MBNA's FLOATING DUE DATE has one purpose, and one purpose only. Catch even the most diligent payees with usary late fees!

I have been an MBNA MasterCard holder for over 20 years. As I got older and wiser, I got rid of all of my credit cards except for this one card. I use it when I can't use an ATM or I think I might want to return the item and want the leverage of using a credit card.

I have a monthly payment made through my Bill payment (online) service on the 16th of each month because I was told it was due on the 21st. This worked fine until this month when I saw a $39 late fee charged to my account. I called and got a very annoying fellow that told me that MBNAs due dates are FLOATING, meaning that they are different each and every month, depending on the number of days in the month. Waiving the fee was totally out of the question he said since "the due date is clearly stated on each bill". Since I have the funds to pay whenever they want, I asked when I should pay their bill to ensure that I don't get the late payment. I was told by one operator that if if paid by the 14th instead of the 16th I shouldn't have any late charges, but that they could only suggest the date and couldn't guarantee it. So I tried their supervisor and he said the 10th of the month 'should' get it to them in time, but still no guarantees. So I asked if I could send in the payment a month in advance since it isn't the money that's the issue, it's the timing. I was told that if I sent it in too soon I not only wouldn't save the late fee, but that it might get applied to the principle and not to the monthly payment... so not only would I get a late fee, bu tI might also have to pay the monthly minimum again as well.