Caught 'Em!

Ahah! I caught them in the act. Trying to make my payment late so they can raise the interest rate in my credit card account, those scoundrels!

Too bad for them. I pay them with what's left after bills out of every paycheck, and that's every two weeks. This one may be held for three days so it comes in at my credit union the day after billing cut-off, but they've already gotten paid once, perhaps twice this period, depending on what finnagling they did two paychecks ago. So I'm not late, hard as they try to make it so.

I love electronic trails. My pay period on the credit card is the 18th of each month. This time I paid them electronically on the 16th. I print those out every time, figuring the proof is worth the paper. It got paid in actuality on the 19th. Had it been my only payment, it would have been late.

I understand their motives. Greed, of course. Plain ol' greed. I still have the deal on this card of prime plus 1% for my interest. I've had this card with this deal for years. Were I late once, they could bump me way up. So I don't get late.

I've noticed that a payment made, say, on the 1st of the month, midway through the period, can go through the same day or at latest the next. They do want their money soonest then. Funny how efficient they can be when they want to. But I'm keeping an eye on them. Or rather, I'm keeping an eye on me, making sure I'm prompt. It pays.