St.George group to increase late payment fees
St.George is giving its customers more reason to pay their credit card bill on time.
The St.George group has announced that it will implement higher late payment fees at the end of January. As of 23 January, customers will be required to pay $15 rather than $9 if they fail to pay their credit card bill on time.
This applies to the whole St.George group including Bank of Melbourne, BankSA and, of course, St.George. Once enforced, the higher late payment fee will be consistent with the fees charged by St.George’s owner Westpac. You’ll receive the fine if you fail to pay 2% of your outstanding balance or $10 (whichever is greater) by the due date listed on your credit card statement.
St.George’s forthcoming late payment fees will sit relatively in the middle when comparing late payment fees between the major banks in Australia. It’s more expensive to miss a bill with Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, both of which charge $20 for late payments. NAB has the most competitive late payment out of the big four, matching St.George’s current fee of $9.
If you struggle to pay your bill on time each month and want to avoid late payment fees, there are a few strategies that could help you. If the issue is cash flow, you could contact your bank to move the payment date so it aligns with your pay day. Otherwise, creating calendar reminders and alarms on your phone could also help prompt you to pay your bill each month.
As well as avoiding the late payment fee, it’s also important to pay your credit card bills on time to keep your credit file in good standing. Timely repayments reflect positively on your credit file, whereas missed repayments could present you as a high-risk applicant and reduce your chances of approval for loans in the future. See our guide on late payment fees for more information on how these charges work and what you can do to avoid them.
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