Chris O'Shea
Paying your bills on time, every time is a great way to improve your credit score. Another way? Paying down your credit card debt. One way you can combine both is to set your credit card payments to autopay. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is Auto Pay?
Autopay for your credit cards is just as it sounds. You choose an amount of money to be withdrawn from your bank account to be paid automatically toward your credit card balances. You can choose to pay a set amount, the total balance, or the minimum due.
Benefits of Auto Pay
The benefits of autopay are simple: You don’t have to remember to pay your credit cards every month. Getting behind on credit card payments is a slippery slope. The interest starts piling up quickly, and if you get way behind, your credit score can suffer. With autopay, the work is done for you every single month.
How Much Should Your Auto Pay?
Ideally, the process for setting up autopay starts with how much you charge to your credit cards each month. You never want to rack up balances that you can’t afford to pay off in full. So you want to start there: Keep your credit card charges manageable. When you do set up autopay, the best course of action is to set it to pay your complete balance each month.
Do One Thing: Even with autopay, make sure you check your credit card statements for any fraudulent or unauthorized charges.
Jean Chatzky
