...the minimum payment was due july 20th...so i guess 3 weeks?