Even if you get down to one account and remember its due date, the rules can change in mid-game.
At one time, I could pay my bill by phone as late as fifteen minutes before midnight local time, on the due date printed on my statement.
As of July 2005, payments made after 4 PM local time are not posted until the following business day.
This reduction in service was noted at the bottom of my statement in a space reserved for "Important News."
People are creatures of habit and like to put things off, especially when bill paying is concerned. The credit card companies know that. They’re counting on you to, first of all, not read your statement thoroughly; and then, if they do, still make their automated payment at the same time they always do: the very last minute. Due date swing
Payment due dates can still fall on weekends and Monday holidays. (Don’t ask.) Plan ahead. Open your bill the day you get it. Don’t leave it sit on the kitchen table assuming that, if your due date was the 30th last month, it will be the 30th this month. I’ve seen due dates fall within a seven-day range (26th through 2nd of the next month). The number of days in a calendar month varies by only three. When I pointed this out to a customer "service" rep, and repeated for the fourth time my query re the date swing, she finally told me: "We don’t want people to know that." (I treasure that phone conversation.)
I believe payments made before 4 PM local time are also subject to some sort of operator-assisted penalty because the company’s automated payment system is now unable to process last-day payments. (More reductions in "service.") I "believe" since I've put this concern in the form of a yes or no question to four different customer "service" reps and have received two yesses and two nos. I think I’ll make it a best-of-seven.