not really asking for advice, but

[baratron]

Argh. I forgot to pay my credit card bill this month. Kinda unsurprising that I've had other things on my mind, but... The due date is Tuesday, 6th. I just set up a payment from my online banking, from the same bank where the credit card is, but even then it's not guaranteed to go through before Wednesday. Is it worth me ringing the bank to tell them about my health woes? It's the Co-Op, so they are not evil, and I usually pay my bill way before the due date (usually as soon as I receive it).

I can't believe I'm posting this to livejournal, but... I just don't want to have to pay a £20 "fine" over a £20 payment. And yes, I can afford £20 - it's just the principle of the thing. Punish me for deliberate non-payment or for being flaky, either I could accept, but I don't like being punished for being ill enough that I haven't thought about finances in weeks. I probably have to go to the doctor again tomorrow, because of some random oddities that might be indicative of something up with my liver. Gah.

Comments

[baratron.livejournal.com]

The problem is, my personal account is with NatWest and my credit card & joint account are with the Co-Op. I cling to the naive opinion that only paying my credit card bill in cash means that NatWest don't know where else I bank. This is probably untrue, but it leaves me very unwilling to set up a direct debit from my NatWest account. I can't set one up from the joint account because it's the joint account, intended to pay for joint purchases (like the house). I just used that account to pay a personal bill yesterday because it was an emergency.

The reason why my personal account is with NatWest even though they are evil is that in Kingston, there is a branch of NatWest that is open the same hours that the shopping centre is open - something like 9am to 6pm weekdays, 9am to 8pm on Thursdays, 9am to 6 or 7pm on Saturdays, 11am to 5pm Sundays. I often have to pay money in at the weekend, and I can't be sure of getting to the bank on a Saturday before 12 or 1pm. It's extremely convenient for me to be able to pay money in on a Saturday or Sunday - and even more convenient that I can speak directly to a customer service person. Thus convenience wins over ethics, and I am a hypocrite. Never mind.

[lovingboth]

my personal account is with NatWest and my credit card & joint account are with the Co-Op.

That's not a problem. I have a credit card from a different bank, and I bet most of the rest of your FL do too.

They almost certainly already do know: it'll be in your credit file.

And why would they treat you badly as a result?? "Oh, she's proved she would go somewhere else - let's treat her badly!" Erm, no, I don't think so.

What banks tend to do is offer the 'disloyal' better deals! Mobile phone companies are the same, as I think you've experienced.

Oh, my personal account is with NatWest too, partly because it was the branch Harrow used (= same day clearance of housing benefit cheques) and now I stick with them because I do like the opening hours, UK call centres, being able to ring the branch etc etc that their ads go on about.

Near work, they're by far the best of the local branches: when someone said the Lloyds was the worst in London, I believed them and the Barclays is also a joke.

But my credit cards have always been with someone else.