Why Doesn’t My Credit Card Tell Me When My Payment is Due?
Written by
Chris Chisholm
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
If you’re like millions of other Americans then you’ve got a credit card. Just about all credit cards require you to make a minimum monthly payment on your balance of charges. Very often you choose the date you want to designate the one-month point — say, the 1st of every month, or the 16th.
It’s easy to forget when the bill is due, and when you forget the bill is due you forget to pay it, that results in you getting a late penalty fee added to your balance, and a ding in your credit history. Why doesn’t the credit card notify you when your balance is do?
For the very reason that if you miss your payment date you’ll get hit with a late fee, and those late fees are a big part of your credit card’s profit margin.
Credit Cards Need to Make Money
It’s no fun being cynical, but let’s face it, when it comes to credit cards and the way they treat their members, profit is the name of the game. That’s what all business is about, of course, but with credit cards its more overt, because they consciously seek to trump their members in order to get as many dollars out of them as possible.
Notifications that the credit card minimum monthly payment is due would alert plenty of people who are busy and forgotten tha it’s time to pay. They’d rush to the computer, click on the “pay now” button, and all would be well.
The problem is that the credit card company wouldn’t get your late fee.
Not All Credit Card Companies are Out to Get You
Some credit card companies do send out notifications that the monthly payment is due, but they are few and far between. The vast majority of credit card companies won’t offer that courtesy, and can actively — although never explicitly — seek to confuse their members with confusing monthly statements and even counter-intuitive design of their online account pages.
When it comes to paying your monthly bill on time, you need to rely on your own organization skills to give you the necessary prompt.
