One of the most essential aspects of maintaining a healthy financial life is managing your credit card bill. One of the key decisions cardholders always face is how to initiate their payments: automatically or manually.
Personally speaking, from my experience, I’ve always made sure to set up the automatic payment method for my credit card bill online. With this, I ensure that I don’t fall into any kind of debt trap, which is one of the scariest parts of owning a credit card.
Here, the choice largely depends on individual preferences and financial habits, as both of these methods have their own advantages as well as disadvantages.
What is a credit card bill payment?
As the term implies, it refers to the overall process of settling the outstanding balance on a credit card account. When you use a credit card to make purchases or even cash withdrawals, you are essentially borrowing money from the credit issuer.
This borrowed amount of money accumulates as an outstanding balance on your credit card account.
Automatic or Manual? Which one to choose?
Choosing between both methods totally depends on you. It depends on your financial habits, preferences, and circumstances. Both of them have their own advantages and drawbacks, so it is essential to consider your individual situation to make an informed choice.
- Automatic
Pros
- Convenient
Automated payments are undoubtedly hassle-free when you initiate them via a credit card bill payment app. Once this method is set up, your payments will be made automatically on the due date, eliminating the need for manual intervention.
- Timely payments
The probability of missing a payment via the automatic methods is super low. This helps in maintaining a positive credit history as well as a score.
- Financial Discipline
Automated payments can for sure enforce financial discipline. This is done by regularly allocating funds for your credit card payments, reducing the risk of overspending.
Cons
- Inflexible
The payment amount is fixed. If by any chance you want to pay more than the minimum due or adjust the amount based on your financial health, you may have to make separate manual payments.
- Lack of control over finances
Automatic payments may lead to less control over your personal finances. So, here, the payment will be deducted whether you’re financially prepared for it or not.
- Manual
Pros
- Financial Control
This credit card bill payment method offers complete control over when and how much you pay towards bills. Also, you can adjust the payment amount based on your current financial situation.
- Flexible
With this, you can also choose different payment sources every single month. Further, you have the flexibility to pay more or less than the minimum due as needed.
- Easy to modify
Making changes to your amount or even source is relatively easy when you tend to pay via the manual method. This is because you can increase or even decrease payments based on your needs.
Cons
- Late Payment Risk
The most significant risk with manual payments is the potential for late payments. This happens when you forget the due date or face unexpected circumstances that hamper your financial stability.
- Error Potential
Manual payments may lead to errors; there is a very high probability of the same. This includes entering the wrong amount or missing a scheduled payment, which ultimately has financial consequences.
(Tip: Use Bajaj Finserv application as it is one of the best app for credit card payment. Highly recommended!)
Conclusion
Whichever method you choose, it totally depends on your financial goals and lifestyle. Always remember that it is crucial to monitor your credit card statements regularly and maintain a healthy financial life, ensuring that payments are made on time.