In order to effectively manage your credit card, it is important to keep a track of your due date. The system of due dates, in case you are clearing your monthly credit card statement with a cheque, is slightly different. In the normal course, all customers are required to pay their cheques 3 – 5 days before the said due date, so that the payment can be received within the stipulated period. While this is the iron rule followed by banks for the payment of credit cards, sometimes, in order to entail some flexibility, customers are given an unofficial grace period of around 3 days after the due date has passed, to submit their cheques and wait for the receipt of payment. In such a scenario, no late payment charges are levied on the customer. Customers must try and submit their cheques well before the due date in order to avoid any late payment fines and penalties. While it is optional for banks to offer a grace period to customers, you must not rely heavily on it and delay your payment. Often, it is not uncommon to notice that if certain situations arise such as national or bank holidays, where customers have no control whatsoever, on such a delayed payment. However, banks still levy late payment charges on them as they have received such a payment at a later date.
While there have been rising complaints in the credit card industry where customers have been asking for clarifications regarding due dates, there is no denying that there is an immediate need for the establishment of an uniform system of cheque deposit norms and their respective due dates. Banks need to throw some light on their methodology of due dates, and preferably a centralized system must be established wherein banks decide the dates by which cheques must be collected, decisions with respect to late payments when there are any national holidays or bank holidays in the offing, the need or denial of grace period, and other related queries. Else, credit card users are and have been facing the brunt of such miscommunications and inconsistencies. Such a situation of late payment may completely tarnish the credit history of the customer and banks may deny giving any personal loan, home loan etc., to such customers, since a mark of late payment would definitely show a poor financial discipline of the customer.
What can be termed as the “worst aspect” of this entire scenario is the fact that customers are needed to clear all such late payment charges and fees, even before they wish to dispute such financial claims. On the contrary, customers in the West enjoy far more financial liberty as they may refuse to clear such payments which they choose to dispute. In order to avoid any such uncomfortable and risky situations, customers must make sure that they pay their cheques well before time, in order to steer clear of all pending dues. Also, if you end up paying at a date that is much closer to the deadline, then pay the cheque directly at the bank and avoid depositing them in drop boxes. In order to protect yourself when you find yourself in any dispute, always preserve the acknowledgement receipt that you would be given when you deposit your cheque at the bank counter. This would come in handy as proof in case there is any confusion or discrepancy at a later date. Nowadays, with technology and its advancement being the order of the day, you can also deposit your cheque in specific cheque deposit machines, that issue an immediate printed receipt with a replica of all the information provided in your cheque.