johnspenceruk

OK, I get my statement and then pay it in full manually.

Two weeks later, the DD gets collected for the same full balance again! ...?

Gagravarr

If you pay manually, you probably don't want the direct debit setup

Companies have to give 10 working days notice of how much they'll be collecting. Amex claim that if you pay between when they give the notice (typically with your statement) and the direct debit date, they can't change it.

I think that if you paid the whole lot off, amex would be OK under the direct debit rules to take nothing, but they don't seem to agree on that. What isn't ok would be for you to pay half the bill, then expect them to only take the other half after they've notified you how much they'll be taking. It's a pain though...

johnspenceruk

Sometimes I like to pay the full balance manually the moment I receive the statement, particularly if the balance is large. Other times I just leave the DD to be collected as scheduled.

All other CC's I have ever had, when I pay the balance in full manually, they never took the DD (provided of course, I gave them enough time, I believe 3-4 working day before the DD date and the DD is not taken).

What's funny, a couple days after I had paid the full balance manually, the Amex website reflected this, with information that no DD will be collected (while before the manual payment, it displayed DD date and amount ).

George K

I have to say, that my common-sense approach would have been than if you have a Direct Debit set up, then anything that you would pay manually would be charged in addition to your DD arrangement. I'd think that you'd have to effectively cancel the DD every time you wanted to pay manually, and then set it up again (which is obviously a non-starter). If other providers managed to hold back on getting the money from DD after you had paid manually, I wouldn't have thought that this was proper practice. I'm going over the DD guarantee document now and I can't find any reference to being able to vary your payment methods, or indeed what happens when you do so.

I pay manually every month, in full, for three cards. Considering how easy it has become (just put your debit card's CCV) it's a two-click affair that makes sure that no matter how high or low the amount is, I get to check before I pay. I'd be interested in finding out what's the proper practice in flipping between manual and DD though...

johnspenceruk

I believe that that is how most UK cards work, at least from my experience (Barclaycard, LLoyds, Santander, Capital One, etc.)

All UK CC providers (apart from AMEX) that I can think of, do exactly this?

George K

I stand corrected! I would have thought it'd be a nightmare to tell the difference.

Good luck with it though. This might be one for their telephone support team, if you haven't gone through them already...

RichardMannion

Watch out on your credit file here - I had a similar issue years ago when I first got my AmEx and paid the bill manually forgetting that I had enrolled in direct debit during sign-up. I called up and they sent back the direct debit, but did it in a way that made it flag as a bounced payment so was showing up negatively on my credit file, and was causing issues a few months later when trying to move to Centurion as my payment history was showing as having a missed payment.

Roger

My experience is different. Some do, some don't.

Also, you don't say, but I suspect your AmEx may be a charge card rather than a credit card for which different terms may apply.Well, golly gosh, so have I.See above. From memory, I believe MBNA cards take the amount shown on the statement as payable, regardless. MBNA is of course a major player in the UK card industry.

The answer with a credit card d/d is to select the minimum payable, thus giving you the option of paying the balance manually, or not as the case may be. With a charge card, which requires full payment, you wouldn't have this option.

johnspenceruk

Roger, it was the BA Premium AMEX credit card.

It is standard practice to check the balance outstanding for the billing period at the time direct debit instruction is sent to the bank. This means that for almost all UK credit cards the DD will not be taken, provided you manual payment has cleared 3-4 days before the DD collection instruction has been sent to the bank.

I have been doing it for years, with a too CC providers to remember. It was never a problem.

The reason I am frustrated is that it's the second time I have problems with AMEX and direct debits. Just a few months ago, they took a DD in error on another card. I called them, the DD was reversed bringing the card to 0 balance. But it registered as a bounced payment. How can an IT system not distinguish from a reversed DD (resulting from AMEX admin error) and and a default? Is this acceptable?

Roger

OK. In case you missed it, here's an option for you in future.

gum

I can partly understand Amex. They have no knowledge why you transfer the amount with a wire transfer if you have authorized the direct debit.

Some people who would like to make larger purchases (in the next days/weeks) transfer additional amounts to the Credit Card in order to have the limit and the credit amount available.

Think about people with an average income wanting to buy something large or paying their dream vacation - without using their limit to 100 %!

So it's more commen sense to book this payment as additional credit and - if the customer doesn't use this - to set off with the next monthly statement.

In case of Germany it's nearly the same: If you make an additional payment which Amex receives one or more days or so before the monthly settlement then the direct debit is reduced.

If the money reaches them after the statement is sent and the file is created then you may have a double payment. This is due to the fact that Amex has no possibility to guess which amounts will be paid.

German centric example:

So if my statement is issued anywhere between the 10th-14th of the month the last opportunity to transfer for the actual statement is on 6th or seventh of the month.

Otherwise the payment hits my credit card account so late that the direct debit is not changed.

I hope this short view on people who sometimes make additional payments in order to have a credit balance on the card is understandable.

tangey

If you wish to make a manual payment on a card on which you have a DD set up, the only way to guarantee that it is reflected in the next DD withdrawal is to make sure you do any such payment a few days before the next statement is due to be generated. That way, any payment will be included on the statement, and thus reflected in the outstanding amount.

Astaroth

There is no standard practice

RBS Group (RBS, Natwest, Mint etc) all do this, take the DD in full irrespective of whatever payments have been made.

Barclaycard will reduce the DD by the amount already paid off, assuming it clears a few days before the DD is due

Santander will not take the DD irrespective of how much, or little, has been paid beforehand

Personally, I prefer the Barclaycard approach but ultimately as long as you know which approach each of your cards take then its possible to deal with it. I got an annoying late payment fee because the Mrs spent £5 by accident on a santander and decided to go into the bank to pay it off which then meant the DD didnt collect and the £5 wasnt the minimum payment.

baccarat_king

TURN OFF DIRECT DEBIT! Problem solved. @:-)

AMEX NL had me setup for Direct Debit. I turned it off. Without Direct Debit, you get an additional 10+ days to pay. Not sure why anyone would want Direct Debit. Best to just handle your payments yourself, and on your schedule.

I just wire the payment once a month, when I find it convenient.

Astaroth

If you are organised and always remember when everything is due to be paid, dont mind doing online banking whilst on your 6 week adventure holiday etc then I'd agree with you.

Go over to any consumer rights type website however and you will see thousands of posts from people who don't pay by DD who either forgot to pay as they were on holiday at the time or their statement didnt arrive so they forgot/ didnt know the due date/ amount etc so they get hit by a late payment fee and/ or lose card perks like cashback or interest free period

DDs are very good for those of us that are occasionally forgetful or a little too "I'll do it tomorrow" or simply want the convenience of not having to remember/ not having to do banking whilst you on your extended holiday etc. It is important however that you remember how each of your DDs react to additional payments made before the DD is collected.