Automatic payments are not the same as internet payments, even automatic internet payments.  This sounds strange, but let me explain.  Most issuers allow you to pay your credit card bill using the internet.  Payments post anywhere from later the same day to 2 or 3 days later.  Some charge extra for same day service, exploiting the procrastinators among us who wait until the due date to make a payment.  Some issuers let you set up automatic payments on the internet, letting you schedule a fixed payment amount every month.  This is usually a safe bet for a card on which you are paying down debt.  If you are actively using a card, an automatic internet payment gives false assurance, as your payment changes every month.

 True automatic payments differ from internet automatic payments in that you can tell the issuer to pay the minimum amount every month, regardless of what that amount turns out to be.  The down side is that issuers

require that you mail a signed form along with a cancelled check to enable this feature, an inconvenience that often leads me to just use internet payments.

I have sometimes wondered whether auto pay was worth the effort.  Why not just use the web to sign up for automatic payments?  Well, I just had my second lesson on why automatic payments are worth the effort.  I had an intro rate ($12000) from HSBC which expired in August.  On Sep 23, I paid off most of the remainder, $9700 (transfering to another intro offer), leaving a $700 balance.  My automatic web payments had been set at $116.  I was just going to leave it there until paid off, another 6 months, or sooner if I got the urge.  Well, I was shocked to find on my October bill a late fee of $29.00.  How could that possibly be?  Did my auto-pay fail for some reason?  No, I checked it and it was credited.  A second later, I saw the problem.  My montly payment was actually $122 in October.  Could I possibly be reading that correctly?  I was paying $116 per month on roughly $11,000, how could my payment possibly have increased, now that my balance was $700?  I'm going to repeat this, because you probably didn't understand.  $11,000 balance resulted in $116 payment.  $700 balance resulted in a $122 payment due.  Can we all say a loud/bewildered/angry WTF?  Well, I called customer service and jumped through the typcial IVR jungle and finally got to an agent.  While I was on hold, I realized the problem.  My intro rate expired late August, but I didn't pay down the debt until Sep 23.  A good bit of interested snowballed during the time, resulting in the higher payment.  The agent was kind enough to refund 50% of the fee.  Bastard.  He told what a great customer I was, with a 100% on-time payment record with only this one minor flaw.  Then he subjected me to a 2 minute sales pitch on their credit score tracking feature, trying to convince me that most people preferred their service over the Equifax service that I have.  I finally got off the phone, unhappy I didn't get a full refund, but satisfied I got something out of it.  I'm mad enough now to get this paid off in full by the end of the month.  And HSBC is now in my target sights.   I will be on the lookout for any offer they throw my way that might help me exploit them.  Of course, I will now sign up for auto pay to make sure I never miss a payment, and BTW, also make sure all payments make the minumum as well.  FYI, I mentioned this is the second time I've been burned by web-based auto-pay.  The other incident was similar, my autopay was several dollars off of the required minimum with my USAA credit card.  In that case, it was caused by my using the card more than what was covered with the minimum payment.  They fully refunded the penalty.