Credit card company won't accept home banking payments

disneysteve · #1 (**permalink**) 06-19-2007, 05:48 PM

Has anyone encountered this? My receptionist told me yesterday that she paid her new credit card bill using her home online banking from Commerce Bank. The CC company returned the bank check with a note saying they don't accept third party checks. I thought that was rather strange. I've used home banking for years and I've never had a payee refuse to accept the payment that way.

buzz · #2 (**permalink**) 06-19-2007, 08:06 PM

What credit card is this that will not accept bank bill pay service? I need to know so I never apply for one.

Was a paper check sent? They don't take electronic payments either? It sounds like a credit company that wants to prohibit reliable payment. When the Postal Service screws up delivery, late fees are generated for the credit company. A certain percentage of those will cause over-limit fees also. In many cases, high default APR's will be triggered.

Reliable payment is bad for business.

poundwise · #3 (**permalink**) 06-19-2007, 08:30 PM

I'll take a guess... Chase.

In general, I think its better to make payments using the creditor's site. You typically get automatic confirmation of payment, etc. but, if someone wants send a payment through their bank's online banking service, there is no reason for that to be refused.

disneysteve · #4 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzz

What credit card is this that will not accept bank bill pay service?

It is called Plains Commerce. It is a Visa card.

I just asked her and she hasn't called yet to straighten it out. She has to contact the CC to find out why they didn't accept payment and to get the late fee waived. She also has to call her bank, Commerce, because she has the returned check and the money has already come out of her account, so she needs to find out what to do about that.

MonkeyMama · #5 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 07:40 AM

I have had vendors refuse checks that way actually. In this case I would not necessarily get upset with the credit card company. I did online bill pay with my small credit union and had many many many issues.

Few months back I moved to a local (much bigger) credit union and the difference is night and day. I Was talking with a co-worker before I switched and she told me she had worked for accounts receivable before and people some of the online bill pay issues were pretty horrible. Some banks just do not do a good job with it. After that talk I thought it was universal, but now I know some banks just don't have their act together.

Off the top of my head my homeowners association and 1 utility used to refuse my old bank's checks, but now they don't have a problem with my new bank.

Ask her how long she's had online bill pay and if she has had any other problems. Recommend she go with a bigger bank if she is with a small outfit. My gut is that is the real problem and the credit card company won't be the only ones.

If she is satisfied with her online banking overall I Wouldn't be surprised either if it is just the cc company being difficult, but had to share another point of view. But if you had come to me asking more I would have said my online banking SUCKS - LOL - so see what she says...

JoyJoy · #6 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 09:34 AM

I have to agree with Poundwise! It's so much easier paying a bill on the company's website then messing around with the Bill Pay feature.

I have had only one experience with Bill Pay and that was through Bank of America. I have a checking and credit card account with Bank of America so paying the credit card bill directly to them was a piece of cake. Had it been another creditor, I don't know if it would have gone this smoothly.

vsjhoc · #7 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoy

I have to agree with Poundwise! It's so much easier paying a bill on the company's website then messing around with the Bill Pay feature.

I agree also. It's the "push/pull" issue. Your bank with the checking account (payor) isn't in any hurry to push money out of the bank. The creditor (payee) has a greater incentive to make sure it gets paid.

disneysteve · #8 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoy

It's so much easier paying a bill on the company's website then messing around with the Bill Pay feature.

I disagree. If I have multiple bills to pay, I can do it all at once, on one screen, with my bank's bill pay service. Quick and easy. If, however, I want to pay the bills at each individual company site, that means logging on to each one, entering my info at each one, printing confirmations at each one, logging off and going to the next one. Using the bank's service is far quicker and easier. I've used it for years and never had a problem.

wyozozo · #9 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I disagree. If I have multiple bills to pay, I can do it all at once, on one screen, with my bank's bill pay service. Quick and easy. If, however, I want to pay the bills at each individual company site, that means logging on to each one, entering my info at each one, printing confirmations at each one, logging off and going to the next one. Using the bank's service is far quicker and easier. I've used it for years and never had a problem.

I have to agree with Steve on this one...my bank guarantees the payment will be there by whatever date I specify. I've used my online banking for years and I've never had a problem with it. Most of my accounts are set up to be paid automatically every month.

MonkeyMama · #10 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 06:48 AM

Oh yes no doubt - easier through my bank. But the key is to find a good service.

Tree0164 · #11 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 09:45 AM

I have used online Banking for almost 10 years now with larger size banks-now Bank of america. The only time I ever got something back was from my Town when they said they couldn't accept my water payment without the actual payee stub.

scrava · #12 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 10:23 AM

I agree w/ Steve too. But, I wonder if coworker's credit union is similar to mine: when I setup a new vendor the first payment is almost always a real live check. Then, they work to setup the EFT payment and it is usually done in time for my next payment.

poundwise · #13 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 11:59 AM

Ease of use is not the issue IMO. Also, I didn't suggest logging on to each place where you need to pay a bill, just the credit card(s) site.

If I pay online through the credit card company web site, I get an online payment confirmation. The payment is credited and the balance updated quickly.

I love online banking through my bank. I use it to pay utility bills, one of my car payments (the other is paid via automatic EFT), etc. and I, too, have always had great success.

As for the on-time payment guarantee, that is great (and my bank offers it too) but you might want to read it carefully and consider this: If you pay your credit card late, they will charge you a late fee, it may trigger a higher interest rate, and may actually trigger universal default with another creditor. Your bank's on-time guarantee does not address all of these issues. At best, the guarantee will result in your late fee being covered via reimbursement; the rest could still be a mess.

Now, having said that, I believe it (online banking/bill pay) to be safe and effective and I also think you should pay your credit card bill well before its due date (thus eliminating any nail-biting close calls and giving time to remedy problems, no matter how you pay), and so it really is just fine.

As a matter of preference, however, I simply would rather pay the credit card(s) at the creditor site and get that instant confirmation.

wyozozo · #14 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 12:03 PM

As for the on-time payment guarantee, that is great (and my bank offers it too) but you might want to read it carefully and consider this: If you pay your credit card late, they will charge you a late fee, it may trigger a higher interest rate, and may actually trigger universal default with another creditor. Your bank's on-time guarantee does not address all of these issues. At best, the guarantee will result in your late fee being covered, the rest could still be a mess.

I'm lucky that I have no credit cards so therefore no worry that they'll be late...but it is something others may need to worry about.

vsjhoc · #15 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 02:00 PM

I favor the approach that involves the fewest number of transactions and the highest likelihood that the bills will get paid on time.

All of my bills are either direct debited from my checking account (so I don't even have to do anything to pay them) or charged to one of two credit cards.

So all I have to schedule is 2 payments per month to take care of everything (one more if I went wild and crazy and used a third credit card!).

There's no right and wrong here. Do what you feel comfortable with.

disneysteve · #16 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsjhoc

All of my bills are either direct debited from my checking account (so I don't even have to do anything to pay them) or charged to one of two credit cards.

So all I have to schedule is 2 payments per month to take care of everything (one more if I went wild and crazy and used a third credit card!).

This is exactly what I do. All of our bills are either auto-withdrawals or charged to one of two reward credit cards. I only actually pay 2 bills per month manually and I use home banking for that.

JoyJoy · #17 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 05:57 PM

I like having my confirmation# in my file and that's why I go from site to site and pay my bills. Hubby and I split the bills so really it isn't a problem. If the bills are automatically deducted from one or two cards each month then it shouldn't be a problem of going from site to site!!!

Different strokes for different folks!

b4freedom · #18 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve

She also has to call her bank, Commerce, because she has the returned check and the money has already come out of her account, so she needs to find out what to do about that.

This is what I hate about the online bill pay feature that banks offer. They withdraw the funds as soon as the check is issued. So, you lose the float. And, more often then not, you can't see when the check cleared. Furthermore, you have to ask for your money back if the check is returned.

Most small and medium sized banks don't actually issue the checks. They outsource that feature to another company.

The bill pay checks most often don't even have signatures. A lot of the forged checks come from what look like bank checks because they don't require signatures.

If the credit card doesn't accept third party checks it should have been disclosed to you.

Was it really a "third party check"? Is the routing number different then your own checking account number?

disneysteve · #19 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b4freedom

This is what I hate about the online bill pay feature that banks offer. They withdraw the funds as soon as the check is issued. So, you lose the float.

My regular checking account that I use for bill pay earns no interest, so there's no float for me to lose. I only keep enough in there to cover upcoming bills.

poundwise · #20 (**permalink**) 06-21-2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b4freedom

This is what I hate about the online bill pay feature that banks offer. They withdraw the funds as soon as the check is issued.

My bank does not do this. If the payment is paid electronically (my electric bill is, for instance, an e-bill I receive through the banking system) then the money comes out when the payment is made, however, other payments, that a check is issued for, do not come out until the check is presented/cleared.

Still, as disneysteve said regarding his account, I do not have interest checking so I'm not really losing/gaining anything either way.