Paying credit card bills on time is one of the strong suits of a financially responsible individual. Lenders tend to look favourably upon such individuals who never miss a payment, and regularly repay more than the minimum amount due.
Nonetheless, it often becomes challenging to manage timely payments, owing to a number of recurring financial obligations, from rent to electricity and internet bills. But, since missing out on credit card bill payment can impact one’s CIBIL score adversely and entail hefty interest charges, it’s vital to be mindful about these liabilities.
Ways to ensure you never miss out on credit card payments
- Set up auto payments
Virtually every lender in India offers the facility of auto payments to their credit card customers. When you enable this facility, the outstanding amount is automatically deducted from your savings account. Since this process does not require your intervention, it eliminates the risk of missing out on deadlines.
Most credit card issuers also provide the option to select the date on which such balance will be debited. It’s an ideal way to settle credit card bill payments for salaried individuals since there’s a certainty of sufficient funds on the same date, each month. In case you are not salaried, ensure to check the balance a few days before the repayment date to ensure the payment does not bounce.
2. Convert large payments to EMIs
You can use a credit card to meet a host of expenses, and depending on the limit, even undertake large purchases. However, it’s also crucial to ensure that you repay the same effectively without incurring interest charge or be tagged for delinquency.
EMI conversion is an excellent way to deal with such expenses without risking late payment. For instance, you can convert expenses above Rs.3000 into EMIs with a Bajaj Finserv credit card.
Nonetheless, make sure to read through the terms and conditions of such EMI conversion to avoid any unnecessary inconvenience.
3. Pay high-interest dues first
You may want to prioritise your debt payments based on descending order of interest rates. In case you are servicing multiple debts at once, it may be an effective way to manage credit card debts and other obligations. Paying off the smaller debts first and then moving on to the larger ones is another way how to repay your credit card debt efficiently.
4. Use the billing cycle wisely
Timely repayments become considerably more manageable if you strategise properly. In that regard, the billing cycle and the grace period of a credit card play a crucial role. The grace period is the time provided in excess of the billing cycle for repayment.
Length of billing cycles are typically a month and that of grace period can be up to 15 days. Suppose your card’s billing cycle starts from 15th of every month. So, if you make a purchase using your credit card on 16th October, you can repay that amount 44 days later on 30th November.
Strategising purchases like this ensures ample time for repayment. It’s one of the ways you can use a credit card wisely.
5. Activate alerts
Most lenders send alerts via SMS and email a few days prior to the due date. Nonetheless, you may need to activate this service. If you check your emails routinely, alert activation can be a useful way to stay on top of bill payments.
6. Pay upon receiving salary
Several experts consider it a financially healthy practice to mitigate all dues as soon as you receive your salary. One reason for that is you can ensure paying above the minimum amount and maybe even in full when your salary has just been credited. By settling this crucial obligation right away, you can manage other expenses more deftly.
Another reason is your payday acts as a reminder of the credit card bill payment. Since in most cases, paydays fall on the same day every month, chances of missing out on payment are reduced significantly when you make this a habit.
If you are a self-employed individual, you can align payments with receipts from debtors, and ensure timely payments that way.
Opting for a feature-rich card, like the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard, also goes a long way in ensuring a convenient financial experience alongside these.
To further your benefits, you may also consider pre-approved offers that financial institutions like Bajaj Finserv extend. These offers minimise the time required in availing a credit card, and you can also find such offers across products like personal loans and business loans. You can provide your phone number and name to check your pre-approved offers.
Nevertheless, you may also consider changing the payment due date if it is inconvenient for you. Keeping the date in the vicinity of your payday, if not on it, can help you to manage the expenses better. It can also be beneficial if you set the due date according to your other financial obligations, either by sprinkling those across different dates or clubbing them on the same date.
