Holding Multiple Credit Cards? Share your payment strategy to avoid missed payments!!

[sangeeth]

Hey man,

They ask you for the password when u try to unlock it.

Did u try this?

Lol what? What’s the point of this site then 😅.

Not recently no, do they not do this anymore? I unlocked a bunch of PDFs in my uni using this site.

 

[sangeeth]

Possibly the PDFs you tried are using better encryption which would be difficult to crack. Kudos to banks if they did that. May I ask which bank’s statement you tried?

 

[RaviAglRaviAgl is verified member.]

Lol what? What’s the point of this site then 😅.

Not recently no, do they not do this anymore? I unlocked a bunch of PDFs in my uni using this site.

Many organisations ask you for documents which they will only accept if not protected by a password. So, you may use these sites to remove the password protection from the pdf and provide a copy which does not ask for password when opened.

 

[sangeeth]

Yeah, that’s fair. This is possible by just opening in Chrome and doing a Ctrl + P to print again but I guess folks might not be aware.

But to be crystal clear, I used this to successfully remove passwords I didn’t know in my uni days. So like I said, it’s possible the banks are using better encryption.

 

[RaviAglRaviAgl is verified member.]

Yeah, that’s fair. This is possible by just opening in Chrome and doing a Ctrl + P to print again but I guess folks might not be aware.

But to be crystal clear, I used this to successfully remove passwords I didn’t know in my uni days. So like I said, it’s possible the banks are using better encryption.

It is not that I do not agree with you but a lot of updates have been released to address security in pdf files.

Indeed, they (adobe and the encryption teams) have strengthened the encryption so we can say that what was possible in earlier years is not possible today.

 

[sangeeth]

It is not that I do not agree with you but a lot of updates have been released to address security in pdf files.

Indeed, they (adobe and the encryption teams) have strengthened the encryption so we can say that what was possible in earlier years is not possible today.

Good to know, I'm definitely not well-informed. My assumption was that PDF itself is a very hacky thing thanks to Adobe keeping it that way. And I thought maybe the password-protection was intentionally kept not strong so as to support older OS/browser/applications considering a lot of people are on older devices. But good to know that I am wrong.

 

[suhasa010]

Glad you posted this. I wish people read/understood consequence of giving access to all of their emails to these greedy startups. I do the same thing but I wish I didn’t have to forward even these.

Setup auto forward filter in Gmail.

 

[sangeeth]

Setup auto forward filter in Gmail.

I have it configured in Outlook in my case. But I meant that I wish banks had an API or something so that these services don’t need to guzzle so much data.

 

[srikant]

I have a habit to check my gmail every morning - any new statement generated - Go to Billpay/Mobikwik and pay it off.

Oh, but they give you fifteen to twenty days from billing date to the due date, right?

So I make a slight variation on this - I set up an NEFT for the due date (or a couple days before) to pay it as soon as I see the email.

I'm combining this with Sumanta ji's advice to keep a separate account for credit card payments. I'm using IDFC as that account, so I get 4% interest while the money sits there.

I have auto-debit enabled on BoBCard - BoB gets my salary - and for my IDFC Millenia itself.

What I also do is that if the amount is small, I'll set up NEFT for due date. If it's big, I'll pay the minimum (rounded a bit upward) as soon as I see the statement and set up the NEFT for the balance. I do this even for my auto-debit cards though they seldom get very big bills 🙂 Unlike what the OP says, both BoB and IDFC nicely take into account any amount you've already paid during the auto-pay. So if I paid INR 200, my bill amt - INR200 is what gets debited on due date.

I want to synchronize my statements somewhat, since I've recently taken a LOT of credit cards, but Kotak was saying I can do that only after the card is 6 months old, so I'll probably synchronize them at that time.

 

[Crusader4Credit]

I just use an excel sheet, and Gmail flags.

 

[RAMESH BABU N]

I have 7 active cards n 2 inactive cards.

I asked ALL these card issuers to shift my billing date to 25th. All of them do it once without any issue or charges.

All my CC bills are, thus, easy to remember.

And, I make payments to ALL of them by 1st week - along with 3 electricity bills n 2 fiber bills. ALL ON ONE DAY. So, I never miss any bill.

The secret is - ignore Due Dates or Minimum Payments.

Pay early and Pay in full.

 

[moneyMaker]

I use a widget from TickTick App.

 

[insight]

I use a widget from TickTick App.

Good ways to do it

 

[Zacobite]

I have 7 active cards n 2 inactive cards.

I asked ALL these card issuers to shift my billing date to 25th. All of them do it once without any issue or charges.

All my CC bills are, thus, easy to remember.

And, I make payments to ALL of them by 1st week - along with 3 electricity bills n 2 fiber bills. ALL ON ONE DAY. So, I never miss any bill.

The secret is - ignore Due Dates or Minimum Payments.

Pay early and Pay in full.

ditto... best option.. first month maybe loss of credit period, next month onwards, its rolling...

 

[aayusharyan]

Why you should think of it –​

While holding multiple credit cards has its perks, one of its biggest disadvantages is missing a payment inadvertently and then ruining your Credit score which takes an ample amount of time to fix.

Many of the smartest and most careful of us, may miss a payment, owing to our busy schedules and maybe unplanned emergencies.

My payment strategy –​

I am pretty stingy with credit card spends and only use them for rewards and cashbacks. Well, most of us here do the same. If I don’t see a benefit, I just use UPI or cash.

I maintain an account in HDFC which I generally keep funded for emergencies. I use this account to pay my credit card bills. So, it doubles up as an emergency fund and since it is funded all the time, any payment that I may probably forget doesn’t bounce.

For HDFC Cards, there is an option in netbanking to autodebit your bank account with your linked credit card bill amount (or minimum amount due, which you should never select) on the due date. In case, you do not see your card then you have the option to link it.

For other Cards, such as SBI Cards, you will be able to find the option of NACH mandate in the SBI Card App. Use this to setup an autodebit of your Credit Card Bill amount with your Bank Account (which can be any bank in India). It is a two minute process, where you will be asked for the 4 digits of your PAN and then login to your netbanking to approve the NACH request. They may also share an agreement with you and ask you to sign it digitally using an OTP received on your registered mobile number.

I have linked all my credit cards except one (ICICI Amazon Pay Credit Card, which I use as a primary card) with HDFC for autodebit and this facility works pretty well.

Now, I also make payments for friends, family and in-laws using my Cards to get and give them the benefits of schemes and rewards. I take a cheque from my friends and directly deposit it to ICICI Credit Card Account. I take a note of the bill amount and after deducting the payments deposited in the Card Account by others, pay the entire bill upto 7 days in advance.

Disadvantages of using Autodebit (NACH) –​

• Firstly, you miss the petty cashbacks which you get while making payments using Amazon and the like. I don’t trust CRED and such apps and just stay miles away from them.
• Your bank may charge a one time fee of Rs 100+Gst (Rs 118) to setup autodebit from our account. Some banks do (PNB does) and some don’t (HDFC doesn’t, maybe because I am an Imperia or preferred customer, I don’t know) charge this fee.
• If your card account has received some cashback credit or even if you pay the credit card bill beforehand, the NACH will trigger and debit the entire bill amount. This will result in some credit balance to your card bill account which you will need to utilize later.
• I would like to make an exception here for SBI. In case of SBI, I have set up autodebit for my SBI BPCL Octane Card and then transferred some small amounts after the card bill date. Say, the bill was Rs 11800 and I paid Rs 400 once and Rs 500 later, SBI smartly picked up Rs 10900 using NACH and not Rs 11800 which was the bill amount.
• In case you have not funded your account, the NACH will bounce and you will have to pay Cheque bounce charges as per Bank policy, thus ruining the whole purpose. So, keep your account well funded at all times.
• In case there is a fraudulent charge to your account, then it may go unnoticed. You need to monitor your credit card account regularly.
• Just one more point to add, your NACH may trigger a day later after the due date. Don't worry about it. It won't be counted as a late payment.

Advantages of Autodebit –​

• You may save a little on account of Saving Bank interest, since the credit card bill amount is debited on the due date and not before.
• You shop without fear knowing that bill payment has already been taken care of.
• Peace of mind, as credit card bill payment is one of the worst liabilities when it starts to affect your credit score.

Other ways to avoid missing payments –​

• Use Reminders from Amazon, paytm or such apps which remind you of your due bills.
• You can setup a recurring calendar event in your phone to remind you of your bill payments.

Drop a comment if you have something to add.

Hit a Like, if you enjoyed this!!

Thanks.

I have setup NEFT so every month it transfers from my account towards CC, which also means most of my CCs are in negative balance. I use them once in a while to not make it negative. This i do for my 13-14 cards. the 1-2 cards i actively use, i just depend on the email to get notification and pay immediately.

 

[coolguy1]

Here's my 3-step quick guide:

1. Call all your banks and move all the statement generation dates to a single date of the month.
2. Add a calendar reminder 3 days after statement generation with the number of cards you have. Pay your dues on this day.
3. Add all your cards in Cred/Cheq whatever you use so it's easy to pay them all together.

Doing this in a disciplined way will ensure you never miss any of your payments!

 

[curios_mind_huh]

I have all my credit cards bill generation set up for billing cycle on 18th. Due date would be between 4th to 10th.

Salary gets credited on the last working day. I've made paying credit card bills is the first task, before spending on anything else. Also, I'll get to delay paying for purchases made from 19th to next month, if I wish to.

 

[Baki]

Why you should think of it –​

While holding multiple credit cards has its perks, one of its biggest disadvantages is missing a payment inadvertently and then ruining your Credit score which takes an ample amount of time to fix.

Many of the smartest and most careful of us, may miss a payment, owing to our busy schedules and maybe unplanned emergencies.

My payment strategy –​

I am pretty stingy with credit card spends and only use them for rewards and cashbacks. Well, most of us here do the same. If I don’t see a benefit, I just use UPI or cash.

I maintain an account in HDFC which I generally keep funded for emergencies. I use this account to pay my credit card bills. So, it doubles up as an emergency fund and since it is funded all the time, any payment that I may probably forget doesn’t bounce.

For HDFC Cards, there is an option in netbanking to autodebit your bank account with your linked credit card bill amount (or minimum amount due, which you should never select) on the due date. In case, you do not see your card then you have the option to link it.

For other Cards, such as SBI Cards, you will be able to find the option of NACH mandate in the SBI Card App. Use this to setup an autodebit of your Credit Card Bill amount with your Bank Account (which can be any bank in India). It is a two minute process, where you will be asked for the 4 digits of your PAN and then login to your netbanking to approve the NACH request. They may also share an agreement with you and ask you to sign it digitally using an OTP received on your registered mobile number.

I have linked all my credit cards except one (ICICI Amazon Pay Credit Card, which I use as a primary card) with HDFC for autodebit and this facility works pretty well.

Now, I also make payments for friends, family and in-laws using my Cards to get and give them the benefits of schemes and rewards. I take a cheque from my friends and directly deposit it to ICICI Credit Card Account. I take a note of the bill amount and after deducting the payments deposited in the Card Account by others, pay the entire bill upto 7 days in advance.

Disadvantages of using Autodebit (NACH) –​

• Firstly, you miss the petty cashbacks which you get while making payments using Amazon and the like. I don’t trust CRED and such apps and just stay miles away from them.
• Your bank may charge a one time fee of Rs 100+Gst (Rs 118) to setup autodebit from our account. Some banks do (PNB does) and some don’t (HDFC doesn’t, maybe because I am an Imperia or preferred customer, I don’t know) charge this fee.
• If your card account has received some cashback credit or even if you pay the credit card bill beforehand, the NACH will trigger and debit the entire bill amount. This will result in some credit balance to your card bill account which you will need to utilize later.
• I would like to make an exception here for SBI. In case of SBI, I have set up autodebit for my SBI BPCL Octane Card and then transferred some small amounts after the card bill date. Say, the bill was Rs 11800 and I paid Rs 400 once and Rs 500 later, SBI smartly picked up Rs 10900 using NACH and not Rs 11800 which was the bill amount.
• In case you have not funded your account, the NACH will bounce and you will have to pay Cheque bounce charges as per Bank policy, thus ruining the whole purpose. So, keep your account well funded at all times.
• In case there is a fraudulent charge to your account, then it may go unnoticed. You need to monitor your credit card account regularly.
• Just one more point to add, your NACH may trigger a day later after the due date. Don't worry about it. It won't be counted as a late payment.

Advantages of Autodebit –​

• You may save a little on account of Saving Bank interest, since the credit card bill amount is debited on the due date and not before.
• You shop without fear knowing that bill payment has already been taken care of.
• Peace of mind, as credit card bill payment is one of the worst liabilities when it starts to affect your credit score.

Other ways to avoid missing payments –​

• Use Reminders from Amazon, paytm or such apps which remind you of your due bills.
• You can setup a recurring calendar event in your phone to remind you of your bill payments.

Drop a comment if you have something to add.

Hit a Like, if you enjoyed this!!

Thanks.

All my Cards billing date comes around 18-20 each month, (30+) cards in family.

Just change all billing date to 1st or 20

 

[rafzy]

You are losing out on another 20 days of savings interest (6%-8%). Many consider it a crime in corporate finance departments.

I don't get this interest piece.
Interests are calculated by banks monthly or quarterly, right? So having funds for 15 days in that account, do the banks give pro-rata interest for it when they pay interest quartetly?
Also isnt that interest still come under the taxable bracket (where I think most of you would be on thee 30% one), so effectively the interest earned has that deduction as well, am I right in saying it?
Sorry if I sound stupid, but interests are one thing I can't get my head around and would appreciate if you or someone else can explain. Thanks

 

[RAMESH BABU N]

I don't get this interest piece.
Interests are calculated by banks monthly or quarterly, right? So having funds for 15 days in that account, do the banks give pro-rata interest for it when they pay interest quartetly?
Also isnt that interest still come under the taxable bracket (where I think most of you would be on thee 30% one), so effectively the interest earned has that deduction as well, am I right in saying it?
Sorry if I sound stupid, but interests are one thing I can't get my head around and would appreciate if you or someone else can explain. Thanks

Credit Balances in CA (current account) get ZERO rate of interest.

Credit Balances in SB (savings bank or savings fund) get interest @ declared rates. Calculation is a bit tricky. Mosy banks pay on the MINIMUM BALANCE in the account between 10th n last day of a month. Interest so calculated is paid at half yearly intervals.

Private banks have, most probably to differentiate their products from other's, started paying interest monthly. Or, calculating interest on a daily basis too. In case of MAB accounts, some banks also started NOT PAYING interest for the month, when balance fall below the agreed MAB.

For those below the Senior Citizen cutoff age as per ITD, the permissable Deduction on the SB Interest received is max 10K, under section 80TTA.