Stupidity at MBNA not directly taking payments?

[HighFlyer]

I have just placed a call to MBNA to pay the balance of my Bmi AmEx. Its a new card (first bill) and I'm not going to keep it (I mainly took it out for the bonus 20k miles, and i dont need another AmEx that isnt accepted everywhere).

Anyway, I called a few moments ago and asked to pay my bill over the phone. I pay my other MBNA cards through the online portal but as i am not keeping this card i didnt want to set it up, and last two times I paid MBNA through my own bank the payments didnt get applied on time, so i thought 'no worries, I'll call MBNA'.

Turns out, they wouldnt allow me to make a payment with them over the phone. Unless you are going to go past your due date, they wont take a debit card payment apparently, and the young man on the phone kept quoting this line about their being "five easy ways to pay" (the online portal that i am not registered for being one of them).

Maybe I am expecting too much? I just thought it was laughable to call MBNA to pay my bill to be told that they wont take a payment for it. The chap did say that if i called back the day before the payment was due, that he could do it then. Seems crazy to me.

Thanks,
Sarah

[mcmbenjamin]

Can you mail a check? Since this seems to be a one-time occurrence, it could be the fasted way that would offer proof of payment.

[mitchja]

Paying by cheque is by far the slowest way these days. I think paying over a bank counter (which I think you can still do [:?]) isn't much quicker either although I've never paid a bill that way.

Regards

Originally posted by HighFlyer
I have just placed a call to MBNA to pay the balance of my Bmi AmEx. Its a new card (first bill) and I'm not going to keep it (I mainly took it out for the bonus 20k miles, and i dont need another AmEx that isnt accepted everywhere).

Anyway, I called a few moments ago and asked to pay my bill over the phone. I pay my other MBNA cards through the online portal but as i am not keeping this card i didnt want to set it up, and last two times I paid MBNA through my own bank the payments didnt get applied on time, so i thought 'no worries, I'll call MBNA'.

Turns out, they wouldnt allow me to make a payment with them over the phone. Unless you are going to go past your due date, they wont take a debit card payment apparently, and the young man on the phone kept quoting this line about their being "five easy ways to pay" (the online portal that i am not registered for being one of them).

Maybe I am expecting too much? I just thought it was laughable to call MBNA to pay my bill to be told that they wont take a payment for it. The chap did say that if i called back the day before the payment was due, that he could do it then. Seems crazy to me.

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah

I had exactly the same problem with my Capital One account...... I ended up just setting it up as a payment with my online banking by using the CC number .... still takes 3 working days to credit though !

Mark

You actually got a first statement? Apparently its my fault I never did and got the £12 fine... I think they prob dont send the first statement as a matter of course to apply that charge to every account...

Seems plain daft to me...[n]

You phone the day before your payment is due, they take 3 days to allocate the payment to your account - End result is a late payment charge. [:?][V]

I occasionally pay my VS Amex at my local Barclays via their counter. The payment usually takes 4-5 working to hit my account. I find it a easy enough alternative to online payments - Never had any probs.