Posted on: Sunday, October 28, 2001

Personal finance
Slowing postal service means pay bills early

By Christine Dugas
USA Today

As the U.S. Postal Service grapples with issues from the anthrax scares, financial experts have some advice for consumers: Allow extra time for paying bills to avoid unexpected late fees.

Credit card issuers, phone companies and other creditors say they are not experiencing significant mail delays. But there may be areas of the country where delivery is not as efficient as usual. Mail normally routed through distribution centers where anthrax has been found could be held up, experts say.

Gerri Detweiler, author of "The Ultimate Credit Handbook," got a late payment notice from her credit card issuer. The penalty, which was later waived: $29.

"I checked and I paid it six days in advance of the due date just like I usually do," she says. "The company said it was posted two days late."

Some tips:

• Mail payments at least six to eight business days before the due date, Detweiler says.

• Keep track of when you mail a check. Jot it down on your calendar in case you get hit with a late fee.

• Consider paying bills via the Internet or telephone. Many creditors let customers pay bills for free on their Web sites or over the phone. And most banks offer full-service Internet bill-payment services.

Some bank customers get the service free. Others pay a monthly fee that usually ranges from $3 to $7, says John Farris, senior analyst at Cyber Dialogue.

Jason Briggs, senior analyst at the Yankee Group, a consulting firm, predicts the mail scare will cause a 20 percent increase in enrollment in Internet bill-paying services over the next three to six months.

• Be on the lookout for late-arriving bills. Call your creditors if you think there is a problem. For example, if it's the time of year that your homeowner's insurance is up for renewal, you don't want your coverage to lapse because of possible mail glitches.

• If you get hit with a late fee because of mail delays, ask the creditor to waive it.

"Most credit card issuers have shown flexibility on late fees," says Robert McKinley, CEO of CardWeb.com. "We believe they should be waived until the mail scare is over."