The Credit Card Act of 2009, stipulates that credit card companies need to allow at least 21 days from the time that a credit card bill is mailed for the recipient to make a payment upon it – in addition to the fact that the due date for each credit card issued must be on the same day every month. This would seem to indicate that the current practice of monthly credit card bills is something that isn’t subject to change; but the thing about laws is that those that lobby hard enough to change a given law or to make an exception to such, especially when that exception is under the guise that this will be beneficial to the credit card consumer, signify that those very same laws are thus subject to change.
In consideration that the vast majority of employees are paid on a semi-monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly pay period, this would seem to indicate that not everybody would be adverse to paying a credit card bill semi-monthly, rather than monthly – though, of course, the benefits of such would have to be clear and obvious to the consumer. The main selling point for consumers would have to be a lower interest rate, as compared to a credit card that stipulated a monthly payment, and of which, that lower interest rate would certainly seem to be a win for consumers. Of course, the question, might well be asked, what is in it for the credit card issuer? That answer has a lot to do with their perception of the good intentions of a given consumer as compared to their actual behavior. That is to say, semi-monthly payments, would provide for credit card issuers, twice the amount of opportunity to charge a late payment fee, an over the limit fee, a return check fee, and any other pertinent fees so attached to that credit card. In addition, the more frequent the payment period, the lesser risk that a credit card issuer has, in regards to perceiving better those that are going to be problematic in the collecting of anything from them, anytime soon. Finally, all credit card issuers have an ungainly amount of terms and conditions, of which, buried deep within such, could be terms that would permit that credit card issuer to raise the interest rate for all those that are delinquent upon their account. The bottom line is that credit card issuers are not stupid, and before they would roll out a nationwide semi-monthly credit card offer, they would first test such within a given community over a long enough period of time to determine whether a semi-monthly structure would be more beneficial for them or not.
In truth, a semi-monthly credit card structure could also be beneficial for certain consumers, because if properly structured, it would allow them to keep their credit card balance lower and because of a lower overall interest rate, this would definitely save them money. In addition, with the credit card bill showing up more frequently, consumers might well adjust their spending habits to be more responsible about their expenditures. It is well to remember, though, that current credit card debt is nearly $1 trillion, so for a certainty, because the major banks are essentially in the business of making money, any legitimate way that they can, that it is only a matter of time, before the waters are tested for this very thing.