I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread with this subject so others with CapOne cards could find out about the advantages and convenience of CapOne's online services. As information I received via my rant about CapOne in another thread enlightened me, paying your CapOne bill online can help save you mistakes like missing payment due dates, payment posting problems, or going over your limit. Not to mention it's a huge convenience. I just now signed up for the online services they offer and it was easy and has some other interesting features that can make your CapOne life a bit better. Simply go to www.CapitalOne.com and select manage card services Registration is easy and I was able to pay my bill within 5 minutes (supposedly credits and posts next business day). All CapOne users should at least investigate these online services. Hope it helps someone from having the headaches I went through today. -Dave
Yip, online payments are the way to go. Print the confirmation out for proof and you have no worries. I used to send payments in 6-10 days ahead of the due date to DMB (closed now), and they would still post 1 day late. I now only have one local bank card that I can't pay online and wish I could. I like CapOne's services. Btw, I saved $500.00/ year on my auto insurance by switching to Liberty Mutual on the CapOne website.
Dave, Concerning the30 day late status on your credit report, it will probably appear - but if you call Cap One or write the Consumer Advocate and they verify that it was received on the due date. albeit after 1pm, they will have to remove the late payment from the credit report. I had a payment that was 4 days late that was listed by Cap One as 30 days late on the credit reports, and I called them to complain. They (nearly) profusely apologized and promised to remove it. They even sent a detailed letter to me via fax the next evening stating that they were taking off the 30 day late. In less than one week Cap One had updated to all three CRAs and deleted the notation.
Another good thing about Cap 1 online site is that you can register more than one cc. Unlike Providian. Best regards, Sam
If you really want to go online with all of your payments check out PayMyBills.com. They also offer the service at Citibank under a different name. It is 8.95/month and I use it because I move around a lot. You provide your billers(electric, phone, CC, whatever) a new address that is a PO Box provided by PayMyBills. Then all of your bills go there, they are scanned, and posted to your online account. You receive an email notifying you that a new bill has arrived and you login to your account and pay it from your checking account. You can also view your bill before you pay it. It has been a life saver for me because I always procrastinated in the past and paid lots of late payments as a result. Since having the service I haven't made one late payment so for me the service more than pays for itself.
Thanks Marci. I will do that! John, your information about paying all bills online is GREAT. I just wanted to add 2 comments about using CapOne's online services over something like PayMyBills.com or maybe better stated along with PayMyBills.com. 1) Using CapOne's online service allows you to pay and have it post to your account the next business day (if you need a FAST payment). 2) There are some features you can get like up 2 date statement information, and other account information that can SAVE you from making mistakes like going overlimit or something like that. Not to take ANYTHING away from PayMyBills. Just wanted to point that out. -Dave
What does changing your address to a business's p.o. box do to your score? I remember reading elsewhere that p.o. box addresses are flagged for possible fraud. In other words, companies do not like to see p.o. box addresses when applying for credit. Just curious. . .
Nave, Very valid points. Sometimes I even procrastinate my CC statements and email notices from PayMyBills for Aria and Cap One so I also use their online payment services. But I will say it again : ) it is the best $8.95/month I spend. I am inherently lazy when it comes to paying bills so just pointing and clicking keeps me in check. Here is an example of another cool feature of PayMyBills. I had a Wells Fargo Secured card that I canceled back in February. I had this card setup to send the bill to my PayMyBills PO Box. In March I received an email notice from PayMyBills that they did not receive a statement from Wells Fargo for this month and based on the day the statements I had received in previous months I should have received one by such and such date. This was cool because...well, you guys can fugure this one out. There are a few negatives about the PayMyBills: (1) It takes a while to get it setup(about two months) and some of your billers won't change your address unless you call them. And sometimes the letter PayMyBills sends to your biller requesting the change of address probably ends up in the trash because it didn't come from you and it is not signed. (2) On your credit reports your current address is now your PO Box. I haven't tried living in a PO Box before but some creditors "question" why you live in a PO Box when you apply for credit. (3) When you use your card online sometimes you have to put your PO Box as your billing address or your card won't get authorized. It checks the Zip code of the address that the CC issure has in your file. So once you learn to deal with these small problems it is smooth sailing with PayMyBills.
John, That is very interesting. You can ONLY get that kind of information from someone who is actually going through the experience of the PayMyBills service..Once again thanks. -Dave
To Concerned: I don't know what it does. I have heard that FICO scoring also accounts for where you live (because if your neighbors pay their bills on-time, then you probably do to) so when I go from a ritzy zip code in Scottsdale, AZ to Podunk, Idaho it probably hurts my score a little bit. But gettng FICO or anyone else to admit it would open them up to all kinds of lawsuits so I doubt that we will ever know if they factor in where you live. But as I said I have no idea if this really happens. I am working hard to get my score above 700. I almost have all the credit cards I need and my next major loan/purchase purchase will be a house sometime next year. So if they want to screw me out of a few points because I use a PO Box for paying my bills then I guess that is what happens. So if you have a borderline score then this might be a consideration.
