Has Your Credit Card Company Helped You Lately?
Credit Card Companies are Becoming More Customer-Oriented
As much as we complain about the credit card companies at times, I have to admit that many of them are becoming more customer-friendly these days. They understand that there is a lot of competition and that you could easily transfer the balance you have with them to another credit card company. If you want to learn more about the improvements credit card companies are making, we’ve got the info.
An Increase in Courtesy
On Sunday morning, one of my credit card companies gave me courtesy call. The purpose of this call was to inform me that my credit card balance was approaching my credit limit (I had just made a major purchase). They wanted to let me know that I have recurring charges on that account each month, and they didn’t want those future charges to be denied based upon a low available credit limit.
I was easily able to confirm that this call was, in fact, from my credit card company and not from an identity theft criminal trying to solicit information. The company didn’t call to intimidate me about making larger payments. But rather, they wanted to present options to me on how to take care of balance before there will be any over-the-limit fees.
This was actually a welcomed relief because I remember getting hit with stiff fees when I was a college student and still hadn’t quite figured out how to use my credit cards responsibly without exceeding my credit limit. The options they presented were to make a payment by check over the phone for no additional fee or apply for a larger balance increase.
I took advantage of the pay-by-phone feature for no additional fees. Since I had planned on paying the balance in full anyway, doing so over the phone made it convenient and prevented an over-the-limit fee.
Email Alerts
Another modern convenience of credit card companies is the opportunity to provide alerts via email whenever your account starts approaching your credit limit. Many banks offer this feature for checking account customers.
This will allow you to send larger payments whenever you are nearing your credit limit. This email service will include the option to receive an email whenever a payment is due in the next few days.
These extra reminders will prevent your account from accruing late fees. As a credit card consumer, you should definitely appreciate the extra mile credit card companies are willing to go to improve their customers’ experiences. Especially when you consider the fact that letting us go over our limit would earn the credit card companies additional revenue in the form of late fees.