Doing it can make your payment periods more convenient, and can help you generate savings interest.
[Disclaimer Paragraph] The information here is free, and you are not required to purchase anything from me or sign up for anything. I am just a regular banking customer, and have no expertise in finances, other than what I've learned over the years. I do not get any bonuses, points, or payments, by posting this. I post it for everybody's benefit and for ad revenue.
Imagine needing to automate small payments for a large debt. If the payment date changes a lot, then paying on time becomes a little wasteful, because you might prefer to pay as close to the date as possible. Customizing the statement date will allow for this. You could still pay early. It just helps to keep things predictable.
Another situation in which you want to do this is when you make monthly purchases at specific times of the month. For example, if you buy transit fare [monthly passes or prepaid tickets], then you will probably buy them at the end of a month for the following month [e.g.: at the end of December, buy a month pass for January]. If that is the case, then you might want to adjust the statement dates to start and end at the last week of the month. If you buy a pass at the end of December, then your statement will end in January, and then you will pay in February [probably the middle of February]. For people who live hand to mouth, this gives them a lot more time to get the transit fare, then earn extra cash and get paid, and then pay for the pass. For people who are just good with their money, this means putting money in the bank a little longer, which means more savings interest.
I discovered this, when I was getting some information on the phone with TD Bank. They came up with the suggestion of changing the statement dates.
I called up many other banks to check with them, to see if they could do it for free, and all of them said that they could. See the list of banks that I called at the end of the post. I think that we can safely assume that all banks can do it for free, but it is best to check with your bank. It's always free to ask.
Each bank had different rules on how to do it. Remember to phone them for specifics.
It is best to explain your situation, and give them as much information as possible.
Please let us know in the comments below, if you had similar experiences, or if you have had different experiences. If you have any other ideas on how to customize your credit card services for free, then let me know.
I Checked With These Banks
They all allow us to adjust our statement periods at no cost.
No comments:
Post a Comment